Su on a boat in Ha Long Bay Allow me to share a story of hope with you. High in a Vietnamese mountain village, cheerful, brightly colored tribal clothing adorned a girl. But the orphaned child's eyes were dull, and the corners of her mouth inevitably turned downward. In her village, Su was known as “the girl…Read more God of The Details
Vietnam
Tongues of Fire
During this time when my world shrinks and my physical coming and going is limited by a Covid19 shelter in place to rooms in my house, my mind wanders to a place far away. Last November, I worshiped in a North Vietnamese church, so newly born it still glowed with the embers of its originating…Read more Tongues of Fire
Orphans in N Vietnam
In 2006, after adopting two kids from a Kenyan orphanage and being haunted by the ones we left behind, my beloved husband of now 26 years and I helped open Sanctuary of Hope in Kenya, where Hope's Promise now cares for 24 orphans in two families. In the process, I came on staff with Hope's…Read more Orphans in N Vietnam
Who Is My Neighbor?
I’m about as far from my Colorado Springs downtown neighborhood as possible. The organized streets and neon lights of a modern city fade far away as asphalt yields to a rutted, mountainside-hugging dirt road, and then to a slice in the forest where men on motorcycles cluster. I straddle a bike behind a smiling Vietnamese…Read more Who Is My Neighbor?
Where I Saw Jesus in Vietnam
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Matthew 5:8 I walk down a path, rutted and baked in the sun. Red dirt stretches to blue sky, rimmed by green jungle and weathered gray wood structures. They watch, two small girls, framed in a doorway as we near their home. Behind…Read more Where I Saw Jesus in Vietnam
Vietnam – So Much More Than a War
The tank squats low and heavy in the middle of the city at the center of a roundabout, a giant hunk of refuse. Dark, cold metal, it absorbs the tropical light like a black hole. Afforded monument status, it reveals a past seemingly out of congruence with the idyllic mountain town facade, an ugly scar…Read more Vietnam – So Much More Than a War
So Simple, Yet So Profound…
It was a misunderstanding, we discovered later. But at the time, just after a morning worship service, we thought we had been invited to an exorcism that evening. So as the news passed to me, I bowed my head with two teammates, and we prayed. Around us swirled the activity of a church parking lot,…Read more So Simple, Yet So Profound…
Vietnam, fires, and Christmas…
Vietnam, fires, and Christmas.... my excuses for disappearing from the blogging world since late October! (Lots more dramatic than saying my dog ate my rough drafts... although that could happen.) Vietnam: Still can't believe I got to do this - absolutely amazing trip to Vietnam with a Hope's Promise Connection Team in early November. We witnessed the…Read more Vietnam, fires, and Christmas…
A Longing Fulfilled (Return to Vietnam)
In 2015, on a snowy morning in Colorado, memories of Vietnam (blog entry: Longing for Courage) danced in my head. Ironic, on the eve of a longing fulfilled, ticket in-hand to depart for Vietnam tomorrow, snow once again paints white the Colorado landscape outside my window. In 2015, still buried in the crux of crisis involving…Read more A Longing Fulfilled (Return to Vietnam)
Sole to Soul in Vietnam
My visits to Vietnam with Hope's Promise deeply impacted me (click the link to read the story of the painting above). I painted Sacrificial Love after one of these trips. Recently I had the great privilege of interviewing Dennis Pringle after his trip to Vietnam with Hope's Promise. I wrote the following article for the Hope's Promise…Read more Sole to Soul in Vietnam
