Vietnam Report - March 23, 2011

Unexpected Blessing at Thuan An Deaf School We started the morning with a devotion from Matthew 14:13f, the feeding of the 5,000 men plus women and children with 5 loaves and 2 fish. As we are nearing the end of our trip, we are, of course, tired and a little exhausted. But, now is no time to stop giving. There are plenty of children yet to be served by the medical clinics. The Matthew 14 text opens with Jesus having compassion upon the crowds and healing their sick. After a long day of ministry, the disciples were ready to call its quits for the day and encouraged Jesus to disperse the crowds, but Jesus told them to give them something to eat. What they had amongst themeselves were five loaves of bread and two fish, but in the hands of Jesus it was more than enough. Today we we traveled to Thuan An Deaf School, which has a state administrator, but is run by the nuns. The school and children were obviously well-loved and clean. It did not matter what religious affiliation to which the children belonged, only that they had a need. This school served the hearing and speaking impaired. Almost all of the children wore hearing aids and all of them signed. I couldn't help but think of our own deaf ministry at the church spearheaded by Kim Russell. She would have really enjoyed herself. Some of the signs were easy enough to pick up, and, for the first time, I felt that I actually communicated more and better with the kids than all the previous clinics. They were well-educated and I found myself in a sign discussion about the English Premiere League and their favorate football (i.e., soccer) teams. Several of them are avid Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Liverpool fans.We served about 307 children and a few adults with basic hygiene, general medical exams and dental work. At the end, the children offered their thanks to us for coming through a sign interpreter. Then, spontaneously, without prompting, they all came up to us and gave us hugs and vigorous handshakes. It really warmed our hearts and there were quite a number of wet eyes on the team. Once again, a most valuable lesson was relearned about the power of love communicated not just through words but through tender and kind actions of compassion with eyes full of grace and mercy. The nuns were watching us and remarked later that they could see how much we truly loved the children. And, the children did feel loved. And, they did respond to that love. Today's experience somehow made the entire trip worth it. When we got back to the hotel, the rains came. I've never seen it rain that hard and long. It was a deluge -- and people were still riding their motorcycles in it! They bring out their ponchos which fit over the front handle bars and cover entirely a passenger in the back. It is really something watching the mass of humanity negotiate a four-way intersection. I still marvel that no one is killled. Somehow, the whole thing is like a dance which they all intuitively know. They make left-hand turns across the flow of traffic all the time. Tomorrow we travel to the Youth Shelter. Evidently every COPI trip has ended serving here. The youth shelter is really a shelter for abandoned children who served their purposes for prostitution in other countries, but now have contracted diseases and are considered worthless. All orphanages and shelters are officially state-run, but his one is also helped by the nuns. This is our last clinic -- eight in all. Altogether we should serve around 1800 children by the end. Thank you for your prayers. It has been a great encouragement knowing that people are reading the blogs and praying for us. Please pray for one more day of strength and energy so that we might pour our lives in to the children. P. Jeff