Day 7 - Our Last Day Here

Today ended up as a free day so we took the opportunity to sleep in.  Sleeping in for me was getting about an hour more than I have the rest of the week but it was nice to not wake up to an alarm.

We got ready and had a leisurely breakfast and had an opportunity to say farewell to Janice & Quang who are the Awana Missionaries for Vietnam.  They told us that all of the churches that were represented yesterday are interested in starting Awana Clubs.  It was exciting and encouraging news!  There are many logistics to work out and who knows how many clubs will actually start as a result of the meetings yesterday but the response was overwhelmingly positive and they were ecstatic.  They were such wonderful hosts and I loved getting to know them. 

We hopped in a cab and headed to the Reunification Palace.  We saw this lady as we were on our way and I had to snap a picture.  Amidst all of the traffic here, you occasionally see people riding bikes.  I always fear for their safety but they never seem all that concerned.  Just moments before I snapped this picture, she was riding with one hand and texting on her phone with the other.  It just cracks me up to see the traditional with the modern.  

I love the traditional hats.  I so badly wanted to buy one but there is no way to get it home without ruining it and I'm pretty sure I would never wear it at home anyway.  Rick told me to wear it on the plane...


Here is your history lesson for the day.  If you are like me, you have no idea why the Reunification Palace is a landmark.  It was the site of the end of the Vietnam War during the fall of Saigon when a North Vietnamese Army tank crashed through its gates.

This is the helipad on the top of the Palace where civilians were airlifted out before the fall of Saigon.

We were also able to tour the basement where the war rooms, radio rooms, map rooms and such were.

This was the map room

This was called the teletypewriter room

 After the tour, we decided we have seen everything we wanted to see so we headed back to the hotel to relax and pack.  Our flight leaves at 5am tomorrow morning to head home.

I never did get a picture of the stinky fruit that was mostly to blame for how bad the marketplace smells.  It is only one of many smells there including fish and other foods, people, mothballs.  Add in the heat and the durian and you have a smell worse than anything I've ever smelled before. 

One last thing about Vietnam.  I love how inexpensive most things are here.  Entry to the palace was 30,000D which is about $1.40 USD.  For much of the trip, I carried around several million Dong.  It felt nice to be a millionaire for a while!

Day 6 - Includes My Top 10 Things That Surprised Me In Vietnam

Today was the day that pastors were coming from all over Vietnam to learn about Awana.  The hope is that many of them will start Awana Clubs in their churches.  I thought they were expecting 60 people but this morning I was told they were expecting 100.  When we arrived, we learned that 140 people had shown up.  There were 2 people from each church so the group represented about 70 churches from all over Vietnam.

We heard from our very own Kerry who talked about the importance of Children's Ministry.

Kerry and our new friend Janice interpreting for her

Then we heard from Mike (from Awana) who talked about the 4 to 14 Window movement.

Mike with Janice's husband Quang interpreting

We heard from a couple of other people but it was in Vietnamese.  While I could not tell you what was said specifically, I can tell you that it was so great to see and hear a pastor talk to his fellow pastors and tell them how great Awana is.  I think in this culture, that goes a long way.

It was a long day and we're praying it will be fruitful.

Tomorrow is our last day here.  It turns out that we are free for the day.  I have no idea what we plan to do other than sleep in.  We are all a little exhausted so a good nights rest sounds wonderful!

Part 2 of this post is my top 10 list of things that surprised me most about Vietnam.  I'm going to do this in countdown form:

10.  The air quality is really poor.  I admit I never gave it much thought but it still surprised me.  We hardly had rain this week which would normally wash it out of the air so maybe it was worse than normal?  Who knows...

9.  They don't use napkins like we do.  None of the Vietnamese restaurants we went to had napkins.  They had individualized wet wipes but no napkins.  For those who drop food on themselves when they eat, this could present a problem.  Also, when we ate lunch at the celebration and seminar, they had a box of Kleenex type tissue to use as a napkin.  Imagine having sticky fingers from eating fruit and trying to use a thin flimsy Kleenex to wipe them off.  All it did was stick to my fingers and rip apart.  I never realized how much I like napkins.  Also, I had nothing to wipe up my Pepsi that overflowed when I poured it into my cup.  Yep, I sort of missed napkins at those places.  Fortunately, the hotel we stayed at is very Western and they had napkins.

