More Like Mary

"Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away form her."

- Luke 10:38-42 -

"Are you a Mary or a Martha?" - I always hesitated in answering this question. 

Two months into Vietnam, I'm realizing that I was a more of a Martha than a Mary. It's so easy to get distracted with serving. MUCH serving. Living a life running around, panting, so many times we find ourselves anxious and troubled about many things - "What next? Did I forget something? Gotta do this, gotta do that. What about this? What about that?"

I'm sure there are many reasons why God led me to drop everything and come to Vietnam, but I think I may have found one - to become more like Mary. 

Silent Night

M E R R Y  C H R I S T M A S

It's an odd feeling being away from GCC during the Christmas season. No service on Christmas Eve and no GCC family to spend time with on Christmas day. 

Christmas is not a National Holiday in Vietnam, nor is it a day to be remembered as Christ's coming. Everywhere you go you see beautiful Christmas decorations and hear Christmas songs playing, but nobody seems to really know what Christmas is. So many people celebrate Christmas and say the very words, "Merry Christmas," not realizing what this day truly means. 

It's quite a different Christmas experience; one that I've never experienced before. I'm not busy. The holiday season is usually a time of busyness - writing cards, buying gifts, preparing performances, going to retreats, etc. However, this Christmas is seriously a "Silent Night". No running around, no packing bags, no staying up all night writing cards, no eating out late...

Growing up in America, I think I've fallen into the trap of a "worldly" Christmas. Although I attended Christmas service, I can't remember a time when I really spent Christmas thinking about Jesus' birth. "Merry Christmas." Yes, it's a merry Christmas for us, but what about for God? I'm sure He was delightful at the fact that through Jesus He would save the world and be able to restore the relationship He had with mankind, but on the other hand, I think that God may have been very heart-broken. Jesus' death was already set as He was sent to earth. God gave life to Jesus so that He may die. God gave up His perfect Son in order to give us the perfect gift. 

--

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." - John 3:16-17

Carl's Jr.

Bacon Swiss Burger

1st American burger I've had in the past 2 months.

There's a Lotteria right around the corner so I've tried that once, but it's definitely NOT the thang.

Pastor Kim and I went to Carl's Jr. for lunch yesterday. (It was his suggestion, not mine!)

He's from America, so he missed American food as well. Apparently SMN's not a fan of American food so they always eat Korean food, and it's not like the church deacons ever take us to eat burgers....

Bacon Swiss Burger. I LOVE! Carl's Jr. fries. I LOVE!

Finally experienced the "American-FULL" after 2 months of getting full off of Korean and Vietnamese food. Praise God for Carl's Jr. in Vietnam! :)

Christmas Service

"구원 잔치" (Salvation Festival)
PhuMyHung Bethel Church

We had our Christmas Service on Friday, December 21st.
All the Korean churches here are shared with a Vietnamese church. (I'm guessing it's some kind of policy?) Therefore, we're not free to use the church whenever we want.

Apparently in the past years they rented out a school auditorium or something and all the Bethel churches held their Christmas Service together. However, this year they decided to hold their own service at their respective churches.

The Youth Group took charge of 4 parts:
1. MC
2. Praise
3. Choir
4. Body Worship

The teachers put me in charge of Body Worship.
The only Body Worship I can fully remember is "Who Am I," but there is no Korean version of this song so that was out of the question. Thanks to GCC (Shannon Song), I gave them the YouTube link for "Oceans Will Part (주의 나라 오리라)". At first I told them to watch it and learn it on their own, but after a while i realized it's not going to work. (Actually, I think I might have known from the beginning but I was in denial because I didn't want to have to learn it myself and teach them.)

As the day was approaching, there was an URGENCY to get this body worship put together. I'm not a slow learner, but then again, I'm not a super fast learner either. So... I prayed. I told God I don't have hours and hours to learn this and asked him to grant me the ability to learn this in a short period of time.  And guess what? God answered my prayer. I think I learned the whole song in an hour or so :)

I don't think the students have ever done a body worship like this before. I thought I was 몸치 but umm... they're on a completely different level. I had NO HOPE. And so... I prayed. And guess what? God answered my prayer AGAIN. They didn't do as well as I would have wanted them to (ahem. perfectionist syndrome), but they surely FAR EXCEEDED my expectations.

