For several years now, veterans have gathered at El Dorado Lake to renew friendships and to reminisce.  The event began 30 years ago as the Kansas Vietnam Veterans and Family Reunion, but the name was changed to the Kansas Veterans and Family Reunion in 2007.

As I thought about this annual event, I remembered a man I’ve never met.  His name is Pete Peterson.

During Viet Nam, Captain Peterson’s plane was shot down during a bombing raid and he spent the next 6 years in the Hanoi Hilton as a POW. He returned to Hanoi on May 9, 1997 on a different mission; he returned as the first post war Ambassador to Viet Nam.

Peterson believed God had saved him for a purpose.  He resolved to use the remainder of his life to be an agent of healing and the power of his office to accomplish his mission.

Among the many citizens of the USA, very few will ever be appointed as an Ambassador; however, there is a higher calling and an office open to all; and, that is to be an Ambassador for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20):

We are now Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were appealing direct to you through us. As his personal representatives we say, “Make your peace with God.” ~Phillips

Peterson’s mission was to bring peace and healing to the people of Viet Nam.  Our mission is a message to the world and it is one of hope and reconciliation between man and God.