The first week of Vietnam has been pretty busy. God has been evident and moving, &
the enemy has definitely been on a mission to destroy and hurt. Today specifically seemed like a pretty
rough day. It was the first day
that I got a bit emotional. I will
have to explain once I see you in person!
J
This week, God has allowed us to work in an orphanage, do
feedings for people surrounding this community & take the kids to the
beach. Today we will head back
into the city and visit the slum on Saturday. My heart is extraordinarily excited about being there.
The most fulfilling and God-revealing event so far in
Vietnam has been the feedings.
This trip for me has been more of a go with a flow. I had an idea of what we were doing,
but never any full details because of my lack of reading the emails. Anyway, I
initially thought the feedings were just for people around the community who
needed food, but when we got to our first feeding, the majority of the people
had some sort of disability. Within
the first 2 minutes, I spotted all 3 people there who had Down syndrome, the
multiple people who I thought could have some form of Autism, and then the ones
with physical disabilities. I was
in my zone and absolutely grateful and blessed to be there. The people there were the poorest of
the poor and the “most disabled.”
I never seem to put any experience into words very well when I am
overseas, but this week has been challenging in some ways that I haven’t faced
before. God showed me more of what it is like for people with disabilities in
another country – ones that aren’t in an orphanage – but where it is much more
raw. They live out in the middle
of nowhere & travel a good distance to get a bag of rice and a box of
flour. They are also given some
water and little bits of some other stuff. For some of these people, taking their kid with a disability
out of their home means facing teasing, bullying, physical pain from just a
walk, - but in their eyes every single step is so worth it. They get food to live off of for what
will hopefully be a good while.
There are moments that I have in the midst of some of this
sadness – I have moments of asking God why these people with disabilities have
to – not only face this type of
suffering but why do they have to ENDURE this suffering for so
long. More than likely they will
live in this poverty & outcast for the rest of their lives. Who knows how often these people
actually get food. They hardly get
out of their houses – I am sure.
It’s almost a miracle that many of them were even at the feeding. They may never have a job – they may
never get married, they may never even have running water. Their lives seem to have such a narrow
view. The things that we have seen
and know will probably be things that they will never see. Opportunities that we have they will
not have. They may NEVER know
anything greater.
As God always does, he gives me love taps and says – if they
KNOW me, there is NOTHING GREATER! All what I consider to be this standard
of goodness is absolutely nothing compared to the love of God. He sustains. He provides. He
does not turn His back. He is very
aware of every single person’s circumstance. He is there – even if I don’t see where He is in all
situations. It’s not even for me
to decide – God is sovereign – He is good. He is worthy to be praised. He is the reason I should want to wake up in the morning. And as these people take each step to
the feedings with courage, hope, pain, fear – we too are living this life in
the same way. We live in fear of
what tomorrow will be – we feel pain, but when we see the light at the end of
the tunnel – we live each step, each day with hope, with courage & no fear. We have faith & trust in the One
true & living God & a yearning for eternity with Him.
On my heart so much lately: Psalm 145.
(take a look)
Blessings,
Lindsey
