The ministries in Vietnam varied widely.  We got to be with people from 13 days old to 92 years old.  One day I went to a centre where we were able to hold and feed infants.  They were so cute (for pictures check out Rubie's blog).  Their hair stuck up in all directions and they all smiled when you picked them up.  I got to hold quite a few of them, and I fed 1 from a bottle.  Whenever you placed them back into their cribs they would cry.  They are so starved for love, they want to soak it all in while they can.  It was so much fun to be with them for a couple of hours, but leaving them in the cribs was heartbreaking.  There are many cribs in the room, each with a child that has some disability or another.  One had 6 fingers on his right hand.  Another had water on the brain.  Each child had their own special struggles, and all were left to live in this centre.  While the nurses do their best to keep up with the babies needs, there are just too many kids and not enough staff to give them all the special love and attention they need.  Any baby in that room would capture the heart of all who walk in.

In other areas of the centre there were children of different ages.  There was a whole room with toddlers with HUGE heads due to the water on their brain.  Some also have other problems such as fingers grown together,  and breathing problems.  Again, each of these children cry when you put them back into their cribs, but the smiles you get when you pick them up is uncomparable.  In another area there are older children who are able to run and play.  They have disabilities that are less severe than the smaller babies. With the oldest kids we were able to play clapping games, and even have short conversations in English.  This centre was a really good place to go and spread God's love with the children, and even the staff who grin at you the whole time as well.


      On two occassions I went to a school nearby to the hotel we were staying in.  It was a government run school, a part of the Vietnamese education system.  It was a special school for children with learning disabilities, and some physical disabilities.  At this school the kids learned many things- including math and language.  We were able to sing songs in each class, and meet each of the children.  One of the smaller kids was our favorite.  He was so cute, and loved to play with you.  He loved to blow kisses, and give thumbs up.  His smile was beautiful.  Unfortunately, after visiting twice the government decided they did not want us to go there anymore.  They did not like us volunteering in a place that was not for charity.  The teachers there all showed a great deal of patience.  They smiled at us, and encouraged the kids to sing songs for us as well.  They participated in the hokey pokey, and seemed to enjoy our visits.
      



      A couple of mornings we all visited universities.  We went to chat with students, and eventually invite them to the coffee shop where we could talk more freely.  Most of the students were thrilled at the chance to practice English.  They lined up to talk with us and try out their conversational skills.  A few evenings a week we would go to a Christian coffee shop to speak with students there and help with English.  Here we were able to build relationships with students our own age, and become friends with them.  I really enjoyed these nights, getting to be a part of a different culture in a way we previously hadn't been.  One of our nights there we had a games night.  We played many different games, and enjoyed the company of the Vietnamese youth.  It was Mark's birthday and he was lucky enough to have Happy Birthday sang to him in 6 different languages by native singers.  

      We also participated with a weekly activity that the students at the coffee shop do.  Each week they go to an elderly woman's home to make jewellery with them.  It is a fun activity for the women and they are able to sell the jewellery to make some money for the home.  It was really sad to see the conditions these elderly people were living in.  They slept on concrete beds, with only a grass mat on them.  However, the women seemed joyful enough and although they did not speak English we were able to joke around and help them with the jewellery that they had difficulties with.  

   After leaving Thailand, half of the squad went to Hong Kong, while the other half and I went to Vietnam.  As senior World Racers we have learned to settle into and adapt to new places rather quickly, so Vietnam felt like home within a couple of days of arriving.  My first impression was complete sensory overload.  There was TONS of traffic, which creates a lot of noise, motion and some pretty interesting smells of pollution.   However, shortly after arrival the constant overload became natural.  Walking into the street with 20 or so motorbikes zooming at you was perfectly normal as you would otherwise never make it across the street.  As Matt (who had gone ahead to Vietnam with the July squad) said "just walk.  Don't stop.  They can dodge you.  In fact they are really good at it.  It is when you start to dodge them that they don't know what to do and then you have problems."  So you just step off the curb in faith and move at a slow and steady pace and let traffic go around you...new concept but I can handel that.
      
      The people in Vietnam as so incredibly friendly.  They are helpful and considerate, and most speak at least some English.  It was refreshing to be with people who genuinely care about you, and are interested in who you are what you are doing.  Unfortunately because it is a communist country we could not share openly what we were doing in their country.  There were also many government spies around who try to get us to say that we are missionaries.  Christianity is a real threat to communism and the power it holds over people so they do not like Christians.  There is an open church in Vietnam, to make their country look good to foriegners, but every person is recorded by the government, as is every activity.  Each time we did any volunteering at a government centre it was recorded by the government.  It was difficult to know what to share and with who.  It is hard to catch someone by their words, and in Ho Chi Minh City where the open church is well attended there is a smaller risk of something happening (jail time or deportation) than in the countryside.

