Construction work was on schedule and the house was almost complete. The owner arrived to make an inspection, as his family would be moving into the house in three days. He noticed immediately that the front entrance had four steps leading into the house. He asked to speak to the foreman and sternly explained that this was unacceptable.
In Vietnam there is a saying which means “Birth, old age, destiny, and death.”
1. Sinh = Birth
2. Lao = Old age
3. Menh = Destiny
4. Tu = Death
Numbers like one, five, and nine are good numbers, because they correspond to the first word, ‘birth’, on the list. Numbers like four and eight are not good, because they fall on the word 'death'. A house with four steps could bring bad luck to the family, or even death.
The construction crew worked quickly to tear out the steps and replace them with an entrance that had only 3 steps.
Superstitions abound in Vietnam. Pray that God would free the Vietnamese people from bondage to these superstitions.