Other than preaching, it was the first responsibility given to me.
It wasn't me... it was all God! I really experienced God's grace through this event.

It's kind of fun and exciting unexpectedly experiencing God in these small areas.
"Greater things are yet to come" :)

진경 . 다운 . 해리 . Anna . 혜진 . 세란 

Father's Heart

Change my heart oh God

Make it ever true

Change my heart oh God

May I be like You

You are the potter

I am the clay

Mold me and make me

This is what I pray

Change my heart oh God

Make it ever true

Change my heart oh God

May I be like You

"You've Got Mail"

Received this in the mail yesterday :)

It's the first mail I received other than bills and advertisements.

From the Love Ministry. "Awwwwwwwwww" <3

Musical

"Fame"

Korean International School, HCMC

Korean International School of Ho Chi Minh City is the only Korean school in this city, so the majority of Bethel Youth students attend this school (except those that attend American, British, Australian, etc. international schools). 

I was invited to a musical by a student at Bethel - Kyung Ryul Park (Deacon Park's son).

I would say it was one of the most exciting things I've done after coming to Vietnam.

Although they're not "professionals", I was actually quite impressed. The musical was performed by a club they have in the school, and the whole musical was organized and run by the students - acting, singing, music, lighting, etc... 

(For those of you that watch Korean television shows, this school and the musical team came out in 무한도전. 무한도전 annually makes their own calendars. This year they had people send in requests for personal delivery by a 무한도전 member. A teacher at this school was selected so 하하 came to deliver the calendars. The musical team happened to be at school practicing on the Saturday that the calendars were delivered! They recorded a clip of their musical and it was actually shown on the TV show. Pretty cool!) 

"FAME" Musical . Park Brothers

--

There are so many talented students out in the world. All they need is an opportunity and a place to bring out those talents! I hope that churches today can be a place where students are encouraged to bring out and develop their talents; a place where they will be taught and encouraged to have bigger dreams and visions; a place where they will learn to use their gifts & talents not for this world, but all for the glory of God!

Com Suon Trung

Rice w/ Pork Chops & Egg

This is Com Suon w/ egg, Com Suon Trung.

Everyone was surprised that I've never tried com suon.

(Um... you never took me?)

So Park JSN took me and Pastor Kim for dinner. 

I guess it's a famous Vietnamese dish.

It's not much. It's literally just rice, pork, and egg (w/ cucumbers on the side). 

BUT! It's good. Good & cheap.

26,000VND (just a little over a dollar)

It's supposedly a breakfast meal.
So if you think American style, it's like Steak & Eggs. 

It doesn't look filling when you first look at it, but I was actually pretty full after I finished it. 

Oh the joy of eating one dollar meals :D

Job

Book of Job

Living Life QT

Its been 3 long months of meditating on the book of Job. (We're now moving onto 1 John. Yipee!)

The book is quite repetitive and not that "fun" to read. However, it was a great opportunity to meditate on a book that I would probably never choose to read.

Job went through a lot. Although there were some complaints along the way, he endured through it all - the struggles and hardships - and by God's grace, Job's latter life was filled with all the more blessings. 

I may be a bit young to be saying something like this, but I think we can all -whether young or old - agree on this one fact: Life's not easy.

The ride will not be smooth. There will be ups & down, some bumps (maybe even hills) along the way, but one thing is for sure - we're NOT in this alone.

"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, 

and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us). - Matthew 1:23 -

God is with us.

All we need to do is cling onto God. 

Persevere!

Endure!

It's all a growing process.

LET US FINSH THE RACE!

Undergrace

It's so easy to forget about God's grace,

and the fact that I am living under grace. 

I believe Satan is making a great effort to:

 Pull out all the grace that is within us, 

make us forget about His grace, 

and have us turn our backs on God and the church. 

