Mission Trip Reflection
CHARIS-Barré Mission Friendship | Kontum, Vietnam | 25 July – 1 August 2015
By Benedict Chua
Peace be with you. Firstly for me, it was indeed a reminder of how fortunate & blessed I am to be born in this part of the World. I am also blessed to have the opportunity to meet young people who have God in their hearts & going out to do what most would not want to do at 19 years old; going into a 3rd world country (which could be dangerous); where most people would rather follow a tour group & stick to the tourism spots. Indeed society needs more people like that.
What touched me most were the young orphans in both orphanages that we went to; the one behind the church we stay in, and the one near the leper villages. 2 images are constantly blinking in my head, reminding me of how fortunate I am (and my kids as well).
First, the young kid with a broken sandal who was trying to play football with us, and the other, a child who walks holding her pants up because the elastic band around her waist was already damaged but she still wears it despite how torn & dirty it looks. I thought about my kids at that moment; that how rich my poor children are. Rich in terms of the fact they have most things they want & yet poor because they are always unhappy & asking for more. On the contrary, the orphans are poor physically but rich mentally.
A simple game of football or donkey can bring so much joy to them! The sight of their happy faces & the sound of their innocent laughter is indeed priceless! I wished my kids were there with us to experience true happiness; that it is not attained from the possession of material needs. This was my takeaway from the trip, thank you and God bless.
