It was yet again a blessing to return to Vietnam to teach pastors in March 2025, my eighth trip over there, this time with my Bethlehem Seminary student, Joshua Wilks. As always, this was under the auspices of ACTS International, whose mission statement reads: “ACTS International seeks to plant churches among the unreached peoples of Asia by equipping indigenous missionaries” (actsinternational.net).
It was a joy to be with this group again. We met on the 9-acre campus of one of the C&MA-affiliated churches, in a semi-rural area. The class was fairly small (only 8 students), but all of them were pastors ministering in significant churches. After last year’s introductory class on “Foundations of the Old Testament,” this time we covered the foundational section of the Bible, Genesis 1-11.
Most of the group were in their 30’s and 40’s, and they brought good knowledge of the Scriptures to the class, but they were hungry to learn more and were very engaged. We had several break-out sessions where they discussed various matters in small groups. I encouraged a tongue-in-cheek “competition” between the groups to see which group could come up with the “best” answers, and the resulting hilarity was fun to see. But beyond that, it was also encouraging to see them fellowshipping together over mealtimes and break times, as many of them labor in cities and ministries with no significant peer encouragement.
Throughout the week, I asked them to share about their ministries, their churches, their greatest joys and greatest challenges, and those were rich times of sharing. I was very encouraged to hear that most of them seem to be supported full-time by their churches, which has not seemed to be the case for most of the pastors I’ve met in previous years here—though many of them also seemed to sell coffee as a sidelight. (I returned home laden with several bags full of great Vietnamese coffee, as a result!)
A special delight was having Joshua Wilks with me this time. Joshua has been my teaching assistant for the past two-plus years, and here in Thai Binh he brought the morning devotionals each day from the Sermon on the Mount. Then, on the weekend, when we had traveled to Haiphong, he preached twice on Sunday in two different churches (morning and afternoon). He did an excellent job in all of this and was very well received by all.
In the second week, I was privileged to teach again in Haiphong, to a group I’ve taught quite a few times before, so it was wonderful to be greeted so warmly and to fellowship among them as an old friend. There were 18-19 students in the class, and the topic was “Minor Prophets.” For the first half of the week, we covered the phenomenon of prophecy, prophetic call, and much more. In the second half, we dug into the book of Amos, though not finishing it all the way through (we will finish it next year, Lord willing, and dig into one or more other minor prophets). This week too we did quite a few break-out groups and, like in Thai Binh, enjoyed a bit of inter-group “competition”! But I also asked this group about their greatest joys and challenges in ministry, and the reports were at once uplifting and sobering.
Joshua had the following reflections on his time in Vietnam:
I accompanied Dr. Howard on his recent trip to Vietnam, and it is hard to underestimate the impact this trip had on me. I was very humbled by seeing the need of the Church in this part of the world. I so often take for granted the wealth of theological resources and teaching I have received in America. On the one hand, the pastors in Vietnam have received many blessings from God (two Bible colleges, visiting pastors and professors, networks of local pastors, online resources, etc.). On the other hand, there are still many challenges and such a great need to spread our own (American) embarrassment of riches. I praise God that there are faithful pastors in this place, and I trust that he will build up his Church in Vietnam. But one of my key takeaways was that the need is still very great.
A second key takeaway was the significance of the language barrier. I have traveled to many places where the local language is similar enough to English. But going to Vietnam was a whole new level. It helped that their language has letters, not only symbols. But there was no sense of a shared language (the only common word I could discern was “cà phê,” pronounced “kah-FEY,” which is in English, “coffee”). Once, Dr. Howard and I worked with a translator who struggled, even though he knew a good amount of English, and so we had to drastically change our way of speaking just to be understood. We were blessed by Huong, a great translator, but even then, I had to work to keep my sentences short and simple. This experience and others made me appreciate more deeply those who labor for years to learn a local language for the sake of the Kingdom.
Overall, I am incredibly grateful that I got this opportunity. It was a joy to travel with and learn from Dr. Howard. I am thankful to Bethlehem College and Seminary for helping me fund this trip. This glimpse of believers across the world has sufficiently impacted me and will have a lasting influence on my ministry.
I must say what I perhaps have only implied in previous reports: I continue to be greatly blessed by meeting these fellow Christians. They take great joy in seeing people come to Christ, in seeing people grow and mature in the Lord, and more. They labor under many challenges, not the least being governmental and family pressures: Most pastors in these two classes had come to Christ outside of their own (Buddhist) families, in later childhood or in adulthood. Many of them were ostracized by family, who made it very difficult for them. Thankfully, many have been able to bring others in their families to Christ, or, if not, at least their families have accepted their choices…though, in some cases, the ostracism has continued even till today, sadly enough. These are challenged that most of us in the West will never have to face. And yet, the enthusiasm in their worship services and in the classes is deeply moving to me every time I’m with them. And so, I have to say that I’m sure I am more greatly blessed by being with them than they are by whatever they are receiving in my classes.
David Howard, Ph.D.
Professor of Old Testament
Prayer Requests:
- Pray for the believers in Vietnam.
- Pray for wisdom for the prospective students attending our College and Seminary Preview Days.
- Pray for the speakers of Theology for Everyone Weekend as they prepare.
- Pray for the full funding of The Serious Joy Scholarships needed to support this year’s students and their teachers.