So many times I just want to give up.

So many times WE just want to give up.

We just want to let everything go, turn around, and never look back.

Why these emotions?

Why these temptations?

Because His grace was forgotten.

Because we have left the umbrella of His grace. 

It is time. 

Time to go back under God's umbrella of grace.

Time to be filled, inside and out, with His grace. 

Starvation

"When we are spiritually hungry, we get spiritually annoyed."

- Pastor Loren Chong

Tired. 

Frustrated.

Lack of motivation.

Stressed.

Annoyed.

 I must be hungry.. spiritually hungry.

God's always here. 

Immanuel. God with us. 

He ALWAYS provides the food that we need.

Interestingly, it never rots!

Even after days, months, years.. 

it's still there. 

Still in its best condition.

But even more interestingly, we tend to take advantage of it.

Why? Because it's always there.

Because we know that even if we don't take it now, it'll still be there later.

We're hungry. I'M hungry.

But why did I not seek God? Why am I not eating?

Because I wasn't hungry enough. 

I wasn't starving.

Starvation.

Sometimes we need to experience a bit of famine and starvation.

Why? So we can eat and be satisfied.

So we can have the energy to run and to finish this race.

Togetherness

Thursday, December 6th

Vietnamese Village Visitation

I was able to take part in a one-day 'mission trip' to a Vietnamese village 5 hours from Ho Chi Minh City to hold a 헌당식 (google translate = dedication ceremony) for a newly built Vietnamese church. 

It's about a five hour drive on a bus. Five hours there and 5 hours back in one day is NO fun. If you've been to Southeast Asia, you know how the bus rides are... bus driver honks every 2 seconds. BUT according to Pastor Hyuk Kim, I have a gift in sleeping. Yes yes, if you've ever traveled with me, sleeping in airplanes and cars are no problem for me. I'll sit & knock out before the vehicle even moves. Praise God? :) 

Bethel Church is actively helping the minority population living in the villages - building churches, passing out rice/clothes to the needy, and of course, through prayers. 

The first picture seen below was taken in front of a church in the village pastored by Pastor Tuan(?)'s father-in-law (Esther's father). 

The second picture is the church that was recently built for the church that is pastored by Esther's brother. (This is where we held the Dedication Ceremony. I would say more of a Dedication Service?)

Below is a picture of the Pig Farm in the village. Can't get there by car, so had to ride a moto. It was quite a bumpy ride (thought we were going to tip over) but I guess I underestimated the Vietnamese peoples' moto-driving skills. 

The Pig Farm was set up by a deacon of the church to help the villagers. I believe they started off with about 12 pigs? One just had 7 babies, and more to come. There will be about 40 of them in a couple days. Their plan is to continue to breed pigs and pass them out to the villagers as a source of living. (Not just for a one-time meal, but to train them to procreate so that they can have a stable food source.) It's kind of like Bethel's method of CAM. 

It was a short trip, but I was glad to see how God is slowly but surely working in this land of Vietnam. It was also a blessing to see all of Pastor Tuan's family (more so, Esther's family) really devoting their lives in serving God and His people. Bethel, GCC, and the Vietnamese church are really working together to bring the lost souls back to God. I am once again reminded that missions isn't all about proclaiming the gospel message through ones' mouth, but that there are many ways we can take part in making that Name known. What a privilege it is to be taking part in God's work. It's pleasing to see Christians coming together from all over the world and working together to build God's kingdom. I'm sure God is ever more pleased at this sight :)

--

On a negative note:

I got a sick. Bleh.

All I did was sit in the bus and sleep for 10 hours, but I guess I was drained?

As I laid down to sleep on Thursday night, I felt it coming. THEN I really knew I was getting sick when I started getting cold and I pulled up my blanket to my neck. (It's hot here so I can sleep without a blanket..)

