We are delighted to begin a new partnership with Saigon Reformed Presbyterian Church, located in Santa Ana, California, to implement poverty alleviation ministries in rural Vietnam. 

Led by Pastor Nguyen Xuan Bao, Saigon Church has been on at least 138 mission trips to Vietnam. Their ministry includes water well construction, bridge construction, and rice bag distribution. Our partnership will focus on the water well ministry.

One of them is Ho Thi Huong, a 41-year-old woman. Without the heart procedure, she would suffer a premature death. 

The other heart surgery patient is Phi Ho Kim Hue, a 3-year-old boy. He not only had  a cleft palate but also a heart problem. 

We thank God for the opportunity to help the Do Thanh Huong family in Vietnam build a new house, our 2nd house in partnership with SOMEDCO.

Do Thanh Huong was born in 1952, and his wife, Huynh Thi Thu was born in 1954. This couple is Christian, and they attend the Moc Hoa church.  Mr. Do Thanh Huong used to be a deacon at the church.

​After he suffered from a serious liver disease for a long time, he was healed by God. However, he still has weak health. Mrs. Huynh Thi Thu is a housewife, and she also suffers from poor health.

They have 7 children,  who all have their own families and work as hired laborers far away from home.

The father is 33 years old and works as a hired laborer, earning about $170 USD a month. The mother is 30 years old, and she suffers from poor health, which limits her ability to work as a hired laborer. Since the mother has constantly suffered from illness, the family's financial situation is very difficult. She is currently being treated for a female disease.

The family has 3 children. The first child is 9 years old and is in fourth grade at Tan Phuc 2 Primary School. The second child is 8 years old and is in third grade at Tan Phuc 2 Primary School. The third child is 3 years old and is too young to attend school.

The family is Christian and attends the Song Dinh Church. The children love God and have strong connections with their local church.

​Celebrate Christ's resurrection by supporting Vietnam foster children

Children who come from rural Vietnam usually don’t have the opportunity to go to school if they stay in the villages. We partner with a local missionary to provide nutrition and scholarships for foster children in Vietnam. 

​If 2,500 people each give $100 this year, we can help meet physical and spiritual needs for 500 children and families in 7 different countries.

Here are some of the Vietnam foster children who need support this year. (Note: The children's names are nicknames to protect their identity.)

Children who come from rural villages in Vietnam usually don’t have the opportunity to go to school if they stay in the villages. One reason is that the schools are located far away from their homes. The children would have to travel a distance to get to school, and then board nearby. 

​Another reason is that the impoverished parents prefer the children to help out with the farming work or to help provide family income in other ways. If the children aren’t helping with the farm work, then they run around unattended, or their parents have them go into town to sell lotto tickets, postcards, or homemade desserts to earn money. In some cases, the children might even have to beg on the streets for their family. These rural children need a way to have an education to break the poverty cycle for their family.

You are invited to join our partner Vets with a Mission on one of three medical mission teams to Vietnam in the spring of 2018. These trips include experiences to: 

1. Thua Thien Hue Province
2. Near Hue City
3. A Luoi Near the Laotian/Vietnam Border

 
​If you are a medical-health professional, your role will be hands-on with the patients. Physicians, Physician Assistant's and Nurse Practitioners all serve as patient examiners. Nurses serve in triage working up the patients, identifying their health issues before the patients are examined. If you are a dentist, you will be very busy! A Pharmacist is needed to supervise the VWAM pharmacy, a Physical Therapist would do PT, an Ophthalmologist/Optometrist would see eye patients, and so on. Each medical-health professional has an assigned interpreter. 

Those who are not medical-health professionals play an integral role on the team in either pharmacy, patient services, or security. There is an important role for each team member to play!

​Vietnamese Inmates Converted in Taiwan
As part of his official assignment from The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) in Canada, Pastor Thu has been ministering to 100 Vietnamese inmates in Taiwan since 2007. A majority of these Vietnamese have become believers while they’re in the detention centers or prison. After they are released, they must return home, according to Taiwan’s government immigration policy.

Returnees Face Challenges in Vietnam
Pastor Thu visits the converted returnees back in Vietnam and helps connect them with churches in their homeland. During these visits, Pastor Thu has realized how the returnees are economically disadvantaged. The local areas where they live don’t have available jobs. Therefore many of them have to leave again to look for jobs elsewhere. Some of them go to bigger cities; others go to other countries such as Laos, Thailand, or Malaysia.

Livestock Breeding Center
We want to help alleviate the poverty in Vietnam so these returnees can have a livelihood in their homeland. We are partnering with Pastor Mui in Vietnam, who has a large piece of property. Together we will develop a livestock breeding center. This holistic project can satisfy the needs of the local church and its surrounding impoverished community in two ways, both economically and spiritually.

• Economic benefits: The community will have the opportunity for additional income by raising, breeding, and selling goats. This will help improve the standard of living for both the church and the community members.
• Spiritual benefits: The church can increase their influence in their community for evangelism. This strategy is an innovative way to evangelize, which is appropriate for the political and economic situation in Vietnam.

Proven Effective for Poverty Alleviation
According to the Goat and Rabbit Research Centre in Vietnam, goat production is popular in mountainous areas and is a means to improve the income of the rural poor. In fact, the results of goat farming seem so effective, that the research center proposes that research activities should be extended into more areas in Vietnam as a means of increasing farmers’ incomes and alleviating hunger and poverty in these areas of Vietnam. They conclude that goat production is playing an increasingly important role in the improvement of the income of poor farmers and is contributing significantly to poverty and hunger alleviation in Vietnam. [Source]

May 17, 2017

Dear Friends:

​ After six weeks in Vietnam, two weeks at home, and another week and a half in TX and GA, we're finally putting down roots for the remainder of Spring, Summer and Fall. Let's catch up on the latest!