Glocal Ventures

The Fellowship of Oso Creek in Corpus Christi sent its first service team to Vietnam with six members going to Ban Ho School in Lao Cai province. Team member Kim Lindell shares her thoughts

It’s been five days since returning home from North Vietnam…five days of being “back in the real world” and I think I can speak for my entire team when I say:  I just can’t get Vietnam out of my head!  The people, the land… the experiences of a lifetime. I constantly replay the lifelong memories over and over again.  Such wonderful recollections we all have of working with and learning from GVI, forming relationships with the people of Ban Ho, learning about the Vietnamese and Hill Tribe cultures, and spending the hours of each day in faithful anticipation.

This trip to North Vietnam was the first of many service trips.  We have been paired with the village of Ban Ho and are committed to serving the school and community for years to come.  Our project on this trip was to provide a paved area in front of the middle school building that would bring both function and prestige to the school and community at large.  I say “our project” loosely because as we all worked together (teachers and administration from the school, GVI members, the paid workers, our team, and even some of the students) there was this incredible connectedness between us all.  We were all in it together and the work flowed seamlessly despite language and cultural differences.

We were “temporary residents and foreigners” in Ban Ho but never made to feel like it.  The people of Ban Ho are gracious, humble, and their hospitality and resourcefulness has left lasting impressions on us all.

“Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.  If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.”  As we look back over our experiences surrounding this service project, it is our eternal hope that a mustard seed has been planted in that field next to the pavement in front of the school.  In hopeful anticipation of furthered relationships with the people of Vietnam, we will not despise these small beginnings.

The Fellowship of Oso Creek makes a lasting impression at Ban Ho Middle School in Sapa (also pictured, Nguyen Hieu Duc, vice-director of the district board of education)

Oso Creek member Toby Ketter gets by with a little help from his friends in Ban Ho, working together to pave the schoolyard.

Tags: Ban Ho, children, Corpus Christi, Fellowship of Oso Creek, Lao Cai, Sapa, school, school yard, Texas

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.