Stayed home all day Friday drugged off of Dayquil,

but praise God it only took one day of rest to recover :)

Devotions... one step at a time

"청년들에게 두 가지를 부탁하고 싶습니다. 첫째, 대학 기간을 5년으로 생각하라는 것입니다. 대학 2학년 때 1년을 휴학하고 선교지에 가는 겁니다. 1년을 그렇게 보내는 겁니다.... 둘 째, 직장을 갖기 전 1년을 다시 한 번 헌신하라는 겁니다. 그렇게 최소한 생애의 2년은 하나님께 바치는 겁니다. 빨리 졸업해서 뭐하겠습니까? 월반(skipping grades) 해서 어쩌자는 겁니까? 많은 사람을 만나 보고 얻은 결론은 사회에서 빨리 성공하고 승진해도 행복하지 않다는 것입니다. 헌신은 자꾸 연습해야 합니다. 1년 해 보고, 그다음 1년을 더 해 보고, 또다시 1년을 해 보고, 그리고 그런 식으로 계속 1년씩 헌신해 보는 겁니다."

"나는 선교에 목숨을 걸었다"

하용조 목사님

Translation

I would like to request two favors from young adults. First, think of your college life as 5 years. In your second year of college, take a year off and leave for the mission field. Spend one year like that... Secondly, devote another year before you find a job. Devote a minimum of 2 years to God like this. What are you gonna do if you graduate early? What's the point of skipping grades? After meeting a lot of people I concluded that people are not happy even if they are successful in society. We must continually practice devotion. Try one year, then try another, and then another, and then continue to devote one year at a time.

Coffee Bean

Hazelnut Iced Latte

We not only sell donuts at Donut's Donuts, but we also sell fresh juice, smoothies, and coffee.

There's really no need for me to purchase coffee outside of our very own store.

However (dun dun dun).... I found a COFFEE BEAN!

There's a mall called "Crescent Mall" that was built about a year ago.

I heard it's the nicest mall in Ho Chi Minh City? 

It's about a 30-40 minute walk from Donut's Donuts. 

A friend and I went for a walk, and I couldn't resist the calling from Coffee Bean.

It's about the same price as America, so it's quite expensive for coffee in Vietnam.

BUT it tastes the same! The ice shape (coffee bean's specialty, I say) is the same too!

Can't drink it often, but I think I can treat myself out from time to time :)

Hazelnut Iced Latte <3 Oh how I missed thee~

(oh btw. Vietnam doesn't carry large sizes. Americans...... we're so fat.)

"New Thing"

"Remember not the former things,

nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I am doing a new thing;

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness

and rivers in the desert.

The wild beasts will honor me, 

the jackals and the ostriches,

for I give water in the wilderness,

rivers in the desert, 

to give drink to my chosen people,

the people whom I formed for myself

that they might declare my praise."

Isaiah 43:18-21

It's so easy to think about the former things and find joy, satisfaction, and sometimes even self-glory in our past "successes." But life goes on, and every day is a new day. I am currently in Vietnam, not America; manager at Donut's Donuts, not a student at UCSD; at Bethel, not GCC. Church, ministry, God's work. It's not about the place or the building, but it's about the people, God's chosen people. God has placed me in a new place with new people - God's definitely gonna do a new thing(s). 

--

"젖과 꿀이 흐르는 땅이 아니면 젖소와 벌꿀을 치면 젖과 꿀이 흐르는 땅이 되도록 하나님을 의지하고 순종하면서 행동하면 돼는 것입니다."

Soup

Vietnamese Soup

In the afternoon, a man on a moto drives by with a big bucket of soup.

Vietnamese workers run out of their shops to buy it.

My employees eat it from time to time.

They asked me if I wanted one so I said, "Sure!"(Gotta try new things y'know~)

It's 10,000VND, so 50 cents. Cheap & delicious!

I was actually quite surprised that it had pieces of crab meat and quail eggs inside.

But it comes down to the fact that it's "street food." 

Who knows what they really make it out of. But........ who cares? 

Gotta enjoy it while I can :)

Baby Step

Gave my first Korean sermon.

GG.

