It has been 1 week since Harrell and Brother Woody Godbey of the Trinity Baptist Temple Church in Fort Worth, Texas began their journey to the Far East! Harrell has reported in each day and made me the happiest woman around! He has shared with me all the places he has gone and the experiences he has had ans I will try to relay them to you.
The guys arrived in Ho Chi Mihn City (formally Saigon) at 11:45 pm and were met by a national pastor we had made contact with through e-mail. They got settled into a motel and tried to get a few hours of rest. Then the adventure began. Harrell relayed that the city is a beautiful mix of the old and new. It reminded him of a mix of Romania and Honduras. The old worn buildings and a feel of the ancient yet dripping sweat from the oppressing heat! I am so proud of him, too! He actually went shopping all by himself! He was able to find and pick up some hand painted silk fans for some friends in Virginia.
As far as the food goes...if you know anything about Brother Harrell you know that he is a basic meat and potato kind of guy. So his experience with the food has been an adventure for sure. He has been eating Spring Rolls and Fried Rice mainly. (Those are the only things he said he recognized what they were!) He and Brother Woody did find a little cafe downtown that served Hamburgers and onion rings. He said to was the best food he had ever eaten, he didn't care how much it cost him!!!
brother Woody served in the military during the war there so it was an opportunity for him to revisit a lot of the area he had been in back in the 70's. Harrell said the visited the Cu Che tunnels and he even when into them. Now for those of you who don't know it, he has Claustrophobia. He said by the time they made it out of the tunnels he was physically ill!!!
They also had the chance to go to one of the underground church services. It was a Teen and College age service and the guys really enjoyed it. It was hard for Harrell to stay awake though because he was so tired and the room was so small and warm.
They checked out of their hotel and rode a bus for 4 hours up to the village where this pastor lives and serves. It was here that God moved and opened the hearts of both men. Harrell told me of one day how they drove in a car they had rented until they couldn't go any farther and then began trekking through the jungle. he said he kept expecting to run into George of the Jungle it was so over grown. Then they came out into a clearing and there stood a small shack made of bamboo pole. You could see straight through the walls. Inside they found a small widow woman living here all alone. She lives on a hand full of rice a day and has no one to care for her. Harrell said the pastor took them to 10 such women living in remote sections of this jungle area.
With God's help we will take on these dear women and try to help them in their last days. Our main goal will be to lead them to salvation if they do not already know Jesus as their Lord. At the Sunday morning service God blessed them with seeing an 80 year old woman accepting Christ as her Savior. So there is much to do for our Lord no matter where we find our selves at.
The guys left Viet Nam this morning and flew over to Cebu, Philippines and I will report back to you as I hear form my precious husband. He is already excited about God expanding our ministries and what God has planned for our future. Please pray for them as they minister that God will go before them and prepare the hearts of the people. Pray also that God will give both men health and rest as they work for him. When you get extremely tire your immune defences are let down and you are susceptible to sickness. So please help me hold them up before the Lord that they will come back healthy and okay.
Check back here in a couple of days and I will have some more adventures ready for you. Once Harrell gets back I can then down load some pictures and tell you even more.
God bless,
Jeannie