      We participated in many ministries in Vietnam.  We went to centres, hospitals and schools for children with cerebral palsy among other disabilities, we went to an elderly ladies home to make jewellery with them, and we also did a college ministry with students our age, inviting them to a Christian coffee shop to help them learn English and to possibly share God's love with them.  Each of these opportunities was incredible in it's own way.  Over the next couple of blogs I will share with you some of the things I learned at each of the different ministries.

      While in Ho Chi Minh we got to visit the Presidential Palace, the War Museum and the Cu Chi tunnels.  At the Palace we saw the central command system for South Vietnam during the war.  We saw where the president lived, and where he made crucial decisions.  At the War Museum we learned so much about the war but ot  was hard to stomach, as there were many graphic photos.  At the Cu Chi tunnels we learned more about the guriella warfare, and the countryside farmers battle.  We got to crawl around in some replica tunnels that were tiny for us, but were actually replicated larger so that sliding on your stomach was not the only option for movement.  

      We made some good friends in Vietnam.  A couple of our translators became good friends.  Fuga and Hannah were so sweet, wonderful and helpful to us the whole time we were in Vietnam.  They are Christians, filled with a passion to serve God.  Often they would come to dinner with us or the market just to hang out, not to "translate" anything.  It was hard to leave them but we know that someday we will meet again.  

      Now we have arrived in Cambodia.  For this first week here we are having a sort of debrief, relax time.  We are in Siem Reap, and at some point this week we will be going to Angkor Wat, one of the ancient wonders of the world.  It is an ancient temple- the one used to film Tomb Raider.  On Thursday or Friday we will likely be headed back to Phenom Penh to begin ministry for 2 weeks.  As things go on the race our plans have changed, and so we aren't exactly sure what we will be doing for ministry, but it is our last country and so we are all looking forward to whatever God has in store for us as we finish this part of His calling on our lives.  After the ministry we will be headed back to Thailand for final debrief (it's hard to believe our LAST debrief is so soon).  After that many will be headed home on Nov. 21,  however a few of us will continue on travelling for 2 more weeks in the Middle East.  We have walked AS our Saviour has walked and we want to walk WHERE our Saviour walked.  It will be a beautiful end to a beautiful year.

Thank you all for your prayers. I am looking forward to seeing you in less than two months! Love you all!

Here is another video from the Thailand series. There will be one more and then I will fill ya'll in on what happened in Vietnam.Thank you all for your support and prayers. We are beginning our last month of ministry on the Race so please pray that we will all end strong and united.

P.S. I really love reading all your comments so please post them.

TEAM G.A.T.O

We have been called here to Bangkok to reclaim what the enemy has taken over. And that is exactly what the Lord has been doing through us. We have spent a lot of time bonding with two girls in particular since we have been here. I still remember the first night we spent with them. That night we asked the Lord for just one girl to be brought out of prostitution during our time here. While we did some prayer walking we felt the Lord speaking strongly to Go After the One, and that's what we did, but it looks as though He's sent us on a mission chasing after and fighting for two of His precious children.

It has been such a tremendous blessing to be here working with and simply lovin' on the bar girls. I feel as though we have become such close friends with them and now, more than ever, there is a passion and strong desire burning inside of us to get them out! Our hearts are overflowing with so much love for them.

This week we spent time bonding with the girls, laughing together as we ate live shrimp, grasshoppers, crickets, and grub together. Tonight we took pictures with us to introduce them to our families which they totally loved. Afterwards we shared with them a video Tom, a girl from The Well who used to work in the bars and now loves Jesus. We prayed as the girls watched her share her story. Words cannot describe the beauty of tonight. Their eyes watered and you could tell God is stirring something inside of these two girls.

Tonight while the girls watched the video, I had this beautiful vision. I saw a vision of us ((team G.A.T.O)) with wind blowing through our hair, standing at the gates of Hell. Then we did a karate kick breaking down the gate. We stood there with our hands on our hips saying... "We came to take back what you stole from us!!!"

So this is it, we only have two more nights working with these girls. On Monday they are going to come with us to The Well to check it out, talk with Tom and some of the other girls there. This is huge and so exciting for us!!! We have seen God work in incredible ways, using us to bring Kingdom this entire year and continue to pray His glory will shine through especially these next few days.

