Its Your Mission: Your Stories

By Sonja Fowler

To borrow a quote from the book “Vietnam Today,” by Mark A. Ashwell, “The Vietnamese people not only speak with their voices, they convey their feelings and emotions through indirect communications; eyes, smile, touch (two-handed), and bowing of the head.”

I experienced this non-verbal form of communication from Mr. Chong, the Vietnam government official who shadowed the Buckner team of missionaries while we were in Hanoi during the first week of September. You see, Vietnam is a Communist country and we had been invited to service two orphanages by delivering shoes, humanitarian supplies, school supplies and teaching English as a second language as long as we did not apostatize or inject Christian teachings among the children.

The task was not daunting because our team of eight had prayed and asked God to equip us with hidden talents that would allow us to dispense His love and His story through our actions and mannerisms.

Every morning, before we started our day of travel to the orphanages, Frank Dang, our Buckner guide, would conduct morning devotions through assignments among us travelers.

When it was my turn to present, the Lord spoke clearly to me that I was to deliver His word as recorded in Acts 19:11. Just before starting my exposition, Frank had informed the group that Mr. Chong's little boy was sick and that we were to keep him in our prayers. At first, I did not make the connection between the boy's sickness and the text, but God knew. For one of Mr. Chong's duties was to share our meals with us as well as our lessons to the orphans.

As you know, the Biblical text reveals Paul's interaction with the Holy Spirit in that his handkerchiefs and aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. Now, Vietnam embraces Buddhism as their religion. Buddhists believe that suffering is inherent in life and that one can be liberated from it by self-purification.

Obviously, Mr. Chong had his doubts, because later that day, he cornered me and asked me to tell him more about Paul's supernatural powers while under the influence of the Holy Spirit. I asked Mr. Chong if he had any handkerchiefs and he said yes. I then suggested that when he gets home later that day to place one of them on his son and pray for healing. Mr. Chong's response was deeply insightful. He asked me, "Sonja, How should I pray, in English or in Vietnamese?"

What a telling conviction. God was doing a new thing. Maybe our trip to Vietnam was not only to deliver shoes to the orphans, but also to plant a seed in the hearts and minds of the Communist leaders.

Later, I asked Frank if I could present Mr. Chong with my cross and chain as a farewell gift. Frank agreed. So I discreetly presented it to Mr. Chong with a note of encouragement. When we departed from Hanoi, Mr. Chong took my hand in his, looked deep into my eyes, pumped my hand and said nothing. His vibes were enough. To God be the glory.