by Dennis & Mai Spencer | January 9th, 2019
CHRISTMAS OUTREACHES 2018
“Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise His name; proclaim His salvation day after day. Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples.” Psalm 96:1-3
After weeks of preparation with our youth practicing their lines for their play about the birth of Jesus, the choirs rehearsing, the church and church grounds decorated, and gifts all wrapped, we were all set to hold our Christmas Evangelistic Outreaches. First, we held our Children’s Christmas Outreach on Saturday, December 23rd. We praise God as He blessed us with around 75 children and 20-25 adults in attendance (picture above). The children started arriving as early as 3 pm and enjoyed a time of playing and fellowship. Then they were served a hot meal before the start of our outreach. The children here love KFC so Mai, Kim, Lam, Hue, and Lan spent the afternoon cooking mounds of fried chicken and French fries to their delight.
After everyone had all they could eat, they enjoyed a short time of fellowship before the outreach began. We praise God as the children performed flawlessly in their Christmas play. The youth have performed this same paly in past years, but as the older kids leave, younger ones take their place. This year 8 of the 14 performers were participating for the first time. As always, the highlight of the evening came when Pastor Quang gave the altar call and 17 children and 1 adult came forward to ask Jesus into their hearts as their personal Lord and Savior (picture above). What joy to see God working in the hearts of these precious children and the smiles on their faces.
Next, we held our Family Christmas Evangelistic Outreach on Christmas Eve. Once again, God blessed us with a wonderful evening with a little over 100 attending(picture above). We presented the same program and the children (and adult choir) performed beautifully. On a side note, several families who came chose to stay outside instead of sitting inside the church. We believe as a way to avoid persecution from friends and neighbors for “attending” the Christian church. However, with our outdoor speakers, they could hear everything. In God’s perfect timing, just as Pastor Thong began to preach his Christmas message, it began to rain. So those families had to come inside the church to keep from getting wet:) God is so good! When the altar call was given, 1 adult and 2 children came forward to ask Jesus into their heart (picture below). Praise the Lord! Many adults heard the Gospel, but did not come forward. Please pray God will water the seed that was planted in their hearts and give them understanding He is the one true living God and their need of a Savior in Jesus Christ. We thank God for giving us these 2 Christmas Outreaches where people (young and older) heard the true meaning of why we celebrate Christmas and that God showered 20 people with His grace to receive saving faith in Jesus. We also thank each of you who prayed and financially gave so these outreaches might be held. Please take joy in knowing God is answering your prayers and using you to impact lives for ALL eternity. To God be the glory!
GOOD NEWS, BUT SAD TOO
Hoa, the housemother for our orphanage/love house the last 5 months, recently announced her engagement to everyone’s surprise. We are so joyful Hoa is marrying a Christian. In fact, he is the older son of Pastor Luong, who shepherded the Binh Chau Church for the first 7 months of this year. The sad news, she has resigned and will be moving away from Binh Chau. We will miss Hoa dearly as we have watched her “grow up” in the church the last 10 years, but on the other hand, we are so pleased God has blessed her with a godly young man (Heiu) to marry.
PRAYER REQUESTS
Please pray God will provide a pastor for the Binh Chau Church and give us wisdom/ discernment/clarity to know the man He has chosen to serve here.
Please pray God will give the witnessing and visiting teams Divine Appointments as they go out each week to share the love of Jesus.
Please pray God will provide a new housemother for our orphanage/love house. As of now, we are filling in as the house grandparents along with Kim.
Please pray God will raise up another youth leader to replace Hoa, who was also heavily involved with leading and teaching at Children’s Church.
Please pray God will give each member of the Binh Chau Church the desire and strength in 2019 to become more like Jesus each day so we all might be better witnesses of God’s love, mercy, and grace.
“How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you.” 1 Thessalonians 3:9
Jesus in Vietnam Ministries, is a compassion ministry founded by Dennis and Mai Spencer. Vietnamese families suffer from deprivation, lacking sometimes even the necessities of life. In obedience to the many Scriptural commands to help the poor they are enabling families to survive in difficult circumstances. When shown mercy these families are very receptive to the Gospel. The Spencer’s also focus on children, who are the future church of Jesus Christ in Vietnam.