There have been many times in my life that I have wondered where God is in the circumstances that I find myself. Now these were not the times when I was not following Him, or had no desire for Him to have any say in my life......at those times I just wanted what I wanted and it was all about me....... But the time I want to reflect on with this devotional is when I was seeking with all my heart to follow God and yet there were desires that would not be quiet in my heart.
I previously wrote about wanting to have children and talking to God about that one night in Pleiku, Vietnam. How God answered my prayer with the gift of triplets from a frightened young tribal woman.....and how I knew that it was a testimony for her to keep those babies and raise them in the village, trusting God to protect the village and her. But there was a second part to that prayer.....I was pleading with God to give me a husband and knew full well that in Pleiku in 1974.....that would take a miracle.....
After I left Vietnam with Operation Babylift to Australia......I was searching for a way to get home without having to ask my parents for money for the ticket. They would have gladly given it....but I was determined to be independent and find my own way......I could not get a job in Australia......and this is where I believe God's hand evident in my day to day living......here is how I remember things....
When I was not able to find a job, I was praying and looking daily at the newspaper job listings. One of the nurses with whom I had traveled to Australia called and said that she had found a job on a cruise ship and would be leaving but saw a listing in another paper for someone to go to Guam....where the refugees were being brought and put in a refugee camp to keep safe until they could be resettled in new countries. There was an ad for a person to go to the Island of Guam in the Pacific Ocean and take a list of Vietnamese names of families of students studying in Australia when the change of government took place in Vietnam on May 1, 1975. If the families were able to escape, then the students wanted to get in touch with them and see how they could reunite. The gentleman wanted to extend the price of a ticket to Guam in exchange for work finding these families.
Now you need to know that in Vietnam there were not many last names.....many peoples middle name was either 'Van' or 'Thi' which indicates male or female and then the first name. Also, in order to fool the spirits to not come after the children, the name of the first child would frequently be #2.....so a common last name followed by male or female and then a number.......this was going to be very difficult. To add to the problem in many cases people counted birthdays by January 1st being one year old for a baby so if the child was born in January or July or December, they were all going to be listed as one year old on the next January 1st. I just looked at this as an answer to prayer to get me back into the northern hemisphere.....and back with the Vietnamese people......
I called the man and told him I would be ready to go immediately. We met and he asked me about my history and I told him. He was a man who was planning to run for public office and I believe he was going to use this assistance to further his cause.......I personally didn't care....he had an agenda and so did I......but one thing happened one night that has stayed with me over the years......after we had dinner he asked me one question.......and I couldn't answer. He said, "You lived as a missionary and yet all the interactions we have had, never once have you asked me if I believe in God.....Why is that?" I was so ashamed.....and all I could reply was....."Are you?". He said it didn't matter now......but it did.
The next day we met at the airport and he came with more than 100 Vietnamese students. They were all pleading with me to find their families or they would just try to get back to Vietnam regardless of the cost to their futures.....they just wanted to be with their families. I felt such a weight of responsibility for them....... Then I took a look at my ticket and was shocked.....this ticket only took me as far as Manila, Philippines......so I said to the man......this isn't what you promised.....you said a ticket to Guam but this is only to Manila....and he looked me in the face and said, "You are an attractive woman....I'm sure you can figure out something with the US military that flies there daily". "Take it or leave it". I took it.
When I arrived in Manila I immediately got in touch with the Christian and Missionary Alliance missionaries there. I told them of my mission and my plight to find a ticket to Guam. They suggested that I contact Wycliff Bible Translators there that were looking for tribes people to assist in the completion of the translations of the Bible in their languages. I readily agreed. I knew that I could recognize their names since I had lived in the central highlands for the past 15 months. They also got hold of the missionaries that were already in Guam assisting with the refugees there.....and what a surprise....these were all missionaries that I knew......in fact, Gail Fleming was there and he had been the head of the station I had lived at in Pleiku......he was there with his wife, Irene. She had been such a good friend in Pleiku.....
Upon arrival to Guam, I was not even through customs when Gail came to me and welcomed me. It was so comforting......then he said, "We have found the perfect man for you". Let me explain..... While living in Pleiku, every time a man would come through that was tall enough......the criteria they had....and not married.....the missionaries would call me to their homes to 'help them with something' and there would be sitting a young man.....and frankly, it was embarrassing. Penny Hall was the most intent in finding me a spouse......a good heart but really uncomfortable......so to have Gail tell me they had found me the perfect man.....I was shocked......and not looking forward to meeting this guy.
The missionaries had been given a place to stay.....all together......and they worked in shifts so the ones working at the ships that were coming in with refugees during the night would sleep in the beds during the day and the ones working during the day, slept there at night. It was rather overwhelming....and I knew I had to find a place to stay for myself. Everything was just in a crisis mode at this time....
