Jesus in Vietnam Ministries

MOUNTAINTOP EXPERIENCE

As we started our 14-15 hour drive from Binh Chau to Qang Ngai, rain was pouring down. After several hours it showed no sign of letting up. Our driver stated it was the rainy season in the mountains and wondered if any of the roads up the mountain would be washed out. Mai looked at me and said we need to pray asking God to stop the rain. As we stopped for lunch about 30 minutes later the rain started to lessen. Then, before we finished our lunch, the sun started shining through breaks in the clouds. Oh, how exciting it is when God gives us a little wink from Heaven letting us know He is with us and will give us the desire of our heart as we seek to serve Him. Our God is so Amazing! No rain the last few hours to Quang Ngai City or the next morning as we drove another 3 hours to the mountains where Pastor Ze’s village is located.

The further up the mountain the smaller and rougher the road became until we could take the car no further. Pastor Ze then sent 6 young men on motorcycles to pick us up and take us the last 4 miles up the mountain. At times, we had to walk as the rain had washed out the road. Pastor Ze’s village is truly at the top of a mountain. Pastor Ze, his wife, and members of his village greeted us with open arms. Pastor Ze stated we were the first “westerners” to visit his village. We had a blessed meeting where Pastor Ze shared his village’s journey in becoming Christians and their faithfulness in standing firm in their faith throughout the years, even under times of persecution.

After a wonderful lunch, Pastor Ze walked us around his village and we were able to meet some of the residents who were home. Mai said many of the houses resembled her grandmother’s house where she grew up as a child 60-70 years ago. At that time, Mai and her family lived amongst the Montagnards. There are no stores on the mountaintop. The village produces rice for their own needs and hunts for game and edible leaves/fruit in the nearby jungle. We met 2 ladies returning from the jungle, one with a basket of leaves and one with a basket of wood. People barter back and forth with each other to meet their needs.

It was quite a humbling experience to see the contentment in which these precious people live where God has placed them and what He provides for them. What a witness of God’s love, mercy, and grace to bring the Gospel to this remote village. And then, keep them faithful to Him when other villages fell away due to persecution. Pastor Ze introduced us to 2 men (Mr. Xuan and Mr. Vung) who both were suffering from painful back injuries. We all laid hands on them and prayed for God to heal them.

We wanted to go visit some families in another village close to Pastor Ze’s, but due to the lateness of the day and rain starting to fall, we were advised to get down off the mountain before dark (we are not allowed to stay overnight on the mountain). However, we were taken to an area overlooking this village and prayed over the families in it. Pastor Ze stated 4 families had excepted Jesus and he needed a total of 10 families to become Christians to be able to establish a house church there. After being taken back down the mountain to where we left our car, we said our goodbyes praising God for the blessed time of fellowship He had given us with Pastor Ze and our new mountaintop brothers and sisters in Christ. God willing, we are already looking forward to returning next summer to help Pastor Ze in sharing Jesus with other villages in the area.

GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY

Out of all the drivers in Saigon, God guided us to the one to fulfill His plan for this man. Our driver (Phuc) was an experienced driver who navigated us through all the rain and up the narrow, winding mountain road with ease. Besides, Phuc had a gentle spirit and a good sense of humor. He accepted our invitation to join us in our evening prayer the night we arrived in Quang Ngai. Then, after being with us all day on the mountain seeing us sharing the love of Jesus, Phuc joined us for our evening prayer back at our hotel. We had been praying for Phuc’s salvation from the beginning of our trip and that evening God gave Mai the opportunity to share the Gospel with him. Phuc listened intently as Mai shared how much God loves him and it was no coincidence God had assigned him to be our driver. God had a plan and purpose for his life.
The angels in heaven were singing as Phuc asked Jesus into his heart as his Lord and Savior.

Over the rest of our trip we continued to share God’s Word with Phuc and explained the importance of being baptized. We were scheduled to return to Binh Chau on Saturday evening, Phuc agreed to stay overnight, attend Sunday Worship, and be baptized. Satan now did his best to prevent this from happening. Khanh offered Phuc to spend Saturday night at his house, but the street was too narrow to get the car down. Phuc left to spend the night at a motel and would arrive early to speak with Pastor Tu about his baptism. When Phuc didn’t show up for his appointment early Sunday morning, we called Khanh. However, Khanh didn’t know what motel Phuc was at. So Khanh and Mai left by motorcycle to find him. God led them to the right motel where they spotted Phuc’s car. Phuc had overslept, but they still got him to the church on time. We have invited Phuc to bring his family to Binh Chau to attend one of our Christmas Outreaches so his wife and children may hear how much God loves them too. Phuc said he would bring them.

