“I don’t think I could ever eat vegetarian,” Trung said. “I always have to eat meat with my meal.” As with every language learning session, we have veered off my teacher’s lesson plan. But one topic kept popping back up: health. During a lesson, she shared with me some of the “hot trending topics” in the news.

“Right now Sinim people are really scared of sick pigs. There is a disease that is killing pigs by the hundreds. It then began to infect cows, and now it’s infecting the fish.” Trung scrolled through news pictures of various chops of meat spotted with white showing up in pork, beef, and fish.

“Oh, wow! See, you should eat vegetarian,” I joked.

She laughed, yet she was weighing it in her mind.

“Actually, the Bible for a long time has said that pig is not good to eat,” I proceeded. With my limited Sinim I explained how, when God created the world, certain animals were unclean because of what they ate, and that ultimately, if we eat them, they affect our bodies and our minds.

“Truly, the Bible teaches that?” she said in surprised interest.

It made sense to her, and she added that the director of the center had also said that pig was seen as a dirty animal to eat.

“Maybe . . . I can try being vegetarian. Maybe twice a month or something,” she suggested.
Since then, I’ve shared with her a lot, such as the negative effects of caffeine, the value of water, and the dangers of alcohol. The information is new to her, but I know she listens, because several times she has told me the changes she’s making: trying to drink more water, trying to quit her habit of drinking a liter of Coca-Cola daily, trying to eat more vegetables, or learning to like bananas.

After I had taken almost two months of lessons with her, she posted a picture of her lunch on her Facebook page. It was captioned, “Eating vegetarian.”

To be honest, sometimes it can be challenging to be vegan overseas. However, the opportunities to witness through this lifestyle choice have proven that it is worth it. I am seeing Trung’s life being influenced, and I hope it will prompt her to try the Bible, as well. I truly believe that God wants a health restaurant to open in Dragon City, and I see the way it can help people. However, there is much groundwork to be done before that takes place.

Please pray for us, that the Spirit of God will lead us as we lay the foundation for not only the health work, but especially the gospel ministry here in Dragon City. I desire that soon we can minister to the Sinim and give them reason to conclude that there must be something in our religious beliefs that is worth investigation.

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