The team from the US arrived from different places individually and in small groups via different routes. But eveyone arrived by Friday evening and the whole team met in the hotel lobby early Saturday monring for breakfast and our inbriefing by Pastor Ngoc. After hearing our plan for the week beginning tomorrow, we were free to rest or roam. Some took naps during the day to recover from jet lag and travel drag, but with so much anticipation and adrenaline thinking about the trip, it was difficult.
Some shopped for last minute items that might be hard to find in the Central Highlands or for soveniers. Some took strolls in the neighborhood getting to know the culture, food, and money. A few of us took a cruise on the Saigon River in the afternoon to see some of the city from the water. Rest and recovery, as well as culture familiarization, was the order of the day. We were told to report downstairs in the morning with our bags packed, ready to board the bus after breakfast.
We would be attending Sunday church services at a Bible school on our way out of town, followed by a nine hour bus ride to our first ministry station or village.
The students and church members were welcoming and friendly. It was different, and it was the same, as it mostly is in different Christian communities around the globe. The sermon and the worship was in Vietnamese, but it felt like home–peaceful and the same spirit. Speaking of Spirit, we were there on Penecost Sunday 2026. And that was the theme of the worship, as well as, the teaching and preaching. They sang some songs we knew by the melody, so we could sing along in English.
We discoved Google Translate could translate the sermon in real time to text on our phones. That was nice. And the Google Translate camera feature would translate print into English for us as we held our cameras to print or signs. Nice! But even had we sat in silence, it was a comfortable, familiar feeling. There was a lot of reverence and worship of God, and there was a lot of love for each other in the room.
We had a nice lunch with students and church members in the kitchen/dining room of the multistory dormitory complex. Before long we walked to our bus, and began the long, interesting ride north and upward to the Central Highlands–our mission and home for the coming week.
We settled in on the bus for quiet visits to get to know each other, and for quietly seeing the country side and the way people lived. There was time for reflection, dreaming, imagaing what might lay in front of us, rest, and prayer.
Soon we’ll know! We’re supposed to arrive at our hotel before midnight.
