My Vietnam Vision

By Sam Peters

This short eBook chronicles my take during a church mission trip to Vietnam in 2014. It is my first foreign mission journey and it was life changing. God is doing a miraculous work in Southeast Asia and the United Methodist Church is playing a major role in it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: May 12, 2014
• ISBN: 9781312184657

Sam Peters

Sam Peters is a rugby writer who has been credited with driving cultural change to the sport's attitude towards head injuries and concussion. In 2014 Sam was shortlisted as sports journalist of the year at the UK Press Gazette Awards and was runner-up as rugby writer of the year at the 2017 SJA Awards. Sam has written two books; Broadside with England cricketer Stuart Broad and The Row to Recovery.

Book preview

My Vietnam Vision

My Vietnam Vision

Pastor Sam Peters

My Vietnam Vision – First Edition

Copyright © 2014 Sam Peters

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-312-18465-7

Published by Sampet Books

Wheelersburg, OH 45994

Chapter One

It wasn't my vision, but one God had for me.  On my bucket list of things to do, Vietnam wasn't on the radar. My opportunity came when my United Methodist District Superintendent, Brent Watson invited me to go.  He sent me a personal message saying he would really like me to consider going with the district team to visit some of the pastors and churches there.  The trip would take 11 days and we would be traveling over 1100 km in a bus or on the back of a motorbike if I chose to.

As a bi-vocational local pastor of a rural church in Southern Ohio, my schedule wouldn't afford me time to get away for eleven days.  I have a business to run and a small congregation to shepherd.  I sent him back a customary reply thanking him for the opportunity and that I would check my schedule - code for, I'm sure I can come up with an excuse to say no.

A few weeks later at a district training event Brent approached me again with the question.  I had thought he had forgotten about it, but he hadn't. I opened my mouth to make my excuse but somehow as though I was a ventriloquist’s dummy my lips moved and instead of Thanks, but I can't. I heard the words I'll pray about it. Come out.  'Who said that?'

As a pastor I've had those words spoken to me often as I've asked people to step forward in service for the King.  I'm sure Brent was thinking the same thing I usually think - 'Yeah, right!'

Normally the spring of the year begins my peak season for our gourmet sauce business.  Nearly every Thursday through Sunday I'm traveling to a nearby city and a festival where my wife and I set up a booth and share the Gospel of Good Taste with the masses.  This year would be different.  In God's unique divine providence we were forced to transition our business to making gourmet sauces for our self and others.  That meant my entire business calendar was clear.  No traveling this year. So that couldn't be my excuse for not going.

Surely my wife would intervene and tell me that she would be lost and forlorn if I were to travel half way around the world for nearly two weeks.  Nope.  She checked our personal calendar found it wide open and told me that she would get along just fine without me.  Excuse number two goes down in a ball of flames!

Certainly we would be in the middle of an all too important ministry campaign in the church calendar for my church to let me take that much time off.  And who would preach while I'm away.  After all, we pastors are indispensable servants for the Kingdom (he said, tongue in cheek).  Nope, the trip begins two days after Easter so no big campaign after that and I had two missionaries home on furlough beating down my door for an opportunity to share their latest PowerPoint slide show.  In fact the church was willing to contribute to the trip, though someone did ask if