Had my manuscript, but the problem is... I can't find my place when I'm lost.

I just can't read Korean as fast as I read English. 

It doesn't come into my eyes. I look... and it just looks like a blob of characters.

There were moments (to my surprise) when words that weren't even on my manuscript just popped out of my mouth. (That wasn't me. That had to be God! PTL!)

But there were also moments when I couldn't spit out the word I was thinking of, so I just went with English.

It wasn't as bad as I had expected..

I didn't faint or have a heart-attack.

But... it's still nerve-wrecking thinking that there are many more sundays to come.. many more Korean sermons to be preached.

Definitely out of my comfort zone,

but I guess this is all a part of the training process.

.. slowly taking my baby steps.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2012.

4th Thanksgiving with the Choi Family.

Thought it would be a bit depressing to be spending Thanksgiving sitting at Donut's Donuts while everyone back at home is getting fat off of turkey, so I decided to take a trip to Hanoi to spend Thanksgiving with 

GCC Family.

Arrived mid-day on Wednesday and left Friday before noon, so I only had one full day.

But it was good. Short & sweet :)

Restful.

Insightful.

Words of advice.

Words of wisdom.

Encouragements.

Came back feeling well-rested and well-fed, both with food and with spiritual wisdom.

It always feels nice to get a little push, a little slap, and a little wake-up call :)

--

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

- 1 Corinthians 10:31

Dog Meat

"Dog Meat Soup"

Yea yea, I ate dog meat. Don't judge.

First (and only) time I ate this was in Korea when I was in elementary or middle school. 

Never really had the chance to eat it again. 

If I had the choice, I guess I wouldn't go choose to eat it.

(It feels a bit different, now that I have a dog.)

Deacon Man Sik took me to go eat this for lunch.

It tastes just like goat meat!

I guess there's no need to eat dog, if I can eat goat instead and get the same taste!

I love goat meat, so yea... it was actually pretty delicious. 

Koreans...... what do we not eat?

Introducing: Hae Yeon

This is Hae Yeon Park.

She is a member of Saigon Bethel Church, Young Adults Group.

Same age, twenty-one.

Lives one minute away from Donut's Donuts.

Moved to Vietnam a little over 4 years ago.

Parents live in Korea, so home-stays at a church member's house.

Attends a Vietnamese College! (So cool!)

There's no one at Bethel that's our age, so she was very happy to meet a "friend".

It's due to the Korean culture, where you can't call or even consider someone younger or older a friend.

(So different from America. At GCC we're all friends! Even from ages 20 to 50! 

I miss my friends.. QQ)

But I'm thankful that she makes an effort to spend time and build a relationship with me 

cus knowing me, I wouldn't.

This is the first time I did anything outside of Donut's Donut's & Bethel Church activities.

We went to go eat Soon Dae Gook and chilled at a Vietnamese Cafe.

It's still weird that I'm most free on sundays and that I have this kind of leisure to go out, eat dinner, and chit-chat at a cafe.

Enjoy it while I can? :)

Dragon Fruit

i love.

Plunge

I dived into the pool.

Not sure if I can swim. 

I had a meeting with Deacon Man Sik from Bethel Church.

So glad he's back from Hanoi. Things are getting more settled, and I'm glad to have someone here that understands my position and supports me. 

"Thank you, Lord."

"Who's going to preach on sundays for Bethel Youth" is a secondary issue.

The primary issue is.. "Who's going to take charge of the Youth Ministry."

I had a choice: (1) Take charge (2) Be an active teacher

I took the first choice.

-- 

"God? I don't know. I'm not sure what I just got myself into. I mean.... I know... but I don't. LEAD a youth group? TAKE CHARGE?! Speak Korean 24/7?! I'm scared. I've never even taught a bible study in Korean before. No, I've never even opened a Korean bible before. I don't even own a Korean bible! I was preparing for sunday bible study, and I had to look up words in google translate. That's sad. I don't know why I made that decision. Something just told me to.. so I did. My confidence level dropped under zero. Don't know where to start. Don't know what to do. Don't even know if I can do it. 

