Glocal Ventures

- by Kevin Colon

I’ve been going to Vietnam since 1998.  That’s actually hard to believe.  My wife, Amy, and I went there first with NorthWood and have now been mobilizing groups from Cool River for the past several years with the help of some amazing volunteers.  I’m sure you’ll be hearing [...]

NorthWood’s Orphan Care team recently returned from Vietnam. They brought children from three Hanoi orphanages to the beach, an amusement park and a water park. At one orphanage, the children were so excited about their outing that they couldn’t sleep the night before. NorthWood volunteers didn’t need to resort to taking Ambien but they were [...]

This past week has been a different and exciting one for me as I accompanied the water team to the northern mountains of Sapa and joined them on their work project. It was a small but effective team, and once again, I acquired new knowledge and understanding relating to culture, people, and society.

Manhattan can make you forget there’s a big world out there. A world where crisis is not defined by a wrong order at Starbucks.

No trip compares to the first when traveling to Vietnam, as your mentality becomes fixated on impressions and experiences that leave you wanting to return as soon as possible.

Fingers grabbing the crayons to draw a Bible picture for the Maasai children in Tanzania.
Feet stomping to the African version of “Jesus Loves Me”.
Thumbs waving with the “Walk, Walk, Walk in the Light” words.

One lady asked me to come to her home for lunch that day. Trying to respect cultural norms, I accepted her offer, a little worried because I didn’t know what I would be getting in to. I didn’t know this lady at all, she spoke no English, I had no idea where she lived, but my love for adventure assured me that it would be a great experience.

Belief in truth and asking the questions to get there is what gets people out of bed in the morning. It is the bedrock, the foundation, upon which people construct their lives.