Trip Winding Up!

with Steve, Saturday 24th, 2:30am

I have been unable to update the site over the last few days. Sorry about that It is mainly because I have spent two nights away form the hotel and when I was here, I was either too busy or the Internet was down. I will try to load some good pictures but will not be able to write too much as I am simply wiped out. I have taken dozens of mission trips and can honestly saw this is by far the most difficult. But it has been great!

Most of the details of what I am writing can be found within the blogs. I encourage you to read them. The kids (most anyway) have been great about posting. When you want the most details, read Bethany's.

We left Tuesday morning for a secret Bible camp with over 100 Christian youth form all over Vietnam. They had a pretty full program and we were able to participate when appropriate and also to complete our own agenda. Our primary purpose was to meet with some youth who have experienced persecution. We were able to interview three youth for this purpose. Taani interviewed a teenage girls with an incredible testimony. She was first arrested when she was only 12! Her faith was truly inspiring. Taani was really impacted by this young women and broke down. Although she was a trooper and answered all our questions for the video.

Our group played some of the games with the Vietnamese until we were hit by a torrential downpour. But the timing couldn't have been better as our teens broke into groups under some small thatched roof shelters and had a great time of fellowship with the Vietnamese youth.

The challenge came that evening when Summer had an allergic reaction to being bitten multiple times by fire ants. The reaction was pretty bad and she was having extreme difficulty in breathing. We gave her some benadryl (Which thank God Jon had with him) and she was rushed ot the hospital. Once given a shot she was fine but the doctor's said she would have stopped breathing without the benadryl. You can read more in the kids (and Ginny's) blog.

Needless to say we were all a bit shaken up. Ginny went with Summer and her husband to the hospital while our group just spontaneously knelt down on the grass in prayer.

At 9:00 that evening the crew (except for me and Gary) went back to the hotel to charge batteries and organize their equipment. It was also about this time we learned that Summer was going to be fine. Praise God.  That night we slept in tents with mats less than 1" thick on a concrete floor! At 43, I am getting a bit old for this type of adventure! But everyone was exhausted and we managed to get a few hours sleep. We got up at 5:30 am the next morning for devotions and went off to breakfast.

During breakfast the teens started planning their presentation for the Bible Camp. They were all very excited to finally have the opportunity to present. However, again plans changed as the police visited the Bible Camp and wanted to know specifically what we (foreigners) were doing there. Their intention was to re-group with more officers to question each of us. But before they could make the arrangements we were rushed onto the bus and driven away. The group was very upset as they felt terrible about rushing off without saying goodbye to their new friends and fearing they had caused trouble for those in the Bible Camp.

We found ourselves back in Saigon earlier then expected and some of the group was able to get more rest. That afternoon we began the formal interviews. We split into two groups with one group staying behind and the second (Wes, DJ, Bethany & Jon) was invited to visit an underground Bible School. We met with the leader and founder of the school in his office which was a small space between floors. There was only about 4' of head room. The kids we brought were blown away by school and the testimony of it's leader.

Thursday we again split into two groups. The first stayed in Saigon to interview "Ester" a Hmong Christian teenager whose father is in prison, more students of the Bible School and a local coffee house ministry. I did not stay with this group but I heard Ester's testimony was a highlight of the trip. Bethany and Wes were especially impacted.

The second group (Taani, Brad, Dj and Bryant (with me and Ramsey)) headed up to the central Highlands to visit with the Jaria tribe. We were told to bring as little as possible and that their was a very good chance we would be stopped by the police and turned around. We also had 500 Bibles to deliver.

We stopped for lunch on the way. The countryside was absolutely breathtaking. Check out the size of the beetle Taani picked up. Big enough for lunch!

We were successfully in reaching the church later that evening after a 16 hour drive! The service was unbelievable. There were about 300 tribal Christians and many had never met a Westerner. They were swarming the teens. They were laughing, crying, shouting praises and hugging the teens. The looks on the face of the teens was priceless. They obviously never expected such a welcome and I am fairly confident they will never have another one like it.

Before leaving (which was in only 30 minutes because we were again told the police were on their way) we had our teens pray for the church. as they knelt down to pray, the Christians swarmed around them as tight as possible. Again it was unbelievable. These tribal Christians were so hungry for fellowship and encouragement with the extended body of Christ.

After praying we were quickly escorted back to the bus to begin the long journey Beck to the hotel. In all we were gone 30 hrs! I was actually missing the concrete floor of the Bible Camp.

We were back in Saigon around noon and had a few hrs to rest before heading out again at 4:00 to meet with two persecuted pastors and a Communist General who is also a Christian. The teens were quite fascinated by the general and had a chance to ask some questions. It is not every day you get to fellowship with a Communist General! (I will try to post a picture next update.)

After the meeting we headed to the Christian coffee shop (mentioned above) to speak with Vietnamese university students. They all spoke English and it was a fun time. Bethany was able to share her faith with a Buddhist woman and gave her a Bible. Bethany was pretty excited. Unfortunately there was little time for the team to share their expedience at the coffee shop as we didn't get back till around 11:00 and had to have our nightly meeting to plan for the next day. Tonight Bethany (who is in charge of gifts) had to go through all the suitcases to divide the gifts we brought.

On an unfortunate note, Shannon has been a bit sick and spent the last two days mostly in bed. She was feeling much better tonight and hopes to re-join in the activities tomorrow. I really hope she can as tomorrow is also the day we will share the animal balloons with some children and I know Shannon has prepared for this. Please keep her in your prayer. Also Taani vomited on the bus just before arriving back from the Central Highlands. I think she is simple exhausted (physically and emotionally) and we let her rest most of the day.

That's it for now. Remember to look at the blogs as they offer the best up-to-date info.