Thirty years after U.S. Marine Corps Master Sgt. Al Blankenship completed a military tour in Southeast Asia, his daughter, Gabrielle, went there with the gospel of Christ.
Gabrielle Blankenship of Billingsley, the 2005 “Miss Judson College,” spent a little more than three months last fall in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, under the sponsorship of the International Mission Board (IMB). The First Baptist Church, Clanton, member graduated from Judson in June 2005 and felt a calling into some kind of missions career. “I was unsure if God wanted me to be a career missionary, or do something short term,” she said. “So I began to look at Web sites to find areas that needed missionaries.”
Blankenship was interested in Europe and South America, but opportunities in both of those places did not work out. She then discovered two positions available in Asia through the IMB, although the site didn’t mention specific countries because of security reasons. “I really didn’t want to go to Asia,” she said, “but I applied anyway. Now I’m grateful I did.”
Because Vietnam’s government is repressive toward religion, missionaries must have other jobs and share their faith with contacts they make that way, Blankenship said. “I went to the country as a university student,” she said. “I made friends with other students and shared my faith. I also taught missionary kids and had opportunity to talk and pray with other missionaries. It was exciting to be able to encourage them in their work.”
Blankenship said she found that the religion in Vietnam is a mixture of Buddhism and ancestor worship. She was happy to lead a number of her new friends to faith in Christ and to teach them how to grow in their faith.
Blankenship said the missionaries sponsor prayer and worship groups and then encourage converts themselves to plant new churches in their country. This is the only way to start churches because every church must be registered with the government.
“This is a third-world country with very needy people,” she said. “I saw a lot of poverty. Our missionaries are doing a great job but they need laborers to help them. I’d do anything to assist them, including going back.”
Blankenship majored in history at Judson. She wants to work in a museum, possibly as a curator, though she said she will always be open to God’s leadership concerning missions. “I’m not sure I’m called to vocational missions,” she said, “but I want to be active in a local church and may get to do short-term missions again one day.”
Blankenship returned to Judson as an admissions representative this spring. She said she enjoyed talking to prospective students about academic and service opportunities at the college. She married U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Thomas Walker of Hopkinsville, Ky., a summer graduate of Marion Military Institute, July 22.
“I loved my time at Judson,” Blankenship said. “I would go back and do it all again. Judson made me more confident and prepared me for life. Thomas and I are eager to learn what more God has in store for us.” (JC)
Share with others: