Stay tuned. I will be posting up pictures soon!
Hey Friends,
This will be the final blog for this years trip. I’m currently in Taipei sitting around, so I’ll update. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to update after Siem Riep but alot has happen and I’m trying to think digest, reflect, and really think about what I experience, saw, and shared about.
Lang Noi – The Floating Village
A trip (meaning ride) over there was physically gorgeous. God definitely gave us favor that day and helped us enjoy a smooth boat ride (1 hour from the mainland) to where this village is. We continued our work with doing VBS, a Puppet Show, and our skit on Jesus’ miracles. This was the program part of our trip – but we ended early on each day to have a chance to do visitations and prayer paddling. If you didn’t get a chance to read Kimberly To’s comment, we did something similar to the team from New Orleans.
What are visitations and prayer paddling? Visitations means we have a chance to go and literally row up to people’s home and ask them if they want to talk or hang out. Prayer paddling was just having a chance to go around the community to pray for things as we saw them and hope that God may reveal himself to them. The river culture is very welcoming and conducive for getting to know people. What we did was row around and prayed for home as we saw them and decided if we wanted to ask people if we can just come up and talk to them. We had a chance to visit three homes and have a conversation with them about things like – life and what they believed in.
The Beauty and Glory of the Gospel
There are people right now that you know and don’t know that simply have not heard or do not understand the gospel. I hope that some of you as you read this would pray for these people and even for people in various countries. This simply breaks my heart. People may hear about the church, about doing “good”, and love, but do they hear and understand the gospel.
One woman we had a chance to visit had never heard this message before. As I tried my best (with the help of a few of the locals) to explain that GOD himself would send down his son to die a bloody, human-torturing, humiliating, and sacrficial death for our behalf, that if you with repetance believe in him, you may be saved- she began to break down and cry. “Why would someone do that?”
The Gospel is the greatest and finest LOVE story ever. I’m not certain that she is ready to believe but in a humanly sense, the fact that one person would give up his life for another was praise worthy in her eyes. How much more praise worthy is it if this person is to understand that it is God himself that is givng his life for our sins. The cross is the pinnacle moment in redemptive history. How can we not give glory to the one that is deserving of it.
Challenged from Prayer Paddling
I got a chance to go prayer paddling with MS Hoang and it was very encouraging. My heart at that moment began to break as we just got to see the homes and family as they were waking up and pray for them. By and large, my hope as you read this would be to pray for them also. Our goal is to allow them to see us pray and allow God to work throughout the community. Because the community is isolated from the city and not many missionaries have had a chance to make a connection with these people, there are few Godly men in the community. One of the things in my heart is that God would really raise up Godly men to lead the community and redeem those whom God is calling. Other things we prayed for is the protection from the evil one, the world, and their flesh. The families in the community struggle. Drugs and alcohol is a problem. Fathers may abuse their families. Animosity between neighbors. They don’t worship God. There is inadequate drinkable water. There is not enough food. Prayer is powerful. Lets PRAY!
Summary
A few things I’ll list out about the floating village. For dinner the first night we ended up having cobra-snake soup (chao). For lunch the next day I had turtle with rice. I saved the shell to share with my physical science students this year. At night, I got to experience the community gathering on the boat with singing and story telling. Later that night I spent it sleeping under a mosquito net- real cool. The boat ride home felt like we were going to capsize at any moment. Thank God we didn’t. We were planning to jump into the water but the winds were too strong and the boats engine seemed like it was going to give out at any moment. So we decided against it.
Future
The future- I don’t know. But I do pray that as some of you are reading this, you may have the growing desire and conviction to be here next year or in the future. God is truly a mighty-awesome-majestic-amazing-holy-glorious-transcendent-powerful-beautiful-loving-forgiving God. PRAISE GOD!
There are alot of things to share about but I think this is fine for now. I will be arriving in Memphis, TN at 7:00-7:30 am. I’m extremely anxious to get home, so I will be driving immediately. Hopefully I will see or hear from everyone soon!
