Sept. 30, 2008 Posted by Jeremy and Victoria Griebel
Hello from Hanoi! This trip has been such an amazing experience for both of us. Here's a little recap of what we've done the past few days:
- Saturday we delivered 4 more tons of rice to families who lost so much, including family members and homes. The community had come together to build temporary homes for these families. We spent time visiting with one man, the commune leader, who lost his wife and son in the storm. Our hearts broke for him and so many others. We wished we could have done more for them.
- Sunday morning was spent in Bac Ha at the market. You could get pretty much anything you needed there...sandals, clothing, meat, fish, vegetables, puppies, chickens,water buffalo, little pigs and lots more. It was a busy place! We spent the afternoon touring the Bac Ha area on motorbikes. I can't get over how beautiful the landscape and rice fields are.
- Monday we were off to check on the computer labs at Ta Chi (installed by Cool River in Summer 2007) and Bao Nhai (installed by Cool River in Summer 2008). We enjoyed some time hanging out with the kids passing out candy and stickers..they loved it!
Now we're back in Hanoi for our last day. We'll spend some time shopping and relaxing before getting on the plane to return home. Thank you so much to everyone who has been praying for us. God did amazing things here, not only through us, but also to us. Seeds were planted.
Sept 29, 2008--Posted by Kevin Colon
After 4 days up in the mountain villages, we are back in Hanoi today. We got to do and experience a lot of things and felt that there was a lot of fruit for our work. Jeremy and Victoria will be logging in soon to give you more details on this. Stay tuned. Thank you for all your prayers.
Sept 26, 2008--Posted by Kevin Colon
We're in Lao Cai today. Arrived at 5 AM, ate a quick breakfast, then travelled to one of the hardest hit areas of the tropical storm to pass out 4 tons of rice to the people there. I didn't know Victoria was so strong. You should have seen her throwing around 50 kg (110 lbs.) bags of rice around. Jeremy and I got them off the truck and carried them to the warehouse. And all of this in a rain strom. It was crazy.
After the work we met with the vice chairman of the people's committee and he thanked the team for the donation and the work. They hope to get people through this tough time and back on their feet again after this devestating storm.
Tomorrow....more of the same. Keep praying!
Sept 25, 2008--Posted by Kevin Colon
Well, thanks for all the prayers. They have been answered. We just got word about an hour ago that we have a green-light to go to the mountain villages. It also looks like we will be able to do more than we originally thought to help there. 8 tons of rice to be delivered to homes all over two areas that were heavily damaged by the tropical storm. It's going to be awesome!
Before we go, we are headed to the Bierla Orphanage to hang out with kids and deliver school supplies and toys....THEN we get on the overnight train to the mountains. Ok...that's it.
More news to come. Check back! And keep praying!
Sept 24, 2008--Posted by Kevin Colon
We ate a good breakfast and took off to the streets of Hanoi to gather some supplies and connect with some of our friends in the shops next to Lake Hoa Kiem.
Around 11 we met the Glocal Ventures Team which briefed us on our itinerary and Tropical Storm Hagupit that is headed to North Vietnam tonight. This storm looks to be severe at the moment and is headed straight for Lao Cai (where we're supposed to go) We're hoping the storm will change course so we can continue our work. Pray for that!
After the meeting we had lunch with the GVI staff and then headed to the market to buy diapers for the orphanage.
We drove about 40 minutes to the orphanage and spent the next several hours there holding babies, playing with toddlers and givnig gifts to the teachers and the director. The orphanage is a tough place. As I held a little one month old little girl and watvhed Jeremy in a crib (yes IN a crib) with another two and Victoria going from child to child making sure each child had been held and loved, I had to fight back the tears over and over again. Pray for them.
Another hour and a half back to the hotel. Traffic was awful, awdul, awful. I've never seen it that bad here. The cars are starting to dominate the roads and making the jams much, much worse.
More to come....stay tuned.
Sept 23, 2008--Posted by Kevin Colon
We've arrived in Hanoi. Everything has gone extremely smooth so far. It's been amazing how we've had not one delay, hiccup, or problem. Jeremy and Victoria are loving it here.
Today we meet with the Glocal Ventures Staff, gather supplies for the mountain villages and visit the orphanage. At least that's the plan (things always change here).
We did find out that there is more bad weather heading this way, possible tropical storm strength. Please pray for this situation as it could impact our trip...obviously. So, pray that the weather stays away. Pray that we can have safe passage through the mountains. Pray that He will use us.