하나님? 저 못해요. 그러니까 하나님이 하세요."

Pizza Hut

Supreme Pizza

I haven't had anything American in the past 2 weeks.

(Oh, besides some Spaghetti things I ate at a Vietnamese restaurant..)

Took a lifetime to get this pizza delivered to my house.

The lady got my address wrong, so the delivery man went to the wrong house.

He called me, but the man only spoke Vietnamese.

No communication whatsoever.

But finally, after about 20 minutes, the pizza was safely delivered to my house.

The smell, the looks, the taste..... all wonderful.

It was soooo delicious I devoured that thing in about 5 minutes.

I'm sure it doesn't taste nearly as good as Pizza Hut in America, but after eating noodles and rice for the past 2 weeks, nothing can taste better.

Pizza? Coke? Oh how I love thee ~

Sharing is caring.

"뻥튀기"

Yeah yeah.... I usually don't take pictures on my own, but I realized I never put up pictures of myself so I gave it a shot. (Don't stone me...^^)

--

One of my employees came and handed me 6 of these things.

I didn't know what to expect when I bit into it...

but it was 뻥튀기! 

Usually comes in a circle form, but I guess they make it like this here.

The same girl took me to some ghetto Vietnamese stand and bought me lunch last week too!

The meal came out to be $1.00 !

You pick a meat and they give you rice, vegetables, and a small soup. 

I'm not a fan of fish, but it was actually pretty good!

$1.00 meal? Definitely worth it :)

$1.00 Vietnamese Meal

(gasp)

On the way home from a  LONG sunday of going around to all three churches to introduce myself, one of the deacons asked me to join them for dinner.

I was so tired that I "kindly" rejected. 

When I got home around 5pm, she Kakao-ed me saying that Pastor Paul Han personally invited me to come. Alright..... how can I say no now? So I got off my lazy butt and went to church by 6pm.

When the van had come to pick us up, the deacon told me that Pastor Paul had called 10 minutes before six saying that he can't come because SMN was too fatigued. 

I thought in my head: "Are you kidding me?!" But no.. she was not kidding me. Pastor Paul did not come. 

When I got in the van, the deacon that was supposed to buy had brought his wife and 2 kids. 

She was Vietnamese! (gasp) Which would make the kids half Vietnamese, half Korean.

I've heard a lot about how Korean men marrying Vietnamese women and that a lot of Vietnamese girls' dreams are to marry a Korean man (simply because no matter how little money they make, they probably make more than an average Vietnamese man), but I've never actually met a Korean/Vietnamese couple. 

As we were eating dinner, the deacons asked the Vietnamese lady how old she was.

She definitely looked younger than the man, but I didn't expect her to be that young. 

She's 23............. (gasp) born in 1989. That makes her TWO years older than me. 

Her daughter is five (gasp) and her son is 19 months. 

She married at the age of 18 to a man older than double her age.

gasp.

What is this.. a culture shock? I don't know.

but on a brighter note: the meat was delicious! yummy in my tummy :)

Bethel Church

Introducing

BETHEL CHURCH

Leading Pastor: Paul Han

Assistant Pastors: Jin Jae Lee, Hyuk Kim, Seowoo Choi

Bethel's motto: "From Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi~"

There are 4 branches of Bethel Church: 

1. PhuMyHung (Ho Chi Minh City) - This church was planted in 2008. It's the church that I attend. It's about a 5-7 minute walk from my apartment and less than a minute walk from Donut's Donuts. Most members of this church live in Sky Garden, the apartment complex that I live in. The assistant pastor of this church is Pastor Hyuk Kim. He came to Vietnam about 2 months ago from Los Angeles. All his children are college and up, so they're all in the states. 
2. Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) - This church is in the city and is the original Bethel Church. I believe it started in 2004? Many members of this church travel long distances to get to the church, so the church is only able to have service on sundays. All the young adults gather at this church, so PhuMyHung church has a hard time gathering young adults. The assistant pastor of this church is Pastor Jin Jae Lee and his wife Mi Hyang Son SMN. They were missionaries in Russia for 15 years and came to Vietnam about 4 years ago. They have 2 daughters, one in elementary and one in high school. They all live in Sky Garden as well.  
3. Gong Hang (Ho Chi Minh City) - This church is very small. It was planted in 2010, so you can probably imagine how small the church is. Pastor Jin Jae Lee leads this church as well, but members of PhuMyHung come to serve.
4. Hanoi - This is the church Pastor Choi is at. It was planted this year. Hanoi is at the opposite end of Vietnam (kind of like SF and LA).