For God’s Glory,
Vinh
Tomorrow we will be going to stay on the river for the weekend. Please pray for us.
For God’s glory!
Vinh
Hey Everyone,
I’m on the “clock” because I don’t want to spend too much time here, but I want to let you know how to pray for us while we are here. I spent some of my time resizing a couple pictures, so I’ll try to be brief. Lida, my email is not working so I will be updating from the blog. I got your emails, thanks for the encouragement, and I’ll see you soon.
Phnom Penh to Siem Riep
We are currently safe and happy in Siem Riep. Kidnapping, political madness were in fact rumors– Praise God. However, it doesn’t minimize the current situation. Just last night, it felt like the movies. We drove down the street and their was a convoy of people supporting (imagine 30+ cars and tons of trucks filled with people) ”Cambodia’s People Party”. In their loud mega phone, they would yell out “BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH” and them BAM – Roar. People yelling at the top of their lungs. The election in Cambodia hasn’t happened for over 10 years and the real cause for concern would occur if the new “Candle” party actually won. People hate to lose power, especially when it also involves losing money. From what MS Hai had told me, this will unlikely happen and the way of life in Cambodia will unlikely change.
Last Entry
Ok. Lets be frank. My Vietnamese is straight up B-R-O—K—–E—–N. I struggle. I was told by MS Hai’s daughter today, “You have such an American accent when you speak Vietnamese.” Secondly, the place we visited on Sunday, and had a chance to meet up with again on Tuesday is not called “Salad Sugar” but “Salad Want” – or thats what it sounds like in Vietnamese. Still confused? Its just the area where they grow “Water Spinach.” Chau- hope that helps.
Here are some pictures.
Here is a picture from last Saturday in Phnom Penh. My first exposure to anything. We met at a new believers house and we helped the kids with music, games, a lesson, and craft. Seriously, what a tremendous blessing.
The picture above is where we met on Sunday morning. Most of the people pictured above have HIV or a serious illness. It however didn’t stop them from traveling miles on foot to get to church. One of the things I remember vividly is the fact that they sang the same songs we would sing at Vietnamese Hope in Baton Rouge, tithe, and have a similar benediction (I think thats what you call the closing). God is really at work in many ways.
I’m sorry, but those two pictures took me a while because Anh Ngia’s (Frank Loi) laptop is kinda messed up and the internet is slow. LORD, I’m praying for 15 good minutes to update. Here are a few things that came across my mind since the last update.
Temptation of the Gospel
I wish that I could visually show you everything — but I can’t. The day to day life is depraved helpless, and void of genuine hope. From their health, life opportunities, and attitude- where or who can these people turn to? Noted above, the government works for itself. Police work for themselves. Their are millions who need help and it simply is not happening. Here then is the temptation- sharing the gospel for more than it is. Last Tuesday, I had a conversation with a woman while my teammates were working the VBS part of our trip. I learned that she works as a fisher(woman), lives on the river, and works extremely hard for her situation. As our conservation developed (thanks to her)- the hopelessness of her situation began to permeate throughout what she was saying. Life is the way it is… and there isn’t much to look forward too… and “How can you know the GOD?”… and why does it even matter, if you’r sick or poor, you gotta work to survive. Boy, did I just want to say, “If you believe in Jesus and all that will go away.” “If you believe in Jesus, he’s gonna give you all the food you’ll need.” “If you believe in Jesus, he’ll heal you from your pain.”
Unfortunately, the call to discipleship means to bear our cross daily. All that stuff may not actually happen. All those who desire to be Godly will be persecuted. Because we are raised with Christ, we join him in his suffering and resurrection. The gospel simply saves us from our sin. It restores sinful man into a proper relationship with a holy and righteous God- period. The gospel is not going to make you win a million dollars if you tithe every Sunday. Its not going to bless your stock portfolio, career, your health, or grades because you “put in” your time on Sunday. God may bless you- not without much suffering.
