Nancy and I are returning to Vietnam in April with a wonderful ministry team.
Our minds go back more than 20 years to our first visit. After a time of vibrant worship, beautiful young believers jammed themselves together, sitting on the floor, knee to back, hungry to receive from the Word of God and be empowered for ministry. To enter the building (used for Christian training and monitored by the government) we had to get past the police guard who was at his station from 8 am to 5 pm., taking names. For our safety, we were smuggled in the dark at 5 am and back out at 11 pm. Never did so many hours pass so quickly as we experienced God’s healing and encouraging presence with us.
Over the last 25 years, our love and respect has grown for Minh and his wife, Blessing, and other heroes of the faith who live under constant threat of persecution. As we celebrate the 30th year of Firefall International, we are blessed to be called spiritual Mom and Dad, equipping and encouraging another generation of bold men and women of faith. We are inspired by the depth of their love for Jesus and sacrifices to serve Him wholeheartedly.
We will be joined by Pastor David and his wife, Diimte, plus youth leader Philip from Myanmar, under the leadership of Minh and Blessing. We thank God for the relationship we have all built over the decades. We respect them as co-laborers and treasure them as friends. We have already begun Zoom meetings to prepare our hearts as a team.
This year’s ministry is three-folD
🔥 Children’s worker training
We will spend two days encouraging 30 children’s workers who spend their summer taking the gospel to remote villages, reaching 10,000 children by the end of their 3-month service. Blessing leads this effort in their nation. These disciples give their summers like modern-day circuit riders, sleeping on the ground, carrying their own food with them, along with the precious seed of the gospel to children in unreached areas.
🔥 Vision casting for football outreach
Minh’s dedication to Jesus and his servant heart have opened doors for his mentoring influence in a national youth ministry network. The Holy Spirit gave us the concept of bringing the amazing success story of evangelism through sport from House of Glory in Myanmar. Pastor David and Philip will recount the multi-year journey as Minh invites interested pastors and youth leaders to join us for a day apart, ending with a football match among interested youth.
🔥 Marriage and family life conference
We caught Minh and Blessing’s burden for ministry couples many years ago when we shared on this topic in Vietnam with them. Through biblical teaching and sharing our own successes and failures, we saw walls come down between couples, repentance and renewed commitment to make time for their own marriage and family life. This is a revolutionary topic in Vietnam and continues to be a passion of Minh and Blessing’s ministry together. We are honored to join them along with Pastor David and Diimte. We will host 20 pastoral couples (ages 25-40) near the beach for 3 days of rest, worship and reflection regarding their own households.
Our request of you
The dates of this outreach are April 15-29. Would you prayerfully consider sending us by both prayer and provision? We need your prayer support now as we plan the aspects of ministry and as we actually make this trip. For us this is an open door to see the Holy Spirit “fan into flame” hearts and lives in three powerful aspects.
The cost of travel and all outreaches will be $15,000. To our natural mind, this is overwhelming, but as we each give in response to the Spirit of God, we fully believe the goal will be met. Thank you for praying and for giving as He leads. Every prayer and every dollar given will fuel God’s purposes in the lives of beautiful, faithful leaders in Vietnam.
With our love and thanks for you,
Jim, Nancy and Vietnam Team
