#22

From my friends in Vietnam, sent May 1st:

"Hello! Happy May Day! Thankfully, today is a holiday in Vietnam, so I don’t have to teach. That is a good thing, because I am exhausted from the weekend! 

The weekend went better than I expected.  We took the train to my friend’s house in the north. It took about 7 hours each way. When we arrived there, I was pleasantly surprised that her family’s restaurant is located right on the beach. It could not have been a more beautiful location. The intense heat and humidity were pretty rough, but swimming at the beach was refreshing. At least, most of my time at the beach was refreshing. The recurring theme of the weekend seemed to be drunk men seeing a foreign woman for the first time. 

Many men were drunk because it was a holiday weekend, and when men here want to celebrate, they drink beer until they are almost unconscious. Some of the men were innocent enough. They just asked questions and wanted to “practice their English”. Others of them were like stalkers, following me around as I swam and relaxed on the beach, laughing, pointing, and asking crazy questions. I handled it all okay except for the man that touched me. I yelled at him and told him to go away. He went away for about 5 minutes, and was right back. I went into the house, thinking that would make him go away. Unfortunately, he just followed me in. Finally, after 4 or 5 people yelled at him, he left. I was pretty unnerved. I kept telling myself, though, that I am almost twice his size. Being almost 6 feet tall in a country of very short men can be consoling at times. 

Since I told you about the crazy people, I have to tell you about a nice family I met. I was waitressing at my friend’s restaurant, when the table I was serving asked me to join them for dinner. I checked with my friend, because I wondered if I was misunderstanding or if they were just kidding. They were quite sincere, so I sat down and enjoyed snails and clams with them. I was surprised that they would want to invite me to eat seafood with them, since it’s quite expensive. I then found out that 3 members of the family are doctors and the other 2 daughters are pharmacists. They could not have been any nicer. We exchanged phone numbers, and have been messaging each other since. I’m thankful that I got to meet some good people in Quang Tri, and not just drunk ones. 

They are in the photo to the left. 

Another thing that I was very thankful for was my friend’s family giving up a bed for me. They even gave me their only fan. Everyone else slept outside at the beach, but I wasn’t about to be out among the rats. I have never been so thankful for a hard wooden bed in my life.

I also attached a photo of how ice is delivered in Vietnam. It is driven to each restaurant, strapped to the back of a motorbike, without any covering of anything. They then put it on the floor of the restaurant, cut it with a saw, and serve it. I try not to think about this too much as I am drinking anything with ice. 

  

While we were on our way home on the train, David started opening up about his fear of death. We talked about it for awhile, and I was able to talk to him about J*sus more than I ever have before. He listened respectfully, and I pr*y that he will think about the things we talked about. I can really tell that the H0ly Spir*t is working in His life. Please continue to pr*y for him.

We are still waiting to meet with the medical college again, so please lift that up as well. Thankfully there are already 6 teachers signed up to come to Vietnam this coming summer, with several more still thinking about it. We are thankful for every teacher that gives a year to serve here in Vietnam.

Next week, we will be attending some training in Da Nang in a course called Shine, which helps teenage girls and women find their worth in Chr*st. We are very excited about this opportunity!

Thanks for all of your pr*yers and support! We truly are thankful for each one of you! I hope you have a great week!"

Love,

"Yogi" and "Boo-Boo: