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"And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." - Acts 2:47b  In spite of three decades of communist rule and persecution, the church in Vietnam has grown, from under 55,000 baptized believers in 1975 to over 1 million believers today. Out of great suffering a new church has arisen—strong, bold and on fire for God. What are the challenges facing the Church in Vietnam today and how does WorldServe Ministries best help? The primary challenges are sustaining an environment for continued growth, and supplying the resources and training to sustain the growth. Challenge 1: Sustaining Spiritual Growth For over thirty years, the church in Vietnam has survived and prospered under communism. Our brothers and sisters have learned to function and flourish under persecution and in the face of great suffering. Although conditions in Vietnam today are far from perfect for the Church, we are seeing great strides forward that will improve religious freedoms. The government is taking steps to officially recognize unregistered groups and allow the construction of church buildings and training facilities. Please pray this progress will continue and the government will recognize that the church is not a threat but instead a strength for the nation. As freedom progresses, the church will be allowed to more openly fellowship and proclaim Christ to all the people of Vietnam. Pray for this environment to penetrate all regions of the country and all the ethnic minorities. Challenge 2: Supplying Essential Resources As the church in Vietnam, particularly the unregistered church, has grown by tens of thousands of believers every year, it has been very difficult to keep pace and respond to the needs in the midst of such dramatic expansion. There are gaps on every front, not the least of which is the Word of God. Although the government has allowed limited numbers of Bibles and New Testaments to be printed, the supply has fallen far short of the need. WorldServe is embarking on the largest provision of Bibles and New Testaments since 1975: 100,000 Bibles and 125,000 New Testaments. Please pray for the resources and permissions to be granted. The second limitation is finances. Together, we desire to enable hundreds of church planters and evangelists to minister full-time. The Vietnamese church is doing all it can to fuel this with its own resources but again, the need far outpaces their resources. This is a very strategic way for us to assist the church and maintain the pace of growth. Challenge 3: Advancing Foundational Training The rapid growth of the Church has triggered the need for hundreds of trained pastors and churches to minister to new Christians and foster their continued spiritual maturity. Most of the newly planted churches are “underground” house churches; they need leaders with Godly wisdom and sound theological understanding. The pastors have a contagious passion for leading others to Christ, and they boldly risk persecution as they witness to their communities. |
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WorldServe provides the funding, Biblical training and discipleship materials for the new pastors and church planters so they can continue to successfully spread the Gospel across Vietnam. WorldServe also distributes scriptures to believers to help strengthen their foundation in Biblical truth as they work to reach more people for Christ. Moving Forward in Faith WorldServe has just announced the most ambitious training plan undertaken in the last 30 years. In consultation with the largest unregistered church in Vietnam, WorldServe is moving forward to build a 66,000 square foot, comprehensive meeting and training facility, just outside of Ho Chi Minh City. Funds have already been provided for the 10-acre site. We trust the Lord will open doors for construction to begin next year. Please pray with us that the government officials will give the necessary permissions and that the Lord will provide the needed $1.2 million dollars for this project. Upon completion, 500 church planters and Christian workers will be trained every month. This Bible Institute will alleviate much of the burden of training, and foster a new generation of trained and equipped pastors and church planters. "It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." - Ephesians 4: 11–13 Donate $40 USD/$50 CDN to support a church planter for one month. |
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