FOLLOWING GOD’S GUIDANCE

After our exciting day with Pastor Ze and then Phuc’s accepting Jesus, we headed for Dak Lak province the next day to visit with Pastor De. This was another full day of travel (13 hours), We decided to take a shortcut through the mountains. As the night approached the road became very narrow and rough. We thought we were lost a couple of times, but God provided a couple of people along the way to assure us we were on the right road. We found a hotel and the next morning continued on (another 2 hours) to meet with Pastor De. Pastor De met us by motorcycle in a small town to lead us to his village. About 1 mile from his village, we encountered a swinging bridge. Our car was too big and heavy to cross it so we decided to park the car and walk across the bridge up to Pastor De’s village. As soon as I (Dennis) stepped out of the car, Pastor De motioned for me to get back in the car. He stated “I looked different” and would have to stay in the car. Even though the church had visited Pastor De before and he stated it was okay for us (Mai and I) to visit, we could sense a fear or apprehension in Pastor De actually having us there. Mai explained we were a team and if I couldn’t go, then neither could she. We didn’t want to cause Pastor De any problems so we talked for a few minutes and then made our sweet exit. We left disappointed, but not discouraged as we knew God was in charge ad He must have His reasons for closing this door at this time. We just didn’t know our Heavenly Father was going to reveal His purpose to us so soon and in a way only He could receive the glory. As we traveled to our next destination, we hadn’t stopped for lunch and we were getting pretty hungry. We stopped at a restaurant in a very small town, but Khanh checked it out and said the chicken looked like it was very old. We decided not to eat there and kept traveling. We went through a few more small towns when Phuc spotted a restaurant that served chicken and rice. It was late in the afternoon so we were the only customers there at the time. The food was very good, and as always, we cleaned/stacked up the dishes on our table before leaving (not usually done in Vietnam). The owner commented on why we did that which gave us the opportunity to share we were Christians. The owner stated the waitress who had waited on us was also a Christian (what a coincidence ). She called the waitress over and she sat down to talk with us. She stated she was a widow with 2 children and went to church every Sunday. As we talked the owner came over and Mai asked her join us. God opened the door for Mai to share the Gospel with her (Hong) and she asked Jesus into her heart as her Lord and Savior. To God be the glory! If we would have spent the day with Pastor De, we would not have stopped for lunch. If we would have eaten at the first restaurant we stopped at, we would not have stopped at this restaurant. When God closes a door for us, we need not to be discouraged as He more than likely has a better one for us to walk through if we stay focused on Him.

MORE DIVINE APPOINTMENTS

Our next destination on our trip would take us to Tanh Linh, another Montagnard village with no church in it. But first, God had more Divine appointments in store for us. In a prior visit to this area by the church leadership, Quang took notice of a small fishing village they could see from a distance. Quang shared with us that God put a burden in his heart since then for people in this village to know about Jesus. As God directed us to stop at this village, we prayed asking Him to lead us to someone we could befriend and share the Gospel with. God answered our prayers as only He can. As we walked along the shops by the harbor, a young women (Hue) came up to us selling straw hats and snacks for the tourists. We engaged in a conversation and purchased hats and snacks from her. Hue had one of the shops set up tables and chairs underneath a shaded area so we could sit and enjoy a cold drink. Hue continued approaching tourists, but then came and joined us. We were also joined by a security guard (Hanh). Another young lady and man sat down with us and it was obvious they were both mentally challenged. They began arguing with each other and the young lady became quite upset. Mai went over. sat next to her, and prayed for. The lady immediately calmed down and actually fell asleep. The young man walked away. This enabled us to talk with Hue and Hanh about us being Christians and how our God had directed us to their village, Hue and Hanh listened intently. God was working in their heart and He gave Mai the opportunity to share the Gospel with them. We praise God as they both prayed right there to ask Jesus into their heart. While speaking to Hue and Hanh, the young man who had walked away rejoined us. God opened the door for us to share Jesus with him and he also prayed to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior. When we stopped in this village we had no idea if we would be able to share Jesus with anyone, but God knew exactly what He was going to use us for and to whom. What a blessing to serve such an Awesome God!

Afterwards, Hue took us to meet a lady who operated a small stand selling dried shrimp. We purchased some of the shrimp as we started up a conversation with her. During our talk, Nguyet mentioned she was married and they had a baby who also had a mental disorder. Nguyet led us to her house a short distance away and we laid hands on her baby and prayed for him.