8.  No one wears gym shoes!  No one.  95% of everyone we saw wore either flip flops or sandals.  The other 5% were women in heels.  I have no concrete reasons why but I have a few theories.  Considering many shoes are manufactured here, I think that's sort of ironic.

7.  Face Masks are designer items.  Many people wear face masks as they ride their scooters.  We saw a large variety of face masks this week.  It's an entire product market that doesn't exist in the US.  We believe they wear the face masks partly because of the air quality but I'm sure there's more to it than just that.

6.  Considering English is taught in the upper grades, hardly anyone speaks even a few words.  Even in tourist type places like the hotel, it can be difficult to find someone who speaks even a little English.  The marketplace was the big exception.  They know how to say certain phrases and they know the currency conversion rate.

5.  Cab drivers in the city do not know where many things are.  Including many famous landmarks.  This shocks me.  To make matters worse, they don't speak any English so communication is near impossible.  This made for a few interesting cab rides this week.

4.  The French influence in Vietnam.  I had no idea there was any French influence so finding so many breads and baked goods here was a complete surprise.  Who knew?  Meals were often served with bread which did not match up with what I've heard about Asian food.  I must say, I enjoyed the donuts at the breakfast buffet each day.  No complaints here!

This was a portion of what was served at breakfast each day.

3.  Everyone has a cell phone!  I mean everyone!  This was a complete surprise and it cracks me up.  People are people no matter where you go.  They are just like we are when it comes to their cell phones.  We saw so many people texting and driving their scooters it was scary but driving is another topic so I'll stop there.

2.  The types of things that can be carried on a scooter!  I mentioned it a few days ago but every day I see something else being carried that makes me laugh and shake my head all over again.  Who knew you could carry a refrigerator/freezer on the back of a motorcycle?  We saw carpet rolls, assorted animals, up to 5 people, desks & chairs, ladders, 5 gallon water jugs (not just 1, we're talking like 10), cases and cases of beer and much, much more.  It really is a hoot to watch.

And, the number 1 thing that surprised me most in Vietnam is...

THE TRAFFIC!   I could go on and on about it.  I've never seen anything so crazy and unorganized and dangerous in my life but it is how they do it.  I have a very tame clip that does not begin to describe the traffic but I'm posting it anyway since it's the only visual I have.

I really don't have the words to do it justice and I'm pretty sure that I could never get totally used to it.  I'm not sure I could ever drive in it.  I had to bury my head and not watch many, many times this week.  Rick says he wants to try to drive in it.  I want to be there with a camera when he does.

I cannot believe how quickly this week has gone by.  We have seen, heard, smelled, tasted and experienced so much this week.  This blog doesn't touch half of it. 

Day 5 - Party Time!!

Today was the 1 year celebration of Awana in Vietnam.  Most of the churches that started Awana Clubs this year were represented today.  We headed back to the same church we were at yesterday and spent the morning hearing stories of the past year.

I could not possibly convey everything we heard today but there were a few stories that stuck with me.  For instance, we heard about 1 boy who traveled 14km on his own, just to come to his Awana Club.  We heard about children who are persecuted by their families for their faith.  Children who refused to bow down to the family idols.  We also heard from Awana leaders about how their lives have been unexpectedly changed by working with the children. 

There were stories of transformation and there were stories of trials and tribulations. It was eye opening, encouraging and heart breaking all mixed together.

After the testimonies, the Awana missionaries handed out certificates, pictures were taken, lunch was served and then it was time for cake. 

This is the team of first ever Awana leaders in Vietnam

They presented The Compass Church this awesome map of Vietnam with the location of the Awana Clubs marked on it

I have to say, I never realized there was such a French influence in Vietnam but I'm glad for it.  That is one of the things on my list of things that surprised me here.  The cake was yummy!

After the celebration ended, we headed back to the hotel and had about 3 hours to relax before we met for dinner with the Awana Missionaries. 

