​​In 1990, my family members were refugees after the Vietnam War and were part of the U.S. Orderly Departure Program (ODP). Gratefully, my father’s older brother, who was already living in the U.S., helped us with all the paperwork and signed to take responsibility for our immigration and transition to the United States. He was a handsome, well-to-do engineer. If it weren’t for my uncle, my family wouldn’t have been able to come to America.
 
This uncle was in the process of doing the extensive paperwork for our family and had to travel to Vietnam. Sadly, before the paperwork was finalized, his wife who was in the States took his multiple businesses and house assets and then divorced him. As if that wasn’t enough, my uncle later had the same experience happen in succession with two more wives. It was easy for him to find beautiful women to marry due to his good looks. But then they ended up taking everything of his and divorcing him. This tragic pattern deeply affected my uncle mentally and he went missing for many years.

From Vietnam to Canada
Pastor Thu Nguyen was an unbeliever in Vietnam, where he served in the navy for six years. He was there until the naval ships were evacuated on April 30, 1975, when the war ended. In August 1975 he was allowed to reside in Edmonton, Canada. He became a Christian a year later, when he first heard about the gospel. "My conversion is the starting point of God's abundant grace in my life," he said.

Soon after his conversion, he moved to Vancouver to join a Vietnamese church there. Back then, there was only one Vietnamese church in the West. 

First Ministry Calling
In 1978 Pastor Thu attended a Christian youth retreat in California. He responded to the preacher's call to serve in ministry, even though he was still a new Christian. "This was my first ministry calling, which happened as a process," he said. This calling, which was an amazing grace, became a reality nearly 20 years later.