It took us eight hours to make a 75 mile trip.  We left Ho Chi Minh City at 6:30 a.m. and arrived at Vung Tau, a beach community on the China Sea, at 2:30 p.m.  No, the road was not that bad.  No, the scooters were not that slow.  Rather, we left the main road nine times to travel down muddy paths to visit in people’s homes.  We would arrive, exchange greetings, talk a bit, drink tea, talk a bit more, and then go on to the next house.  Along the way, we picked up 3 more people who decided to travel with us to the beach.  

This is Vietnamese culture.  Life is a web of relationships to be maintained and constantly expanded.  So a trip is naturally a series of visits.  It would be inconceivable to pass by the road to someone’s house without going down it to visit.  A journey is not measured by how quickly or efficiently you travel but by how many people you make contact with during the trip.

I had just spent a week teaching forty-eight pastors about how the Early Church developed and gained a sense of their own identity.  We talked about house churches and hospitality, about how the Early Church was influenced by the structure and routines of the extended Roman household.  We talked about what held these fellowships together and bound these people to one another.

On my trip, I saw in action a lot of what I had been talking about that week.  Vietnamese Baptists have mostly house churches and see themselves as a family.  It is unthinkable to pass by the house of a fellow believer, your “brother” or “sister,” and not stop.  Maintaining these relationships takes precedence over any desire to get where you are going.  This is a deeply Christian mode of traveling.  I learned a lot about Christian faith and fellowship drinking tea and praying over people’s homes and families.

I want to thank you—our encouragers, supporters, and friends—for providing for me the opportunity to equip these faithful Vietnamese pastors.  But I also want to thank you for the opportunity for me to learn something important about the Christian life and to better understand the experiences of our earliest mothers and fathers in the faith.

As you pray with us, please remember the following:
-Give thanks that Debbie and I had safe travels in the last 2 months and that we will now remain at home for at least several months.
-Pray that our church in Verona will develop a spirit of teamwork and a willingness to take the risk to try new things.
-Pray for Mercy, the newborn daughter of Friday and Faith.  Friday is one of our Nigerian pastors who participates in the Theological Formation Program that Jim provides.
-Pray for the Baptist pastors and churches of Vietnam as they seek to train their leaders and strengthen their churches.

Peace and Hope to you this Advent season,
Jim (along with Debbie, Ben, & Luke)