I'm still working on my list of things about Vietnam that surprised me.  The French influence is being added to that list.

Tomorrow we will be meeting with about 60 pastors from around Vietnam who are interested in learning about Awana.  These may be the church leaders of the clubs started here in year 2.

Day 4 - No, I Can't Think Up Some Witty Title

This morning, we left the hotel about 7am for the church that the Awana training/celebration was taking place at.  It was about 1 hour away.

We took a little tour of the church before the training began.  Some things were very much like an American church and some things were very different.  The one visual that stuck with me and made me smile big was the Awana game circle.  The church is a very skinny church and is 5 stories tall.  The 6th floor is like an attic with a rooftop patio.  They told us that no one ever came out there or used the space because it was so high and there were no railings up there.  After Awana started in this church last year, they saw such value in the program that they raised funds to cover the patio with a roof and installed railings and they use that space for Awana now.

The game circle is small by our standards.  We were having fun thinking of all the games that would be easier to play with the smaller circle.  The 4 way tug wins in my book!

The training started off with singing which was awesome, even if we didn't understand what they were saying.  We did recognize one of the tunes as a Michael W Smith song so we sang along in English.  It was a great way to begin the day.

This was a picture of the sanctuary where the training was held

We had sessions on Excellence and Leadership.  The first session was strictly in Vietnamese so I couldn't tell you what was said but the Leadership session was taught by our very own Rick Pierson. 

Rick and his translator

Now Rick has told me that his image is copyrighted and I have to pay him to use it so no one tell him it's in here.  He'll never know!

Have no fear Compass peeps.  We are compiling a list of Rickisms.  I'm not sure they would be funny to anyone else so I may not publish them here but if you ever need a good laugh, I would be happy to share!

After the training, we headed to another church plant of The Compass Church.  They hold weekly English classes for young people and we went to help them practice their English.  It was a lot of fun getting to meet and interact with them.  Teaching these young people English opens the doors for the church to share the Gospel with them.

I am trying to put together a list of things that surprised me about Vietnam.  Today's giggle is specifically for Bradley.  They need cable management classes in Saigon.

Tomorrow is the 1 year celebration of Awana in Vietnam.  We will be heading back to the church we were at today to hear stories of the past year and celebrate with the leaders of the 15 clubs.  I'm really excited about this after getting a small glimpse of some of what we will hear.

Day 3

Today started bright and early with us heading back out to the church we were at on Sunday night.  We were supposed to put on a program for about 60 children.  That was about all we knew.  We came up with a loose plan that included a story and some games but really were not sure of what was expected of us.  We were winging it for sure!

This time, as we were driving out there, I remembered to take a picture of the graves amongst the rice fields.  I'm just intrigued by why they do this.

 

Not a great picture but you get the idea.  It was really hard to capture anything between the bouncing of the taxi on the pot hole filled dirt road and the trees along the side of the road blocking the good shots.

There are tons and tons of these little "shops" all over the place.  They are so overabundant that we cannot figure out how they all stay in business.  Even in the most remote areas along the most remote roads, you will find them.  Some of them sell the oddest things like stuffed animals or live fish in baggies or birds in bird cages or toy airplanes and tanks. 

We arrived a few minutes after we should have because the cab driver was not sure of where to go exactly but we did finally make it.  The children were mostly already there and they were singing as we arrived.  What a fun sound to arrive to!

We had to walk down a trail to get from the road to the church and we could hear the kids singing the whole way there.

Even though the houses are open to the outside, they always take their shoes off.  I loved seeing all the little shoes as we arrived!

This is how we were greeted.

What a beautiful sound!

After a great time with the kids, we headed back to the hotel where we met with the Awana missionaries for Vietnam.  We had a great time getting to know them, hearing about the last year of Awana in Vietnam and finding out what the next few days will look like.

We had a few free hours this afternoon so we headed out to explore a little more of Saigon.  Wouldn't you know, we ended up back at the Marketplace.  I'm counting my blessings that the smell was not nearly as bad as it was yesterday.

Tomorrow is our most scheduled day yet.  The meetings with all of the Awana churches in Vietnam are all day and then we are heading to an English class in the evening where we will be helping people practice their English.  Should be fun!

