Vietnam - Day 10

Today is Saturday April 17, 2010, the tenth day of our Vietnam Mission adventure. We are back in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and our day begins with breakfast at the Royal Kimdo Hotel somewhere in the downtown area. We have finished our motorbike ride (1,600 kilometers, almost 1,000 miles from Hue to Ho Chi Minh City). Today we are to join in the celebration of the dedication of the new United Methodist Center here in Ho Chi Minh City.

We all board our busses for the drive to the new center. The bus ride takes about 45 minutes (Ho Chi Minh City is huge with over 7 1/2 million people). We arrive at the new 5-story building along with many dignitaries. Joining us is a United Methodist group from the states that had been touring Cambodia and Laos. Also joing us was Bishop Bruce Ough and his wife, Char. Bishop Ough will be giving the dedication address. Also in attendance are representatives from several of the local churches.

The service lasts a little over two hours. The time goes quickly as there is much singing and praise. Here a choir of Vietnamese pastors sings a couple songs for us. It is very warm in the un-air conditioned top floor sanctuary. A few fans make for a nice breeze, but the room is very warm.

Here a group of young seminary students in traditional robes sing for us. Part of the new center is a seminary with dormitories for the students. We sing several hymns, both in English and in Vietnamese. The Vietnamese are especially enthusiastic. The songs are loud and the praise is exhuberent.
There are a couple individual songs performed by local church members. This couple sang and played a flute-like instrument. Others sang or shared their personal excitement of having the center available. A couple of the Vietnamese pastors share with the group the story of our motorbike adventure. The bikes are officially turned over to the Methodist Church in Vietnam to distribute to pastors to be used in their home parrishes.

Bishop Bruce Ough of the West Ohio Conference presided over the dedication service. Afterwards, there were many people to acknowledge and gifts to share. Following the service we enjoy lunch served on the first floor of the new center. I am seated at a table with a group of the Vietnamese pastors - I am the only American at the table without an interpreter, yet I think I enjoyed this lunch as much as any I had shared during the entire journey. By way of broken English and hand gestures, we are all soon laughing and having a wonderful time. I cannot begin to tell you how much I will miss these brave, enthusiastic, committed pastors. We are now brothers and sisters, united by a common bond in Christ.

Here I am posing with three female United Methodist pastors. Some women are flocking to the United Methodist Church in Vietnam because it is the only church in Vietnam to allow female pastors. Two of these girls are married to pastors, and all three of these women rode with us some or all the way during our motorbike journey.

The service and the meal were finally over. We took our time saying our goodbye's - to our new Vietnamese pastors and friends, and to the motorbikes that had brought us to this place. With much emotion, we boarded our busses for the trip back to the Royal Kimdo Hotel.

We return to the hotel in the early afternoon. We are told that the rest of the day is ours to do as we please. And so, in groups of 2's and 3's and 4's, we head out to explore and shop in downtown Ho Chi Minh City. Yes, the Methodist's are loose in the city! I join a couple girls from our group, Midge and Pat. Together the three of us spend the rest of the afternoon and evening sight-seeing. Our first stop is a local ice cream parlor just down the street. Yum! Nothing like ice cream in 95 degree city heat!
A couple doors down from our hotel is a four-story indoor shopping mall. The first floor is all jewelry and seems very expensive. The second floor has a drug store and expensive clothing. The third floor contains less expensive clothes along with shoes and fabric. The fourth floor is a giant flea-market. We rocket up to the fourth floor! We spend most of our evening browsing and bartering. What a hoot! Hint for future travelers - never pay the first price quoted. Half the fun of shopping was in the negotiations.

We finally tired of shopping and returned to our hotel. Tomorrow is Sunday - church service in Ho Chi Minh City, then we travel south by bus into the Mekong Delta.