2021 News

Fiona Briers is Back!

Wednesday, 7 July 2021

Fiona Briers, founder of Bright Solutions Vietnam, is back in Australia…well, after first spending time in a quarantine hotel in Sydney.

Fiona flew back from lockdown in Ho Chi Minh City. Bright Solutions stopped trading in June 2020, but lots of things have happened since then. Fiona had more time for the discipleship work that she has been doing with her church and with other contacts. Some of these contacts have come from people seeing Bright Solutions’ values and the way it operated as a business. This attracted them to want to know more.

The work of Bright Solutions continues in another form, too. Since closure there have been two contracts for Bright Solutions handcrafts. Fiona worked with ex-staff to fulfil these. When the third one came up, Fiona put one of the women in charge and she is organising a group to fill it, and learning about leadership along the way.

Getting back to Australia was not in the traditional returning missionary manner – Fiona flew business class. This was her only option — no other tickets were available. As it was her first ever business class flight, she had to ask the attendant how to move the seat!

Bright Solution’s financial and legal affairs are not quite shut down yet, unfortunately. Fiona had to find a new accountant to cover some of the things that the previous accountant didn’t attend to. The relevant government department is also overwhelmed; only 8,000 of 20,000 business closures in the queue having been completed.

In quarantine, Fiona saw only one person face to face – the nurse who came to collect swabs for her COVID test. There are no outings, no keys and lots of Australian food which is a challenge for Fiona’s Vietnam-accustomed palate. She is grateful for the chilli sauce that her sister sent her!

Fiona is thankful to God for all His provision. Getting a ticket at the time she wanted was a much-appreciated act of grace.

Post-quarantine plans are still forming for Fiona. Her mother is unwell so she will stay in Sydney with family before catching up with Melbourne friends. Then there might be a time of staying put for a while before she heads off on the next adventure with God.

Fiona will be in Australia for a while and is looking forward to catching up with supporters and friends soon.  There will certainly be time to say goodbye to GMP supporters from the last twelve years, so watch for the announcement.

Fiona Briers (Photo courtesy of Ngoc Tran/Oi Vietnam)

Relief & Development Health


Privacy policy