A painting of Jesus hangs in the front of the room. Asian ornaments _ graceful, pastel shapes _ dangle from the ceiling among Christmas lights. On posters, Vietnamese words mingle with the English. Against the wall and in corners rest artificial legs and crutches. They are very small. All of these are symbols of Rex Almquist's mission, life and love. They are the things he took up after stalking the jungle as an American soldier in Vietnam, where children saved his life _ and changed it. Nowadays, as he has since leaving the Army in 1970, Almquist devotes himself to helping Southeast Asian children _ children whose limbs have been blown off by land mines, children who need education, children who crave spiritual comfort, children who roam the streets. In 1980, Almquist founded South-East Asian Relief, called SEAR, a relief organization with a Christian perspective. The non-profit, interdenominational operation has a center in a small commercial strip on Fifth Avenue N. It has another in the city of Da Nang in Vietnam. After 18 years, Almquist, 54, worries that his staff is stretched too thin. Closing is a possibility. "It would be so hard to leave it," he said. Money is not the question, although Almquist admits finances always are a struggle. Most of the money comes from area churches; there is no government help, and Almquist does not want it. "There is no Christian witness with it," he said. About $2,000 per month goes to support 50 Vietnamese schoolchildren. That same money assures 40 more street kids get attention; 15 more receive vocational training; as many as four crippled children get surgery; and some needs are met for critically ill youngsters in three hospitals. Bible study sessions are held twice a week in the St. Petersburg center. Early this week, Almquist was helping a Vietnamese woman and her 17-year-old son get settled in an apartment. Next month, Almquist will travel to Vietnam as he does each year, spending as long as three months. He rounds up school supplies, arranges hospital care and fits children for artificial limbs. Some children he knew while working as a civilian in a Vietnamese hospital are grown. Now they bring their own children to meet the American they call "Mr. Rex." Almquist's 79-year-old mother, June Almquist, keeps SEAR's books. Two or three other volunteers help. What the operation needs is another person to manage, Almquist says, a kind of combination administrator/bookkeeper. "I'm not an administrator. I'm a social worker, a relief worker," Almquist said. It's what he had always planned to be, though the ambition took another direction because of Vietnam. Drafted out of college into the Army, Almquist became an infantry sergeant. His job was to scout ahead of the troops to find out what the enemy was doing. Children became his best sources. Sometimes he gave them food and money. Eventually they came to trust him enough to help in profound ways. Children "saved my life numerous times," Almquist said. "Sometimes they would stand in a trail and not let me by because they knew (North Vietnamese) soldiers were waiting to ambush me. Once, five or six kids came and pulled me off a trail, led me into the jungle to hide awhile. "After being warned a few times, I realized I had better listen to them." And as he came to know them, he was led to his calling. "The Lord used that to open my mind toward missions," he said. He worked in a Hoa Khanh hospital, a project of the World Relief Commission, from 1970 to 1974. Until 1980, he worked with Vietnamese refugee children in the Philippines. Then came SEAR, which worked with orphans in refugee camps throughout Southeast Asia and helped refugees in the Tampa Bay area. In 1993, Almquist began the Da Nang center. "We ran into more and more crippled children," he said of youngsters crumpled by disease, birth defects or land mines. "No one was working with them." Almquist expects to find more misery on his next trip to Vietnam. A typhoon and another heavy storm raked the nation in the summer. "Some families lost everything," he said. He hopes to start making more frequent but shorter trips to Vietnam. Part of the reason is to spend less time away from the St. Petersburg center. SEAR's future remains somewhat uncertain, though if it should have to close, it won't be because of money. "It will be because of lack of staff." Almquist said. Finding someone has been difficult because the job basically would be a volunteer position. "The main thing is to be mission-minded _ and be commited to the work," Almquist said. "A child in Vietnam can be a blessing or a curse. Our desire is to make children a blessing for Vietnam in the future." SEAR SEAR is at 3500 Fifth Ave. N in St. Petersburg. The phone number is 321-1538. U