Day 2

Today was our only free day on this trip so we decided to do a little sightseeing.

First place on the agenda was the Viet Cong Tunnels about 1 1/2 hours outside of Saigon.  To me, this was the highlight of the day although it was sobering and evoked more emotions than I expected.

This is not the place to be if you are claustrophobic.  I cannot fathom living down in the bunkers.  I tried to lower myself down one of the shafts and I got myself stuck.  Yes, embarrassing.  I had to have two men grab me by the arms and lift me straight up.

Sure, I'm smiling here because I didn't realize I was stuck yet.

Seeing real life examples of B52 bomb craters and real life examples of traps that were used against the US Forces in Vietnam brought the war to life to me.

B52 Bomb Crater

This was a trap used against US Forces

One of the entrances to the tunnels.  Obviously, this has been modified for the tourists.

I made it about 2 feet into a tunnel before I backed out.  It was hot, dark, cramped and crowded down there.  I wasn't feeling quite as adventurous at that point after getting stuck earlier. 

After the tunnels, we made our way back to downtown Saigon to the marketplace.  It was booth, after booth, after booth of the same stuff.  It was fun to see but the smell near the food section was unbearable to me.  I have never come so close to throwing up due to a smell in my life.  It's not someplace I feel I need to go back to, that's for sure. 

The Marketplace

Rick & Sherry

After the marketplace, we drove past a few famous landmarks such as the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Reunification Palace, and the first (and only) Starbucks in Vietnam.

Notre Dame Cathedral

Reunification Palace

Sorry, I didn't take a picture of the Starbucks.

Tomorrow morning we head to a local church to do a somewhat impromptu kids program for about 60 kids.  We have to do it early to avoid the heat and the probable rain but that doesn't really matter to us.  We are so excited to get to work with the kids!

Day 1

We got our first real taste of the true Vietnam this evening.  What an experience!  This is one of those times where I wish I were an eloquent writer who could capture what we saw, did, heard and smelled and to convey it to everyone.  Unfortunately, I'm not gifted in that way but I'll do my best to stumble through.

We went to a small church about 40 minutes from our hotel where Rick was preaching tonight.  The ride there was unlike any ride I've ever taken in my life!  The vast majority of the Vietnamese cannot afford cars so everyone has a motorcycle in some form.  How do I even begin to describe the traffic?  There are lanes painted on the roads but no one pays attention to them.  It is just a mass of motorcycles darting in and out of each other in every conceivable direction.  Some of them carrying up to 5 people (2 adults, 3 kids) plus the "stuff" they need to transport. 

Traffic

I tried to capture the roll of carpet but I didn't snap fast enough

4 people on the motorcycle, toddler is standing

I could fill a page just listing the things we saw being carried by the motorcycles.  Things like cases (8 maybe?) of beer, rolls of carpet padding (we think that's what it was), bunches of live geese hanging by their feet and stuffed into baskets, toddlers standing up on the seat in between their parents and oh so much more.  It was truly the most nerve-wracking and dizzying ride of my life.  Words and pictures cannot possibly do it justice!

The church is located in the "suburbs" of Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon (I'm not sure which I'm supposed to call it.  They are one and the same place.).  Suburbs here are unlike suburbs in Chicago.  The roads were rough and wound through rice field after rice field.  The oddest part was the cemetary plots in the midst of many of the rice fields we passed.  I wish I would have thought to take a picture!

We really enjoyed experiencing and participating in the church service.  Even in a different language, it was a blessing to be there.  We've been asked to come back on Tuesday morning to put on a 2 hour kids program at this same church.  I cannot imagine how they can fit 60 kids in that small room.

This is the church we attended tonight

Left to right:  Sherry, Jeff, Kerry & Rick just outside the church

 Stay tuned for day 2...

We made it!

It took 27 hours from home to hotel in Ho Chi Minh City but we made it!  To continue my streak, neither flight left on time.  Fortunately, they both made up time in the air so our arrivals were not affected.  Seriously though, I have the worst luck with flight delays.

