Vietnam

This year I had the opportunity to travel to Vietnam for the first time and it was nothing less than incredible. Of course it has been on my mind since I signed up to go, the stories I’ve learned over the years about the Vietnam way, however one major thing that I’ve walked away from this experience was that not one person I spoke with ever brought up the war. They have truly moved on, and I, as an American, was accepted with open arms. This made for one amazing trip.

Notice the images below of the sweet older lady in the jungle patting my face. Her name is Mien, and she is 87 years old and share with me that she had never met an American before. She and I held hands and talked while my guys interviewed her daughter, because their family was just given a calf from Food for the Hungry. She was hard of hearing, much like my own grandma, so I was used to raising my voice a bit more than normal. Her knotted up hands reminded me so much of my Maw Maw as well, especially when she would pat my face and smile. She shared with us that “in all her years, because she lived so far deep into the jungles of Norther Vietnam, that we were the first Americans that she has ever met.” Mien made it to where we just wanted to stay and laugh with her. She was the highlight of my trip.