grace & mercy

this blog post is going to consist of our month in Vietnam, buckle in, it’s been a crazy ride.

VIETNAM: 

ho chi minh city debrief:

we arrived in Vietnam on December 9th, after 3 days of flying from Guatemala (still miss it), and it was not an easy transition for me. we stayed in Ho-Chi Minh City for about a week for debrief and during that time I spent a lot of time sleeping, spending time in prayer, reading the Word and lots of tears. the transition of being in a slow paced country to suddenly 3 million people and a whole lot of honking was difficult. while others went out and explored the city, i stayed within the comforts of our weird little hotel and bathroom that had a bat. however, the Lord was preparing me for our actual ministry in Da Nang: by shedding off struggles & temptations and also being able to spend time with people in my squad that i wouldn’t be able to see for the next 3 weeks.

da nang – ministry:

from there, we spend the next 14 hours in a sleeper bus (+ several bus breakdowns) driving from Ho Chi Minh to Da Nang and had to say goodbye to the majority of my squad that i had spent everyday with for the past 3 months. we got to Da Nang on December 15th, to a beach/college town with our hotel being literally 3 minutes away from the beach and OCEAN! after our goodbyes, we got our rooms, changed into swimsuits, ran and spent the next several hours at the beach before we went to ministry that night!

our ministry was at an English club where we got to hang out with 18-30 year olds, teach topics (insecurities, joy, and of course – American Holidays), having free talk nights and the occasional karaoke & Just Dance. my team had ministry Monday-Friday from 7-9pm, in the mornings we had the chance to hang out with students at local coffee shops/restaurants (which was the other half of our ministry), and also spend time each other and have fun team times. During our team times, we would do ATL (Ask The Lord), have book club, and other random little skirmishes. that was our basic day-to-day schedule, lots of room & opportunities to choose into the Lord or into the comforts that were around us.

i was able to meet with a man who was Buddhist and learn more about his religion and also share the Gospel to him. i was also able to meet with a group of young adults, 4 of them locals and one of them from Israel. that was probably one of the coolest, sweetest and Holy Spirit experiences I have ever had. To share the Gospel with someone who is of God’s chosen nation, is not an easy thing – yet, it’s so clear that the Lord’s heart is for that nation to finally come to Him. How we, part of His chosen people, are to chase after the lost, including His original chosen people. I was able to share my story about my deliverance, and allow the Holy Spirit to speak through me. i would leave those conversations so full of His love, grace and mercy, i literally didn’t know what to do. I wanted to shout from the rooftops about His unfailing and never-ending love and dance in the streets undignified.

da nang – life & Jesus:

this is where i get a little vulnerable (thank you Jesus for growing and stretching me), so have patience and grace with me. before Vietnam, i read my bible whenever it felt convenient, i prayed when i was told (meals, waterfall prayer, ATL, ect. you get the point), i didn’t know what it was like to have a true relationship with Jesus, – the Creator and the True Living God. my roommate was my dear, sweet friend Kailey Finley – probably the one of the most joyful, prayerful, kindest, graceful fellow Daughter of King I’ve met in a long time. she showed me the grace and mercy, and patience of Christ and i am so thankful for it. she showed me what true friendship looks like and how to rely on the Lord in all situations.

the Lord revealed a lot of things I was struggling with: anxiety, sexual temptations & sins, complacency and laziness in my relationship with Jesus. on New Years Eve, a couple of us sat in my room praying & worshiping into the New Year. during that time, the Lord revealed to me what I was struggling with and led me through deliverance from it – PRAISE THE LORD! after that moment, intimacy with the Lord was so much easier to achieve. it was easier to read the Word (hunger for the Lord currently: STARVING but SATISFIED), to sit in the presence of the Lord while praying – the Lord SPEAKS TO US, and to worship undignified while sitting in a coffee shop while evangelizing is illegal. sin no longer has a hold on me, my flesh was made dead when my Savior saved me. here is a link to my worship playlist i have been listening to while spending time with the Lord (it’s on Spotify), it has definitely changed the way I worship and connect with Him. I was also able to feel His peace like I felt in Guatemala, I stopped comparing and instead looked at what the Lord was doing through the people in Vietnam – how He loves them just as much and how they are His children as well.