It's amazing how God is using Pastor Paul Han to plant so many churches in the land of Vietnam. More to come? :)

Free Food

*Drool*

Yun Hyuk's First Birthday 

I was walking home from Donut's Donuts and as I was passing by PhuMyHung Bethel Church, Son SMN ran out and grabbed me. She said, "Let's go to a birthday party!"

It was my first time seeing this family, but I went to their baby's first birthday party (uninvited).
It's not of my nature to go to places uninvited, but I guess I gotta get used to it because people keep dragging me everywhere to go eat. (I guess it's a blessing?^^)

Apparently the family's ballin. (I would think so.)
The baby's birthday party was at a hotel! (I don't think that's common here in Vietnam.)
So I guess I don't feel that bad.

I saw a lot of cute decorations and made sure to take pictures for future reference.
One day I'll be doing this for my kids too, no? (But probably not at a hotel....QQ)

I got a plate-FULL of food and sat down, and I kid you not, my plate was the fullest.
(I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit embarrassed.)

I wasn't too excited about going to this birthday party, but God had more in store for me than I had expected. "Expect the unexpected."
I got to meet Saigon Bethel Church's young adult group. There's not many.. maybe about 10-12? But they all seem like great people.
Met someone that's my age too! Finally a "friend" in Vietnam? :) We'll see~

Ouch

Experienced my first yelling from an angry customer.

The milk was spoiled.
The customer purchased 3 milk cartons, and two of them had gone bad.

The milk wasn't past its expiration date, but it happened to be the day it was supposed to expire.
Usually milk doesn't go bad even after the marked date,
but maybe it went bad as it was being delivered, since Vietnam is so hot.

I got yelled at for selling milk until the day of the marked expiration date.
The lady kept repeating herself that she just couldn't understand how we were still selling that milk, and that we should only sell milk up to three days before the expiration date.
Thank God she was with her friend who told her to stop and that she had done enough.

Called the Donut's Donuts office and reported what had happened.
We decided to toss all leftover milks the day before its expiration date.


Never experienced something like this before..
Getting yelled at by angry customers? Not fun.
But I guess this is all a part of the training.

Definitely NOT excited for more angry Korean Ahjummas....... (sigh)

Introducing: Zion

Baby Zion 

This is 시온. In English that would be "Zion."

(Yes.. like Zion Market.. lol)

She comes to Donut's Donuts often with her mom.

I believe she's a Bethel Church member? Didn't see her mom at the adult service, but she knows all the deacons and pastors of Bethel, so I'm assuming she's a part of the Bethel family?

She's crazy about cell phones.

(I think she would even follow a stranger home if they had a smart phone.)

Plus, she's smart! She knows how to unlock iPhones and slide through pictures!

She's super energetic. 

Walks around everywhere, going up and down the stairs.

She eats well and drinks well.

She'll down a whole donut and milk all by herself!

This is a typical day at Donut's Donuts.

There's usually some kid that bothers me or constantly peeks over at what I'm doing.

Either super cute or super annoying ;)

Farewell Party

 

Farewell Party for Missionary HaeWook 

organized by Donut's Donuts Employees 

Came to work in the morning and my employees were busy washing vegetables. Was a bit confused, but was informed that they are preparing a Farewell Lunch Party for Missionary HaeWook!

Hot pot. Spring rolls. Homemade dessert. YUM!
They went out and bought everything and prepared everything.