On that day, I felt the temptation to make the gospel more appealing. But this is not love. It would be torture. It would be lie. One of the encouraging things to me about the various missionaries so far is the fact that they are very clear about this. If we love them, we tell them the truth about their sin and what Christs’ work accomplished. That is the gospel. AMAZING.
Team
Please pray for our team. A few nights ago, we had a long night to solve things out. Personalities, styles, and the devil- among things working against us. What did I learn? Love covers a multitude of things. Season this with genuine forgiveness and love for God- we can accomplish more now. Praise-praise-praise God!
Summary
Devotionals
My devotionals have been harder to do as our days have become longer and the traveling has become taxing on everyone. I’m currently meditating through Lamentations and Luke and reading a book Tim Peng gave me – Invitation to Lead:Guidance for Emerging Asian American Leaders by Paul Tokunaga. Our team continues to meet for morning devotionals and daily debriefing/planning.
Wednesday
On Wednesday we had a free day. If you call 7 am to 5 pm a free day. We had a chance to just rest up before leaving and going to Siem Riep. Nothing new here except I had extremely large and constant bowel movements. I defaulted to sitting around while everyone was out and about that day. Later that night, we dropped off two of our team members- Anh Son and Anh Hoang Anh at the Vietnamese Embassy to get their Visas. They were dropped off at 3:30 pm but we didn’t see them until 6:30. What were they doing? They decided to walk for 3 hours and find their own way back instead of renting a “Tut Tut” – motorcycle taxi. They really scared us half to death.
Thursday
We spent 4-5 hours driving to Siem Riep to the tune of the Cambodia’s People Party cheering in our ear. We are safe and have met up with MS Hoang and his family. We will begin everything all over again.
For God’s glory!
Vinh
Hey everyone. I’m going to do my best with the short time.
Sunday
We had two services this day. In the morning we loaded the van and drove about 1 hour to a rural village outside of Phnom Penh. On my way over to the church, MS Hai was just telling me about the water situation in Cambodia– which is pretty bad. I saw a truck literally pull over to the side of the road and take water from a pond and later sell it to the village. Personally, I’m so concerned about dehydration but am equally concerned about the cleanliness of the water. It feels like double trouble. As for the church, it really does feel like experiencing the book of Acts. One of the roles that I am learning about MS Hai is that he helps and tries to start up churchs around Cambodia. We met up at a mans house, sang songs, heard the word, and then tithe, prayed, and sang that same ending song we sing at Vietnamese Hope. Its true, God’s is calling his people from all the nations. One of the unique things about this church was that its a community of people who are infected with HIV. When Christ talks about compassion- he means that you have more than just concern for people but empathy that makes your stomach twist because of the angst. It was seriuosly a depraved situation. The majority of the congregation was primarily woman- which I found out later was because their husband and their children’s passed about because of their infection with HIV. Talk about spit in your coffee.
Sunday Afternoon
We first had a chance to visit a Cambodia memorial about the Genocide from the 1975-1979. The first thing I saw when I went there was a building literally 5 floors high filled with skulls. I’m only mentioning this because during that time, 1/5 of the Cambodia population was wiped about because of malnutrition, forced labor, or simply execution. One of their goals was to eliminate the educated and create a society ran primariy by an organized gang. Today, they are still feeling the ramifications of such extreme and irrational convictions.
The second church we can to visit was near an area that is describe as “Salad Sugar.” If you are Vietnamese, you know what that means. As for my english speaking compadres- sorry. Its called that because the community is primarily Vietnamese displaced from Vietnam and they go and farm the “Salad Sugar.” We met for a few hours just to let them know that on Tuesday we will be doing VBS at their church (which we did today).
Monday
On this day, we had a combination of VBS and medical missions work. It was seriously crazy because here, we got to meet alot of people who live on boats and they came on land for the medical attention and VBS. I got to help out with the measurements and took peoples temperature by sticking a temperature reader in their ear.
I got a chance to talk to a few people, but I think that their idea of God is that we can’t know him and that life here is all that they should worry about. I got a chance to help out with some of the kids and I’m glad I brought my camera. Its a good way to talk to them and have a sort of ice breaker. We left the day around 4 pm, ate dinner, and planned a skit for Tuesday.
Skit
We did the miracles of Jesus– long story short- my time is running out but i was the “Demon-Possessed.” The kids loved it and they were in awe of my acting skills. Just kidding. I was humbled by their laughter.
Tuesday
Second day of VBS at “Salad-Sugar” location. The kids here are absolutely sweet! I got to meet a few guys my age and they took me around the village while the other team was working with the kids. I wish I could show you but they took me to a place that has a great view of the country side… We had songs (I played guitar today), lesson, crafts, games, lunch, songs, and more lessons, our skit, and a puppet show.
Political Awareness
July 24-27 is the Cambodian government presidential election. I heard last night that one of the rumors or concern is from the tension that may arise from the Cambodians People Party and the Candle party. Whoever wins, there is gonna be a lot of turmoil and possible violence. Our trip to Siem Riep might be a problem and potentially dangerous. We’re gonna find out the news and then pray tomorrow to see what we will decide.
My Prayer-
To go to Siem Riep or not? The politics here is crazy! There are people marching around everywhere and I can really see it getting out of hand. Please pray that God would give us peace and clear door about what to do. Our team needs constant prayer since I think the long days have been taxing on some people and being always together has been great for me, but I hope that God would continue to unite us for his work. In the end, pray that we may continue to be a vessal for God’s glory and his work.
For God’s glory!
Vinh
Hey everyone, I’m updating this from an internet cafe across from where we are staying. I think I will have trouble uploading pictures, so for the time being I’ll just have to update on what we’ve been up too.
Day 1
For the most part was pretty relaxed. We got to hangout with MS (Pastor) Hai for the day and just grabbed dinner with him. I’ve never met him before but he seems like an amazing man with such a passion for this part of the world. His wife and children are equally a blessing to be around. So far, our team meets in the morning and at night to debrief about the day. Its been a tremendous blessing to just pray and reflect on the day.
Day 2
Our official day of VBS and work in the city. The kids here are so sweet and really know their bible stories. We had about 20 kids and we did VBS-ish type of work this morning until 1 pm. I guess its hard to describe but the love and gift of Christ is enough for me to feel at home. It made me really pray for these kids here when I was working with them. I hope that they would just grow up with Christ in their hearts.
I think it goes to say that people here are simply devoid of any exposure to Christianity but the weak sense of morality, lack of opportunity, and crippling social structure are things that caught my eye. I was talking to MS Hai and he said that crime is a part of life. Calling the police is more of a hassle and actually nothing gets done. We passed by an area of town and he said that it was an area where prostitution of Vietnamese refugee woman had taken place. I really can go on, but the main thing I’m constantly praying for is the hopeless and dark road that these people must face.
Facing the Hopeless
The ongoing work of the gospel is relevant today. The crippling structure of how things are done over here can lead many (in my opinion) to feel completely stuck or handcuff to their role in life. If you never felt this way, its not surprise. I haven’t. America is the land of opportunity, but image for a second what it would be like to have no hope. It sucks. This however is anti-gospel. The power of the gospel is the ability to save us from our sin and to make us rich in Christ. The first 3 chapters of Ephesians constantly reverberates in my head. I’m not sure what to post except the things we’ve been doing, but here are a few of the things we’ve been doing and some of my reflections. I’ll close with this.
This is my prayer- Lord, with all my soul, help me point your love to these people. I thank you for Christ and for all that he is to us on the cross. Help us discern and have wisdom to encourage and empower the local church. Will your spirit, mightily change and convict those who you are calling, allowing us to be a part of your sovereign plan. With everything said and done, help me be obedient.