topic change: adventure days! 

those days were WILD. Christmas Day, we went to an amusement park called Asia Park. we rode roller-coasters, a drop tower, and a crazy circle spinny thing that went forwards and backwards that also had bumps and played Gangnam Style – SO MUCH fun. it was definitely the craziest but also one that I will never forget. On New Years Day, we went to Ba Na Hills, which was ANOTHER amusement park on top of a mountain that took 15 minutes in a cable car to get to the top (its the longest in the world according to the Guinness World Records – 19,032 ft in length). the park has the Gold Bridge (instead of Buddha hands, they are actually Jesus’ because HE created the world and “has the whole world in His hands”) which we couldn’t actually see because it was raining and cloudy (oh well). that day had so many memories and legitimately felt like a fever dream. low-key, i felt like a Jedi at the Jedi temple (felt like being on Kamino lol). we also went to Hoi An for my birthday (the big ol’ 2-0), a couple of our friends from the English club came and it was such a sweet surprise! we made lanterns, walked around and saw the old village & temple, ate traditional Vietnamese food, went on coconut boats (and got scammed), ate busting Indian food, and went to the night market! definitely one of the best birthdays yet 🙂

travel day to cambodia:

alright, we are almost done. you are doing so well, thank you for reading – we are almost there.

January 11th:

7:10am – we left the hotel where we stayed for three weeks, excited to finally be in Cambodia! the Lord revealed to me that He was going to shape and grow me in ways I would never expect so I was very ready to leave.

4:45pm – we arrived at the border that we were going to cross over to get into Cambodia – turns out foreigners couldn’t cross there because it was only for agriculture. yikes.

5:45pm – found out that we were going to drive another 10 hours to drive to the border near Ho Chi Minh city and cross there

January 12th:

6:30am – arrive at the second border crossing!

8:30am – we now find out that our visas are expired so we cannot cross the border and enter into Cambodia. we learn that in order to leave we need to renew our visas in Ho Chi Minh city and maybe be able to leave within 5-7 days.

Noon – arrive to our hotel in Ho Chi Minh

1pm – arrive at the immigration department to renew visas – hope!

1:15pm – sike! we find out that the only way to renew our visas is by flying to Cambodia, who knows when that will be able to happen, so we go back to the hotel, take a nap, eat dinner, and go back to sleep. (at this time, we had driven for 30 hours, so a 4 hour nap was very much needed)

January 13th:

10am – find out that we were able to get a flight for the 14th at 8am, so we would have to leave at 3am (World Race policy is to be at the airport 4 hours early – you think it might be a little exaggerated but traveling with 50 people, its very helpful). the Lord told me to pack early so I was fully packed and bag weighed around 1 (took me 45 minutes!).

6pm – everyone was suddenly and urgently told to get back to the hotel because the leaders decided to leave earlier!

7pm – arrived at the airport. spend the next 10 hours calling my parents, reading Mere Christianity, my bible, talking to a German family and slept for 2 hours on the floor (i’m a pro at sleeping in odd places now, whoop whoop!)

January 14th: 

5am – visa papers are signed and are able to leave Vietnam! hurray!

6am – went through check in (a lot of people had trouble getting through – the Lord blessed me by sending a literal ANGEL (no one knew who the man was, but I think the Lord sent an angel to help me get through)

7am – got through security (7:35) and got to the gate at 7:50ish

8:15 – started to board the plane – took a shuttle for 5-8 minutes to get to the plane (so stinking cool!)

8:43 – plane takeoff

9:26 – plane landed in Cambodia (while it landed I was listening to Missionary Anthem by MBL – thank you Jesus for the readied harvest here!)

A travel day that was only supposed to take 16 hours took much much longer than needed, but the Lord’s hand was so evidently upon us that we all had so much peace. After we landed, we drove an hour to Siem Reap, had lunch, then drove 2 hours to Kompong Tom, where we have been now for the past two weeks!

Thank you for whoever made it to the end of this blog, may the Lord bless you and keep you!

until next time!

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant a willing spirit to sustain me.” Psalm 51:10-12