April 2016

Volume 3, Issue 4
It’s a New Day in Vietnam
In 1970 I began wearing a POW/
MIA bracelet for Major Ted Gostas,
who was being held captive in a North
Vietnamese prison.
One of the highlights of my year
as Miss America in 1973, was seeing
Ted Gostas arrive back home. Ted
and I have maintained our connection
with each other over the years and
I have watched with admiration, the
incredible struggle and courage it has
taken to reclaim his life.
This was my only knowledge of
Vietnam until Orphan’s Promise
started working there several years
ago. In February of this year, we
decided to visit those projects. It
would be interesting to see firsthand
what Vietnam was like 43 years after
that war.
All of our work in Vietnam is in Da
Nang, which lies right between Hanoi
and Saigon on the South China Sea. To
my surprise, Da Nang was beautiful!
It was far more developed than I had
expected. Our hotel was lovely and
the staff was welcoming and friendly.
Of course, the element that impressed
me most was the work Orphan’s
Orphan’s Promise focuses
on Vietnam this month!
Promise is supporting here. We
visited a beautifully-run training center
in the city for deaf children and their
families. For some of these children,
it gave them their first opportunity
to learn and communicate with the
world around them­­—even within
their families.
In contrast, our next stop was a
rural school for deaf children in the
countryside. We had all learned to
sign our names on our first stop,
so we tried haltingly to “sign” with
these children. I wish you could have
seen them. Their eyes lit up and
they swarmed around us, eagerly
responding as each one wanted to
ask our names, tell us theirs, and
enjoy a hug. The room was alive with
flying fingers and lots of laughter as
we tried to keep up with them. I was
particularly drawn to two of them—a
15 year old boy and a 14 year old girl
—wondering what would become of
them after high school.
Soon we were off to visit a
treatment center for disabled children
where they receive physical and
developmental therapy. The obvious
tender, loving care of the therapists
was very touching. Without a place
like this, these children would be
without hope.
Our next stop was a training center
for older kids where they are learning
to sew or repair bikes; skills they will
use to become independent. They
proudly displayed their handiwork.
Finally, we stopped at a children’s
home that provides a safe place to
live, food, clothing, and schooling for
children who are alone and at risk. It
was clean, bright and well-run.
I was exhausted by all we had seen
and done, but exhilarated by the
quality of these projects, the spirit of
the children, and the obvious impact
we are making. You make all of this
possible and I cannot thank you
enough. I came away so wanting you to
see what I saw. If OP takes a partner
trip to Vietnam you simply must come.
It’s a new day in Vietnam, and you are a
part of it!
April 2016
Hieu Comes to Christ at
OP-Supported Training Center
provide Hieu with a place to go during the
summers when he wasn’t in school, but he
also got a chance to learn a skill.
Vietnam InFocus
• Vietnam is the 15th most
populous country in the world,
with a population of more than
94 million people
• Twenty-four percent of Vietnam’s
population is under 15 years old
• OP is supporting 10 projects in
Vietnam including vocational
training, education and life skills
training for deaf children, funding
for urgent medical treatments,
anti-trafficking seminars, and
self-sustainability programs to
keep families together
A Mother’s Testimony
After a few short months at an
Orphan’s Promise-supported school
for the deaf, this mother tells of the
transformation she is already seeing in
her son:
“This school change[d] my son a
lot. He now knows many things, and
what he has learned brought surprise
to me. Before … and after meal[s],
he now washes his hands. He holds
the broom and [sweeps] the floor...
Before going to school, he dresses
nicely, comes to his grandma, crosses
his arms and says goodbye. He never
did these things before.”
These are changes that only a mother
can fully understand and appreciate.
Indeed this school is making a difference
and changing her son for good!
Hieu was uncertain at first, but he knew that
the people there cared for him. The staff
prayed with him and slowly built a trusting
relationship with Hieu. Soon he began to
attend church on Sundays with the other
youth from the training center. He also began
to attend weekend activities with his new
friends in the sewing class. Hieu memorized
John 3:16-17 with several other boys and
began asking a staff member about the Bible
and who Jesus was.
Vo Van Hieu is a 14-year-old boy who lives
close to an Orphan’s Promise-supported
vocational training center in the Hoa Vang
district of Da Nang,Vietnam. His father
abandoned the family when Hieu was born
and Hieu only met him once when he was
8 years old.
For years, Hieu’s mother has made a living
pushing a cart around Da Nang, to be hired
by anyone needing a cart to transport
material. Because of how little she makes,
Hieu and his mother struggle to have enough
money to live and for Hieu’s schooling.
Hieu’s mother first came to the training
center when Hieu was 11, and asked for
a bicycle for him to ride to school. They
received the bicycle, but it wasn’t until a
few years later that Hieu’s mother returned
to the training center again. This time, Hieu
was 14, and the center offered to teach
him sewing and tailoring. Not only did this
Hieu learned that Jesus was God’s son,
who died on a cross for his sins, and prayed
with the pastor in front of the church
congregation to become a part of God’s
family. Hieu became a new boy, always happy
and smiling. He has done better in sewing
class too, and today he can sew his own
trousers. The Lord is working in Vietnam, in
the hearts of boys and girls like Hieu. Thank
you for helping Hieu improve his life.