For God’s glory!
Vinh
Greetings!
It feels pretty real now that I’m on the last part of our trip to Cambodia. We got into Taipei a few hours ago just waiting for our final flight into the capital city of Cambodia- Phonh Penh.
Our Team
So far, the team feels pretty relaxed and I think God is going to use us mightily. We’ve been practicing some of the songs reviewing the lessons we are going to go over with the kids. I realize I gotta practice alittle more before we go and visit our kids. So far the team is Vinh (myself), Thuy, Amy, Chi Yen, and Anh Ngia. We will have 2 other people join us tomorrow.
Well overall we are safe and I gotta run. We’re gonna grab some grub before we go. BYE!
Hi Everyone,
Summer Camp 2008 – Fighting the Tide
On Sunday we finished this year’s Summer Camp- Fighting the Tide. The goal of the camp was to draw attention to the growing tide of our culture and sin that simply washes away a fruitful, healthy, and useful Christian life. Many people had asked me after the camp- Are you tired? In a sense, of course I was… mainly because of the lack of sleep and making sure things went according to schedule but in a another sense I wasn’t. I was glad. In fact, I felt energize. Though I felt (still feel) physically tired, it is a good tired. Praise God!
I’m hoping this energy would sustain me for the time being, since I will be leaving tomorrow. I left Baton Rouge around 6:00 pm today and arrived in Memphis at about 11:30 am. Thank GOD! I think that was probably one of the longest drives I’ve ever had to do solo. Boy was I happy to see Pastor Doug Kellum up here in Memphis. Having another human to talk to helps me feel human.
Here is the basic info: I will be boarding tomorrow for San Francisco at 4:00 pm and then we will be heading to Cambodia.
In Him,
Vinh
Hi everyone,
I’m sorry I haven’t been updating but I am hoping that you can pray for me. On July 10th through the 13th, we will be hosting summer camp at my church here in Baton Rouge- Vietnamese Hope Baptist Church. Alot of my time has been dedicated to planning for summer camp so it has really taken some of my focus off of Cambodia. If you are reading this, I am just asking that you please pray for the hearts of those at our church and our campers. I believe because of the large number of people who are attending, there will mostly likely be people who have not accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. We can make disciples of all the nations starting at home.
Secondly, we have began meeting again for Harvest Campus Ministry at LSU. Our summer meetings are alittle bit smaller, but it is still refreshing to meet up with everyone and pray. We are currently going over topics of a Healthy Ministry. Our immediate need is to continue to grow and use our time wisely during the summer months.
I’ve been updating some stuff at the Harvest site if you are interested. Just click here. As for Cambodia, there is just a little over 2 weeks (15 days) before I leave for Cambodia. If you have any advice, please drop me off a message!
In Christ, our LORD
Vinh
If you look above, I posted a picture that is suppose to help you visualize Siemreat, which is nicknamed the “Floating Village.” This is one of the regions I will be visiting for one week while being in Cambodia. If you want to look at more pictures, a quick search of Floating Village in Cambodia in google will give you more than a handful of images that remind us of how lucky we are to be living in America. Its simply amazes me to think how much and what people still complain about sometimes.
Thanks to the Healthy Travel Clinic, I got most of my travel shots needed for Cambodia. They gave me medicine and shots for typhoid, malaria, tetanus… but nothing for rabies and Japanese encephalitis (apparently America is currently out of these vaccines). Their advice, just stay away from dogs and be mindful of mosquitoes. Great. Playing with wild dogs will not be on my “to do” list.
Its official, my plane ticket for Cambodia was booked last night and I’m going on July 17th. Praise God. I believe for a little while, I was the only one on our team that didn’t have ticket (not sure why). But the price seems reasonable given the shaky economy, airline meltdown, and rising gas prices. Praise, praise God.
I’m going to end it here mainly because my computer is going crazy. Until next time.
Vinh