So sweet.. I'm super touched.

Was reminded of the Vietnamese students at Hanoi English Camp this past summer - the cake, songs, cards, and gifts they prepared for our mission team.

Seems like Vietnamese people have very warm hearts :)

Next Door

Grand Opening 

A massage center opened right next door to Donut's Donuts.

Korean owned.

I guess this is the kind of thing to do when you open a new business?

Some kind of.. um.. ritual(?) praying for success and good fortune?

(Weird that people put so much value in a.. um.. pig.)

It's so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that missions is over there, when it's actually right here. 

Let us become intercessory prayers for here, there, and everywhere! 

D onuts

Donuts @ Donut's Donuts

I MADE DONUTS TODAY! :)

Dark Chocolate . Strawberry . Vanilla

Dip it

Decorate it

Display it

(It was a lot harder than it looked. DEFINITELY need more practice. Planning to come at opening until I master making beautiful & delicious donuts. THEN! Time to become a Barista^^)

1st Sunday

"PHUMYHUNG BETHEL CHURCH"

It was my first Sunday at Bethel Church.

Strange.
Strange being at a church that's not GCC.
Strange being introduced as a Missionary.
Strange going through a whole day listening to Korean sermons. 
Strange thinking that it's not a one-time visit, but that I'll be here for the next 10 months.

How do I feel about all of this? I'm not quite sure yet.

Introducing
BETHEL YOUTH MINISTRY

30-40 Junior High & High School Students (predominately Korean-speaking)

5 Teachers (all deacons of the church)

No Pastor

What is my role at Bethel Youth? I'll be taking charge of the Youth Ministry.

Condition of the Youth Ministry? Mm, it's a mess. Not to judge, but it's exactly where GCC Youth was at 5 years ago. (If you were at GCC when Pastor Choi & Pastor David first came into Youth Ministry, you might know what I'm talking about.)

Korean? I'm good at Korean, but when it comes to speaking Korean 24/7... I don't know. 

Do I have the ability to preach in Korean? Yikes, I can barely preach in English. (But God used Moses who couldn't speak to bring the Israelites out of Egypt....)

When I'm nervous, my Korean sucks. So as of right now, the students and adults at Bethel Church think that I speak "한쿸말" (If you know what I mean) 

"God..? It's ALL You."

My First Pho

" PHO 24 "

I had my first pho today!

Walked a couple stores down from Donut's Donuts to "Pho 24".

It's the first time I ate alone in a public place. (Yes, first time.. EVER)

I am quite proud of myself ^^

Pho was alright. Could be better.

New Mission: Try every pho in this neighborhood and find the best place. 

So a little explanation of the picture above:

1. Obviously a picture of the pho I ate. The name? I don't remember. But it's the one with everything. It's 59,000VND. So, approximately $3.00. (Way cheaper than America, for Americans, but expensive for Vietnamese workers that are working under minimum wage.)

2. Water, bread, and wet wipe = NOT free. 

The waitress flipped my menu to the drinks section as soon as I ordered my pho. I told her I wanted water, and she brought me a small bottle of Aquafina. Bottled water? NOT free.

The bread and the wet wipe is brought to your table as soon as you order. This too, is NOT free. As long as you don't use it and don't eat it, you are free of charge. (Good thing I had some prior knowledge of this!)

Donut's Donuts

Donut's Donuts Menu

Cash Register 

Have I ever worked at a store? Have I ever used a cash register? The answer is "NO." 

My primary job is NOT to sell donuts and coffee behind the counter, but as the manager of Donut's Donuts, I should be familiar with all these things. (Plus, I should be helping out when the store is busy.)

So... first thing's first. I must memorize the price of each donut and master using the cash register. 

(If only it was in English..... Vietnamese? Not my first language y'know.)

After I master these two things, then maybe I can start learning how to make coffee and donuts? :)

Tạm Biệt America

Special thanks to all that came out to send me off <3

Missing you all already..

Goodbye America!

I'll be back in 10 months ;)

Hello from UC Davis! - Steph