Pictures.

Stay tuned.  I will be posting up pictures soon!

Prayer.

Tomorrow we will be going to stay on the river for the weekend.  Please pray for us.

For God’s glory!
Vinh

HIV, Medical Missions, and Cambodia’s People Party.

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

Day 1 and 2. Meeting Cambodia.

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

Meeting the Team. Taipei. 2 more hours.

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!

Making disciples of all the nations, starting at home.

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