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Vietnamese Churches are waiting for an American "Sister Church"
Many Vietnamese Christians have told us that they have prayed for more than thirty years for the government to allow them to rebuild or build their churches. The time has finally come. Their prayers have been answered - in part. The permission has been given, but it is proving to be challenging due to the poverty that is so prevalent in much of Vietnam. With the economic circumstances facing the United States some may wonder why we would ask for help for people in another country. To begin with, we do so because it takes so little to do so much in Vietnam. For example, for the cost of taking one's family to an American restaurant, just once, you and I could provide for an orphaned child's needs for an entire month! Secondly, no church or individual will ever give to reach the world for Christ without being rewarding by the Lord. And it is just that blessing from the hand of God that has made America the greatest nation on the face of the earth. But with greatness comes responsibility. Years ago someone said something that still holds true. "Somehow if we are to be a great nation, we must be concerned about the least of these, our brothers... we must be concerned about the poverty-stricken because our destinies are tied together. And somehow in the final analysis, as long as there is poverty in the world, nobody can be totally rich. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. And what affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. John Donne caught it years ago and placed it in graphic terms, "No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main." And he goes on toward the end to say, "Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind." As Christian people we know, through the heart of God, we are inescapably connected to all other people. Each month we continue to ask for your support because we believe that, like us, you do not want anyone to die without knowing Jesus Christ. It is our calling to reach the world for Jesus Christ! |
How can you be involved?
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Of all the exciting developments in our ministry in Vietnam, perhaps none are quite
as exciting as the door that has been opened for new churches to be built and for
congregations to expand their ministries to their communities.
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