Exercise in the Park

For some reason I keep waking up at 4 a.m. and today was no exception. I decided to get dressed at go to the park for exercise, along with hundreds of others, during the hour before sunrise. What an experience! The park is long and narrow with a walkway surrounding it as well as one dividing it. Park benches are abundant and people of all ages walk, run, exercise or laze on their motorbike prior to the beginning of their workday.
My heart is so taken with these people and their culture. They are so loved by God and He is so near to them! Yet, the majority of Vietnamese do not consider themselves ‘religious.’ They practice ancestral worship and for the most part seem to rely on ‘karma’ or good luck to have a happy life. I decided to prayer walk the park, worshipping the one, true God and praying for the people of Vietnam. I prayed that they would hunger and thirst after Him as they hunger and thirst for knowledge. I prayed that the eyes of their heart would be opened that they might see the truth in Jesus. My heart breaks to think of these beautiful people without the hope of eternal life in Him.
I joined a group of older women and men as they participated in group exercise with a long pole. It was primarily stretching, twisting and bending. Oh, did they have fun watching me! I think I did pretty well to keep up, but the whole concept of exercising in view of the entire city was new to me and their pointing and laughing didn’t do much to help my reticence!! After exercise, I had the privilege to chat (haha) with some of them. Thankfully, an English teacher happened upon our floundering attempt to communicate. She was a kind woman who shared part of her story with me. Her two adult daughters support her by working abroad. She tutors students in English in her home (and was reluctant to tell me about her profession as her skills were a bit rough). We laughed through a nice chat and then said our good byes: hers in English, mine in Vietnamese…sort of.