We had a 5 1/2 hour layover in Hong Kong so I dragged Rick & Sherry to find the Disney Store there.  We actually had enough time to take the train to Hong Kong Disneyland but I'm pretty much the only one who thought that sounded like fun so we stayed safely in the airport.

We also found the Starbucks.  Ice Tea!!

We got to bed after 2am but I was still able to get a solid 5 hours of sleep.  I'll take it!

It didn't work out for us to go to church with Rick this morning (not enough room in the car) but we will get to go to a different church tonight.  We've been asked to come back to the same church on Tuesday morning to run a 2 hour kids program for about 60 kids.  So exciting!! 

After a relaxing morning of settling in, we were privileged to have lunch with several pastors of churches here that The Compass Church has helped plant.  It was a brief time but I enjoyed hearing about their churches and learning about how things are different (and in some ways, the same) than at home.

That's about all the update I have in me for now.  Hopefully there is a nap in my future!

Getting Closer and Getting Nervous

This trip to Vietnam is getting close.  Quickly.  We leave on Friday around Noon.

I am frantically trying to get everything done at work and at home before I leave.  Hopefully this exhaustion pays off on the plane and I sleep much of the flight away.  Hey, I can wish, can't I?

The flight from here to Hong Kong is over 15 hours, then we have a 5 1/2 hour layover, then a couple hours to Ho Chi Minh City.  I'm going to be exhausted, aren't I?

I got my shots.  Ouchie. 

All of my travel documents are in order.

I need to start packing.

We should arrive at our hotel in the wee hours of Sunday morning.  Rick is scheduled to preach at two different churches on Sunday so we will have to be up bright and early and ready to go.  I already warned him that if I nod off during church, it's not reflective of his preaching.  :giggle:

We have internet at the hotel so I will do my best to blog from over there. 

I'm excited!  I'm nervous!  Please pray that I get everything done before I leave!

Vacation

If you know anything about me, or my family for that matter, you know that we love Disney.  Our vacations for the last (who knows how many) years have included at least a visit to a Disney Park.  Most of those years have been trips exclusively to Disney World. 

While I would live at Disney if possible, I thought I should try to expose my kids to a different vacation destination.  I've been trying for years to get them to agree to go somewhere else or do something different but I trained them well and they only want to keep going back to Disney.

This year I finally figured out a compromise that everyone agreed on.  We took a 4 night cruise (Royal Caribbean) out of Miami and then drove to Orlando for a few days after the cruise.  This presented us with the best of both worlds.

What an amazing and fun vacation we had!

The morning after Matthew's graduation, we flew to Fort Lauderdale and took a cab to Miami.  I'm so glad we flew in a day early as our flight was delayed 2 1/2 hours and we would have missed our cruise had we been sailing the day we flew in!

Everyone loved the cruise!  The ship we sailed on was the oldest in the Royal Caribbean fleet and there was not as much to do as there is on many of the "newer" ships but we didn't seem to lack for ways to spend our time.  We had 3 ports of call.  Nassau, Coco Cay (private island) and Key West.  I won't bore you with details of each day but here are a few pictures.

In Nassau, striking a pose :-)

They had a great time playing shuffleboard

Key West

Southernmost point in the Continental United States.  Bradley wore the most obnoxious Hawaiian shirt he could find :-)

Matthew on the climbing wall on the ship

Caitlyn's turn

Bradley's turn

The second half of the vacation was at Disney World.  Sadly, I stink at taking pictures at Disney.  It's quite unexplainable but I turn into a big kid and get sucked into the magic and forget to take pictures.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

We did get to spend some time with ROTErs which is always a highlight.  We celebrated Mark's 50th birthday a couple weeks early (since I will be in Vietnam over his real birthday).  That was a dinner full of laughs and fun.

We were told to sing Happy Birthday as loud as possible.  We did our best!  Photo courtesy of Joey.

We also had the chance to meet up with even more friends the next day at The Magic Kingdom.

Photo courtesy of Grace

The weather was hot and the parks were crowded but we still had the best time!  I came home exhausted but full of great memories!  I know family vacations that include all 5 of us are going to come to an end at some point so I really cherish these times.