Late that night.....actually about 5:30 in the morning, Gail and Irene took me to one of the ships with them. They wanted me to meet this young man.......I wanted to see what was happening and how I could help......I must tell you, it was amazing. The ship would dock.....the refugees would begin to disembark and were told to fill out arrival forms......to discard any food items they had brought and stay in line. Now let's start with the forms.......last name first then first name and middle name......so how do you fill this out when you normally say your name.....last name, middle name, first name....as the Vietnamese did. Do you continue to leave the last name first for follow the instructions and put the first name as the last name since you write that last????? Confusion reigned......and this would impact my ability to fulfill my mission to help families be reunited with their children studying in Australia.
It was a really good thing that the missionaries.....all who were fluent in Vietnamese....were there to help the arrivees. Not only could they help with filling out the forms, they could help the refugees to know what food needed to be discarded and what could be kept.....and they helped church groups to find each other. I know that it was comforting for the refugees to meet people that spoke their language. This was a very stressful time for these people who had fled their country....fearing for their lives.....thought they had arrived in America......and were taken to a refugee camp of 48,000 other refugees and would wait for months to be relocated.
The next day I was taken to a hospital with two of the missionaries who were also nurses. I applied for a job there.....which means I showed up and offered to help.....and was 'hired' by the American Red Cross......they paid me with a room to stay and a car to drive to an from work. I could eat in the community mess hall. This worked for me. I was also given a name badge that said I was Red Cross and then I saw my job......not nurse as I had thought.......no....translator......hmmmmmm.... I had spent the last 15 months with the tribes people and spoke some Jarai.....and my Vietnamese was really limited to medical words as the nurses at Hoa Khanh Children's Hospital all spoke pretty good English. I talked to the missionaries about it and explained to the head nurse and she said.....not to worry....just come for 8 hours and help. I did.
In the afternoons I would go to the immigration center and look through the thousands of names and try to match up names from the lists I had been given at the airport in Australia.......it was daunting and not successful.........I sent several lists of names that I had found to the man in Australia but there was absolutely no way for me to find these people to see if they were the right match and, of course, no way for the students to reach their families there at the camp either. Finally the man came to Guam and I met with him and he was really angry at my inability to do the job......I took him to the immigration area and asked him to tell me how to do this better......he never contacted me after that.
But this reading today is about how God answers our prayers in His timing and His way.....because He is always aware of what we need......and is trustworthy......Oswald Chambers says, "Not even the smallest detail of life happens unless God’s will is behind it. Therefore, you can rest in perfect confidence in Him. Prayer is not only asking, but is an attitude of the mind which produces the atmosphere in which asking is perfectly natural. “Ask, and it will be given to you . . .” (Matthew 7:7)." I had been praying for God to show me my life partner to bring us together.....and it was at the refugee ships.....in Guam......at 5:30AM that I first met Bryan, my husband.
Bryan is quite an interesting man. He learned Vietnamese while he was in the Army and was sent to Vietnam as a linguist with the service. After his time of duty was up, he returned to Illinois and resumed school. It was there that he also felt this amazing call to return to Vietnam in April of 1975 and so was in Guam in May. Sometime I will share his story.....but right now this is about this reading. Because he was so fluent in the language, and attended a Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in Illinois, he worked with the missionaries at the refugee ships and later in the camp. This was how we met......and although we worked in different areas, we would eat together at night with all the missionaries. When they could, the missionaries put us together in the darkest corner of a restaurant and smile benignly as we became interested in each other.
Bryan tells it that he had heard about this single lady missionary coming that he might like.....and he says he expected a bun at the nape of my neck, black dress, old lady shoes and a dour expression...with a Bible under my arm. Now I'm not sure why he thought that because the missionaries telling him about me were not dressed like that and not dour at all......but he says he was so surprised when I met him at the ship.....and had rings on each finger, hair to my waist, a shirt with a peace sign and bell bottom jeans......and he thought.....ok.....ok.....ok.....
We worked together for about two months in Guam and he had to leave......he had 6 orphans that needed to be transported to their adoptive parents in Chicago.....and I took them through the refugee camp system.....and this is another story for sure.......but we did work together in Chicago resettling refugees there for months......and at Christmas Bryan came to California where I had returned and asked me to marry him. We were married the next May......
I absolutely believe that God led both of us to be in Guam at that time.....our love of the Vietnamese people was such a foundation for us.....a similar background.....and throughout the years as we have moved around the world......and gone through many difficult times.......as Oswald Chambers wrote, "Fill your mind with the thought that God is there. And once your mind is truly filled with that thought, when you experience difficulties it will be as easy as breathing for you to remember, “My heavenly Father knows all about this!”
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