Escape From Communist Vietnam/ Boat People

I was inspired to create this blog documenting the miracles that I've experienced and witnessed in my life. I hope that you will take the time to reflect on the wonders that God has worked on your behalf as well. I'm not a writer and I've never had good grammatical skill. I have to speak out loud in order to catch my mistakes before I can write. So excuse me if you feel like you want to get a red pen out and mark all over the place. Let's just jump right into my story.

After the fall of Saigon my parents were pretty much in hiding since they both worked for the US and South Vietnam military during the war. My father was a scot and a translator for the US special forces. We got passes to board the planes leaving Vietnam after the fall of Saigon. However, the evacuation was very dangerous. There wasn't enough room for everybody and people were in a stampeded to even get to the runway. If you ever seen footage of the chaos and mass hysteria during the evacuation you would know what the scene would be like. There was no way a family with 4 young children could ever hope to get pass the crowd of people battling their way to board the plane. My parents were dejected and went home. They saved and planned and with help from some friends they managed to have 6 bars of gold. That's how much it's required to pay to be smuggled out of Vietnam by boat. My parents didn't tell the kids when we were going to make our escape. So naturally my brothers did their own thing. Like little children who wander off to play we didn't come home in time. They rush us down the river bank to see that the boat had taken off already. Their heart sank. When they look up again they saw that there was a raid and people were arrested and killed by the VC. Had we made it in time we would not have been spared. My parents wanted a better life for us after all my mother was part of the aristocratic era with French citizenship. So again they made another attempt and we were late for that too with the same outcome. Third time should be a charm, right? My parents had nothing left at this point just the clothes on our backs and some treasures sewn into the pants lining to start us off in the New World. I was only 3-4 years old at the time and my mother said that she had to hide me under her jacket while on her back. This time it was in the dead of night that we made our way through the tall rice field that would lead us to a boat. My mother recounted how she felt the bullets cut through the air above her head as she ducked for cover. The patrols would randomly fire off shots in all directions not that they actually see anybody. The boat would take us out to larger fishing boat. Once the larger fishing boat was far out in the open ocean the young men started working to modify and add a dome over it. The engineer was busy working to make the engine go faster. He was on the bottom taking out nuts and bots. He reached up to put them in a bowl. A lady came along and threw up in the bowl and dump it out. We were left adrift without an engine. We had little food and water left. My third brother fell off the boat and into the ocean but somehow he managed to grab hold of a rope before he went in and quickly was pulled up. I was so thirsty, that I remembered. We each got a spoonful of fresh water as ration for the unpredictable voyage. It was passed from one person to the next so by the time it made it to me you can imagine what was left on the spoon. I reached down into the bottom of the boat that is now filled with salt water and I scoped up a handful to drink but my mother knocked it out of my hands. She said it broke her heart that look I gave her. She couldn't explain so I would understand that drinking salt water would not be good for me nor will it quench my thirst. The rain came pouring down and some of the men caught fishes. My father built a sail and also told the people on the boat to start praying to the Living God. He asked them to put away their idols. He made a promise to God to serve Him as his father before him had done. Up till now my father was running away from the ministry. He saw that my grandfather had a hard life being a missionary in Vietnam. My grandfather was disowned by his wealthy family after he chose to learn from a traveling missionary. My father didn't want that kind of life. Instead he became a vice principal at a school and thought that it was enough for him to just be a Christian and not a pastor. That night our boat hit a couple of sand dunes. The young men would jump out and push the boat on it's way again. The time when the boat hit a sand dune the captain fell off the boat and the men were too weary to push. So they put out a light for the captain to see and decided to rest till the morning. Near by was a Naval base. They saw the light and decided to investigate in the morning. I remembered my legs buckled as I tried to water in knee deep water. My legs weren't used in so long that they became weak. My father taught me how to say "thank you" after getting our distribution of food. I felt ashamed as if the sailors were mocking me. As I got older I realized they were just laughing because they thought that it was cute for a little girl to speak English. I ate tortoise eggs! There was a luxury liner that passed through and they took all of us to Palawan. Palawan is a refugee camp in the Philippines' island. In some parts it's consider a resort destination. I'll stop here and asked if you spotted any miracles yet? Sure you could asked, "why didn't your God made it easier for you by getting you on the plane?" But we wouldn't see God's hand at work in the most desperate situation. My father wouldn't have pursued God's purpose in his life to become a minister. The lives of all those people were touch by God's presents. In times of trials we often ask when will it end. God could moves mountains then why doesn't He quickly reach down; "step in and save the day?" He wants us to know Him. If you're waiting on God today consider the words of this poem I've included here.

Wait
by Russell Kelfer

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, "Wait."

"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.

"My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .
and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.

"You'd never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

"The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you.

"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait."