The Unsung Heroes of Vietnam
I know people thought I was crazy when I said I was going into Vietnam with no contacts, but people often underestimate the power of my God. I was blessed to meet several ministries and watch the life change that has been happening all through out this communist nation. We met with different people everyday and sometimes a few meetings within a day. We met people who just found out about our program a month or so ago by other teams that specifically came into Vietnam without a contact. Thankfully God allowed us to continue building onto those relationships and help their ministries out any way we could. However what was even greater was meeting several people who just learned about our organization and invited us to come along side them. (I will change the name of these people or there ministry strictly to keep their ministry safe). The amazing thing about the church we teamed alongside is it had multiple connections. It seemed that all members knew somebody who knew somebody. Thankfully some of those somebodies came to meet with us one day. Bob was a very powerful man. He and his wife would go around doing VBS with different churches and also training others how to minister to children. Together they partnered with several churches around Vietnam and even in Cambodia. After his wife past away the ministry became very draining on him and he struggled with all the tasks. He never lost faith and continued to be His hands and feet. Because of this man’s faithfulness to his people, he has prepared many people to be disciples, who go out and make disciples, who then go out and make disciples. So just like a fire it spreads and it burns and it is hard to stop or slow down. Bob was very passionate and so interested in having help he called more friends to see if they needed help to. Within an hour another man came to meet us. He also was a paster and mentored people. At his church he has a kids club, youth night, and an english corner. Within two hours we had 2 contacts. But don’t worry Bob made more phone calls and we were able to meet with another man who works in the north that does ministry to alcoholics, drug abusers, prostitutes, children, and the homeless, he also use to work for Samaritans Purse. Although we could not go see his ministry first hand, he flew in and met with us about all the opportunities he could do with extra help. However Bob got us in contact with one more man. This man is so powerful I’ve decided to give him one whole paragraph by himself. 😉
We can call him Jonah. Jonah is most likely one of the great disciple’s that have ever come across Vietnam. How can I be so sure? Well lets just say he was a very brave man. SO brave he decided to create the first underground church in Vietnam. Okay, seriously…stop and think about that. With his fearlessness he became a bold warrior for Christ. Thanks to his faithfulness to the Lord, Vietnam has been booming with Christ’s love. Now this man has helped build and lead others to going out and spreading the Gospel. He now has over 1000 churches he has helped plant. Yeah, I know. He deserves a whole lot more than a little paragraph. It was an honor just to speak with this man and hear his passionate heart for the Lord.
Thankfully we were off to a great start. We had another friend who knew a friend who invited us to a church service. Although we didn’t know what to expect we arrived to a beautiful building. To our surprise it was an international church busting full of amazing people. This places is hands down one of the biggest blessing you could find in Vietnam. Everyone is welcomed and show true love. By Gods amazing timing we were an answer to prayer. The next weekend was their church camp retreat and they really needed someone to work with the kids. Then boom, we show up. What an honor and a blessing for my team. Within that church we also met several people who have ministries of there own. Thankfully they welcomed us to come along side and see what their ministries were all about.
Peter was a man of God who dropped everything to follow his calling. He owns a rice factor in Vietnam. In this area there are no churches. He has used this factory to be a stepping stone to reach the community and prepare a place to become a church. He was excited to hear he could have some help in this process and asked us if we would be willing to tell our organization about his ministry. Wow, God is good. In this church we also met a family who lives farther out but comes to the church for bigger events. They have 5 children and live out in a smaller city. They interpret for a church and just live out the calling to be his disciples. They welcomed us into there home and showed us around the church and their ministry. Don’t worry though the church still has more disciples. One of the children we watched over the camp’s mother created a center for kids with disabilities only a few months ago. Since that is like my vision in the future I got crazy excited. She invited us over to see her center and also to the Special School that she works with. The many blessing that overflowed from these buildings were beautiful but don’t you worry I will write another blog in more details about them. Lastly we met a women at church who works in an orphanage with child who are affected by agent orange. The heartbreaking affects of war are still trickling down to the children today. Thankfully they welcomed us in and were interested in having some help with their program. We also met with several people who had just met with other teams and were also becoming contacts for our program! The church is no longer contained into a building but people are actually being the church. How encouraging is that!?
One day another team came in contact with this man, George. George does ministry with the students at a local university. He has a dormitory, he has an english center, and he has a traveling agency. Through these ministries he is able to share the gospel to anyone that comes into contact with him. He allowed us to come into his ministry and meet with his students and even show us around the campus. It was an amazing adventure and a wonderful place to have as a new contact.
An this is only brief summaries of a day in the Vietnam world. All of these people were truly walking out the calling to make disciples of all nations. The fruits of their labor are overflowing. I look forward to seeing the growth that will come when our organization partners with them. I am honored and humbled to see how power our God is.
God is good, all the time. And all the time, God is good.