God used our concern and compassion for her baby to open the door for Mai to share the Gospel with Nguyet. She was focused on what Mai was saying, but when Mai asked her if she would like to pray to ask Jesus into her heart, she said she would have to discuss with her husband. Mai stated she fully understood that decision and then shared with Nguyet an example of a prayer asking Jesus into her heart. And, that she could pray that prayer anytime anywhere.

As with all our interactions with the people God directed us to on this trip, we exchanged phone numbers so we could stay in contact with each other. Last week we received a phone call from Hue asking how we were doing and stated she wanted to keep in touch with us. This village has no church and all 4 people we talked to had never heard of Jesus or even Christians before. What a harvest field in waiting.

Please pray God will multiply this seed He used us to plant to bring many to Christ in this fishing village. Please pray God will raise up someone from the Binh Chau church or elsewhere to go to disciple these new believers in the truths contained in His Word. Please pray God’s protection on these new believers from persecution and the strength to stand firm in their new found faith in Christ.

ONWARD TO TANH LINH

From Vinh Hy we traveled on to Tanh Linh praising God for His wisdom and guidance and giving us so much joy seeing Him work in the hearts of His precious children we met in Vinh Hy and all throughout our trip. Arriving in Tanh Linh, we visited with the family we shared about in our last newsletter. The mother and 2 of her daughters had accepted Jesus when the Binh Chau Church witnessing team visited them before. The 2 daughters seemed very friendly and welcoming, but Mai sensed an uneasiness with the mother. Our team left there to visit more families as Mai stayed behind to talk to the mother some more. The mother seemed attentive until another one of her daughters showed up. This family believes in ancestry worship and have a large picture/altar to their deceased husband/father in their house. As Mai was sharing with her mother, this daughter lit some incense and started bowing/praying to her father’s altar. The mother then excused herself and went into another room. It was very clear the mother was fearful and greatly influenced by this one daughter. Mai made a sweet exit and left to join the rest of us.

Please pray God will soften this mother’s (Na) heart and give us another opportunity to share more about Jesus with her on a return visit when this one daughter is not at home. Please pray the 2 daughters who accepted Christ will attend our Christmas Outreach in Binh Chau and be strengthened in their walk with the Lord, And then return home to share their experience of being shown the love of Jesus with their mother.

Mai found us walking through the neighborhood meeting people and handing out candy to the many children we encountered. We also gave many of them backpacks for school. We soon discovered there are a “ton” of children just in this small neighborhood we were visiting. None of them had heard of Jesus or His love for them. Two weeks later we returned to this village and met with more families and children inviting them to come to Binh Chau to attend one of our Christmas Outreaches. We are excited for the connection God has given us with these families and the privilege of sharing Jesus with them.

PRAYER REQUESTS

We will have 3 Christmas Outreaches this year: Children’s this Saturday (12/17), Family (12/24), and in Suoi Bang (12/25). Please pray God will draw many non-believers to each outreach to hear the true meaning of Christmas. May our Lord give them understanding He is the one, true living God, their need for a Savior, and our Heavenly Father providing one for us in His Son Jesus. Please pray many will come forward and ask Jesus into their heart at our altar calls.

We have visited the Montagnard village about 2 hours from Binh Chau and have about 25-30 people (mostly children) agreeing to attend our Christmas Outreach on December 24. We will visit this village one more time next week to confirm how many will be attending. We will send a bus to pick them up the afternoon of the 24th. They will attend the Christmas Outreach that evening, spend the night here at the church, and attend Sunday Worship on Christmas day. We will then bus them back to their village afterwards. Please pray God will continue to work in their hearts and follow through on their commitment to attend, both children and parents. Please pray many will give their heart to the Lord.

We have been encouraging the whole congregation (young and old) to invite their non-believing family, friends, and neighbors to one of our Christmas Outreaches. Please pray God will give them each boldness and favor with those they invite and many will attend.

These outreaches require much preparation. Please pray God will bless each one, everyone participating, and everything done in them will bring glory to His name.

Please pray for Pastor Tu and his family who have come strongly under Satan’s attacks. Thuong’s (Pastor Tu’s wife) father is in the last days of stage 4 lung cancer. Pastor Tu’s mother has been sick and was recently diagnosed with severe diabetes. Plus, their 3 year old daughter has been sick and in the hospital 3 times in the last month (stomach issues). This has put a lot of stress on Pastor Tu as he balances being with family and preparing for the Christmas Outreaches. We thank God for bringing us here at this time to comfort Pastor Tu and his family and help carry some of the duties for him.