Monday, September 12, 2011

The First 48 in Vietnam

I arrived in Saigon on Saturday night about 11 PM Vietnam time. I am 13 hours ahead of EST, it's normally 12 hours, but they don't do Daylight Savings Time here. I slept about 4 hours, and was up to get ready for church about 6:15 AM. I went to worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ at Grace Baptist Church. The church also hosts the bible institute I will be teaching in Tuesday through Friday.

After church I came back to the room and did some reading. I tried to watch the end of the Gator game, but espn360 doesn't work over here for some reason. Went to lunch about 12:30 PM and then came back to the room to do some more reading and preparing to teach. I went to sleep about 2:30 and slept til 7 PM when my phone rang. I had made an appointment to meet with a guy to talk. Didn't realize how tired I was, but I got up and we hung out for a couple of hours. There is this awesome little coffee/desert shop right next door to my hotel, so we went there. On my last trip over here, Dr. Ewart and I spent alot of time there in the evenings hanging out, drinking coffee, and talking. Bet I have a repeat performance this time too. When I got back to the room I spent some additional time in God's Word and praying. I know this will be an horrible experience without his outstanding power and guidance as I teach.

What amazed me, was that I went right back to sleep when I was done studying, and I slept til 5 AM. One of the things which makes trips like this doable is technology like Skype. I've been able to talk with my kids in NC and my wife in FL already this week. I would always prefer to be with them, but when I can't, being able to see them and talk with them is a comfort and blessing. In this way I am so thankful to the Lord for technology and the internet. I love my family!

Today (Monday) I'm just hanging out in the hotel room this morning studying for tomorrow. I'm reading the second book in a series by Dr. Jerry Vines on the Holy Spirit. Good stuff. Praying for wisdom, guidance and a keen ability to communicate cross-culturally this week. Pray with me!

Serving Him,
Mike

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