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 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world”---James 1:27
There is a strong hesitancy in some churches in Vietnam to use Mercy ministries in fear that people will come to the Lord in order to continue to receive food, clothing, money, or medical assistance from the church. While this may be a possibility in some cases, we believe it is very hard for someone to be receptive to hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ when they are struggling to provide food, clothing, and shelter for their families from one day to the next. Jesus not only gave the people the Bread of Life for their spiritual needs, but also fed them fish to meet their physical hunger. Because of the culture, lifestyle, lack of educational opportunities, and more, many people in Binh Chau are in need of both spiritual and physical help.
The seven weeks last fall (2005) when Mai was working with the church in the Binh Chau area, they had 37 people pray to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. To God be the Glory! Three of those families were really in need of assistance and Mai focused on helping them to meet their daily needs through some of the funds Catalina Foothills Church and our congregation provided. Here is one of those stories:
Mai went to visit one family (husband, wife, and four children) in Binh Chau. The husband is a fisherman and goes out to sea a month at a time on a fishing boat. It is very dangerous and hard work. In fact, he was suppose to be out to sea when Mai came to visit, but he had gotten sick and came ashore to get medication and then was to return to his boat. However, he returned late and his boat had already left for sea so he returned home (coincidence? we think not). Mai learned that sometimes the family actually runs out of food before the husband returns from his long month at sea. When this happens they resort to searching for wild green leaves and coconuts for food and stay curled up inside their home (what we would call a shack). The wife was the first to accept Christ, then her husband, then all four of their children. Mai gave them some money for food and also enough for the wife to start a little business to help provide for the family when the husband is out to sea. This family was not only Buddhists, but into voodoo and witchcraft practices (their house was full of idols). The husband told Mai before she left that he would pray about getting rid of all the idols in his house. After Mai returned to the states, Lam informed her that the man had indeed taken all the idols out of his house and destroyed them. Praise God! And the testimony gets even better. Lam also told us that this family led another family (their friends) of six to the Lord and that family destroyed all the idols in their house, also. They are all currently attending Sunday Worship Services and the Bible studies now and are getting ready to be baptized. Halleluiah! What a Savior!
We believe this story confirms that there is a place for Mercy ministry in Binh Chau and we pray that God would provide the funds to help those in dire need in Binh Chau not only to have their spiritual needs met, but also their physical needs ministered, too.
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