Many of you have asked about my Vietnam trip. In one word it was amazing! We left Dallas on October 24th and we flew to California. When we got on the plane and man stopped me and told me that he heard me speak in Ft. Worth. I told him where we were headed and about our mission to Vietnam and he said that he would be praying for us. Before take-off the pilot came and talked to us and said that he was a believer, asked for one of my tracts and said he would be praying for us. Two flight attendants did the same thing. We flew into Ontario, CA and then had to drive to LA. Our driver, Marro was a Christian. His son was in Ecuador on a mission trip. He told us that he would be praying for us. As we were going through the airport in LA a man stopped me and asked me if I was in Vietnam (I had on my USMC hat) and, of course, I said yes and told him what we were doing. He was also in the war. He gave me a key chain that he makes for Vietnam vets and then we found out that he was believer and he promised to pray for us. It was amazing! It was so evident that God was going before us every step of the way. When we met up with our whole team in Taipei, it was so obvious that God had put this group of wonderful people together. It was as though we had known each other forever and I felt so blessed to be making this journey with this fantastic group of people. When we finally arrived in Vietnam, and we were going through the airport, a Vietnamese communist soldier stood at attention and saluted me. (I was still wearing the USMC hat). It was really amazing to see this happen! On Monday, we were in DaNang and we went to Hill 55, where I lost my legs on March 8, 1971. I recognized the surroundings a little bit and we got as close to the actual place as we could. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to go to the actual field, because we didn’t know if it had been cleared of other landmines. We got out and took some pictures and did some videoing. While were there some Vietnamese locals came over and took pictures with us. Two ladies, through a translator, told me that they lived there during the war and they thanked me and the other veterans for what we did. It was a wonderful time of thanksgiving. We got back on the bus singing Amazing Grace! On Tuesday, we went to Tam Ky. Another veteran in our group, John Harman, was stationed at Tam Ky. We were able to find the exact bridge that he and his men defended. It was amazing to see his whole demeanor change. You could truly see that he made peace that day! On Wednesday we went to the Presidential Palace in Saigon. This was very eye opening to see how the Vietnamese ‘know’ the war. They have been trained in a very specific way. Our tour guide called the day that the war ended “liberation day”. It was really very sad. When we were about to leave the Presidential Palace our sweet tour guide got on the elevator with me and a few others. I asked her if she was a communist. She told me that she was and that she did not like it. I felt as though she spoke for the majority of the Nation of Vietnam. It sounded like a cry for help. On Wednesday night, we went to a registered Baptist church in Saigon. This was the highlight of the trip for me! The way that I understand it this church kept growing so much that the government saw a need to recognize it. I just think that it’s by the grace of God that it’s there. I met some wonderful Christian brothers and sisters in this church. Please be praying for the people of Grace Baptist Church in Saigon. They face more persecution than we could ever imagine. While I was sitting on the front row of the church, the song director stood and began to lead the people in a song. Of course, I along with the rest of our team had no idea what we were going to sing. After listening for a moment I recognized the tune of the song. Sitting in a Baptist Church in Saigon, Vietnam, we were singing at the top of our lungs “Peace Like A River”. The last time that I was in the country I was fighting a war, this time I was singing about God’s great peace! The pastor invited me to speak to the people. I told them a little bit of my testimony and told them why we were there. After this service a man came to me, and through a translator, he told me that he fought for the North Vietnamese (Viet Cong) and then he said to me something that I will never forget, ‘You were my enemy, now you’re my brother’. WOW!! It was amazing. In the same church there is a man who fought for the S. Vietnamese. What a remarkable example of God’s grace. We had a beautiful night with our Vietnamese brothers and sisters in Christ. On Thursday, we went to an orphanage. All of the children in this orphanage were mentally disabled. They were all abandoned by their parents. If they were ‘lucky’ they were left in the hospital but many were left other places. Here is a testimony from my daughter, Amber, about her experience in the orphanage. “There was one little boy who stole my heart. His name was Hoa and he is 5 months old. He was left in the hospital by his parents at birth. My nieces had given me some of their favorite stuffed animals to give the children. I gave Hoa one of their teddy bears and he grabbed his little hand around it. I picked him up and just loved on him for a bit, with tears falling down my face. He grabbed on to my finger, like any baby would do and I didn’t want to let him go. I have to tell you that this put a lot of things in my life in perspective. Compared to these children I have nothing to complain about! God has blessed me far beyond what I deserve. It was hard to see these children with no parents and no one to really take care of them. However, on the bus ride home God spoke to me. Vietnam is a closed country. We were not able to openly evangelize which was very hard. However, each and every one of those kids (who cannot understand why we were there, not to mention the Bible) will be in Heaven one day and they will be perfect!! I told my niece, Emma that one day we will see Hoa in Heaven and he will be perfect. I told her that maybe he will come up to me and say ‘Hey I remember you, you came to my orphanage and brought me a teddy bear’ and then I will call Emma and tell Hoa ‘This is Emma, it was her teddy bear’. She thought that was very, very cool!” On Friday morning, we had our last chapel service and had a great time of fellowship. It was very hard to say goodbye to all of those who took this journey with me. Please join me in praying for the Nation of Vietnam. Pray that the chains of communism will fall and that one day very soon we will be able to freely take the Gospel to these wonderful people. There are so many other things that I could share, but this will be it for now. Thank you to all of you who helped make this trip possible. Thank you for giving so generously and thank you for your prayers. This was truly the trip of a lifetime for me and I will never forget it. I cannot say thank you enough!