Day Out of the City

Today I got up about 5:30 and took a ride out of the city with our agency director, Sue. DeanAnne stayed behind at the hotel with Jett because he has been sick for the last couple of days. His fever last night was 102.5, but we finnaly got it down and he's doing pretty good. Sue and I rode in a rented vehicle out of Ho Chi Minh city through the town of Cu Chi and on to Tay Ninh. Tay Ninh is the world center of the Chao Dai faith. It is a little known religion practiced mostly in south Vietnam that combine elements of Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. We saw several Chao Dai temples on our way and they are eaily distinguished by the symbol of the all seeing eye that is similar to the eye above the pyramid on the US dollar.

The trip out was very interesting. We drove through rice field after rice field. South Vietnam is pretty much nothing but delta and well suited for rice production. Most of the work is done by hand or oxen. I saw some oxen pulling carts on the road as we passed.

There are also many cows in the delta. They cross the roads in front of vehicles while travelling. There are a few fences in some areas, but most of the animals free range or are tethered with ropes in a certain area.

We also pasted numerous brick kilns in the process of firing brick. I guess this area is also suited well for clay excavation to produce bricks.

There are also numerous buddhist temples in this area. Many of them are involved in production of some kind. There were numerous places to buy elaborate wooden caskets or stone mausoleums with built in altars. We passed several cemeteries where the dead were buried in unique above ground mausoleums.

We also crossed several rivers in this region. The scenery on the rivers is very unique. The houses are old and ricketty. It really reminds me of scenes out of the movies.

I'll throw in a picture of Jett for everybody to see. He's really doing good. Can't wait for ya'll to see him.

The mission team from our church leaves today for the Dominican Republic. Everybody remember them in your prayers. Pray that their work will be fruitful and far reaching. Also remember the Vietnamese people. For all practical purposes, this place is unreached by the gospel. There are a few Christians here, but not many. I have only seen one catholic church outside of Ho Chi Minh and no evangelical churches. Vietnam reminds me of what Jesus said in the bible about the harvest. The fields here are white unto harvest, but the workers are few. Pray that the Master will provide workers. Pray that the Vietnamese can have access to bibles in their own language so they will at least have the opportunity to read and make their own decision.