We write to you sharing our hearts for these girls, for this ministry and for the praising the Lord is doing here through us. We cannot fight this battle alone and so desperately ask that everyone saturates us, this ministry and especially the two girls in prayer especially these next five days. So we beg you to partner with us in prayer, fasting if the Lord leads you to that. Please help us fight on the front lines for Jesus. There's so much love inside us, it would be a shame if we could not spend eternity with these girls. Please please please pray!!!!

 

much love.

 

 

I don't know if I have the spiritual gift of teaching, like this video may suggest, but I had such a good time with the kids in Burirum this past week. We played games and practiced the alphabet, numbers and directions like up down right and left. The kids were more into singing songs and playing games of course so we did a lot of that.  They loved races and games that were boys against girls. I got 'em all wound up and then gave them back to their teachers. Here is a video clip that will show you a little more about out week. I love you all. Thank you for praying for me!

The ministry organization that we have been working with here in Bangkok is called The Well. This is a little bit about what we have been doing during the day:) If you haven't seen the first part of this video series please go to  Going After The One...G.A.T.O to get the full story.

 

I must update you on what has been going on with Nana and Nani at the Leper colony but I was not there the day that all this happened. I chose to play with the orphans that day. But Becky Miller has an account of what happened next and here is the story in her words. For the first part of this story please see "A Sad Day at the Leper Colony"

 

All weekend long we looked forward to going back to see Nana. To see if his swallen arm was in the process of being healed, just anxious to see what work the Lord was doing in Him....perhaps a healing. You know, the Lord can do pretty amazing thing. On our car ride there we talked about how we could not wait to see him. It was Matt's first day coming with us and I remember specifically telling him I could not wait for him to meet this man! Little did we think this would be a day at the leper colony we'd not likely forget.

 

After an hour traveling the crazy roads of Inida, we arrived and walked down the main street, but something did not feel right. The streets were more crowded than normal and there was Nani (meaning Grandma; Nana's wife). It briefly crossed my mind the fact that it was weird she was not by her husband's side. We talked with Nani asking her how her husband was doing, or attempting to do so again due to the language barrier. She guesturred something that gave me an uneasy feeling, thinking of what seemed to be the impossible.

 

We followed her between the rows of homes on a little brick sidewalk to her home. She pulled back the black cloth functioning as the door, and nothing. Nana no longer sat there on the floor in the dark little cement room. We felt her pain as she burst into tears. There were no words to say, just a widow before us in pain in desperate need of love and something more. Weeping together, Tammy and Caroline embraced her as Matt and I stood back in disbelief and sadness.

 

She soon invited us in to sit, mourn and love on her. Nani guesstured at her arm, trying to tell us that his arm just kept getting bigger and bigger. Sad. For awhile then we sat in silence, mourning with her with tears running down our cheeks and broken hearts. I sat in the same place I did the other day when Nana was there looking where he sat, but he wasn't there. I picture that day like it was yesterday. I really missed him and wondered if he ever met Jesus, and loved him. Breaking the silence of quiet prayer and mourning, we began to sing her a song (Holy Spirit Rain Down) and with that I felt such a sense of peace accompanied by the comfort of the Holy Spirit. It was totally THE MINISTRY OF PRESCENSE. (matt's blog).

 

Our friend, Sunita (aka my fav person from India! :)) stopped by a little bit later. She speaks English so was able to get us a little more information. She explained his conditions...he suffered. His arm swelled up even bigger than before and he literally had holes of his skin eaten away on his bottom. Nana had died on Friday, one day after we had seen him. The funeral process and final goodbyes had taken place over the weekend.

 

There is always joy to find in difficult situations and was searching for it. I talked with someone from home who reminded me how much of it was a blessing it was that we were able to spend time with Nana during his last week and finally, on his last day of life on this earth. From that as well,  I realized  that it is a blessing in my life to have met him and spend time with him. It comforts me to think Nana got a taste, maybe even a glimpse of the love and image of Christ in the times we sat with him.

 

The Lord knew. He had these moments planned from the beginning of time. No doubt, he worked through us in his unbelievable ways. How? I have no idea. He works in ways we cannot see. I do not know where Nana's heart was or even where Nani's heart is, but what I do know is they have experienced first hand, the love of Jesus Christ through us. I praise God he chose us to, on earth, in human form, be his angels to visit His lost, suffering, and now, mourning children.