After returning from Vietnam in August we began getting letters and emails from Pastor Quy requesting that we return as soon as possible to help with the church plant in Binh Chau. Pastor Quy stated that he could see that God had granted us favor with those we had the opportunity to meet and talk to during our previous trip and he felt the time was right to reach out to believers and non-believers with the Word of God. Dennis would not be able to return so soon due to work obligations, but we began to pray if it is God’s will for me to return that He would open the doors for that to happen. We submitted the invitation to return to Vietnam to our church, Catalina Foothills Church, through Kathryn Farris, our Missions Director. I also had the opportunity to give an update of our July trip to the Widow’s group at CFC. God answered our prayers and He began to open those doors. First, CFC offered to financially support my return trip. Then, God touched the hearts of His people and funds were given to help support His Work in Binh Chau. To God be the Glory!

One of the requests we received while we were in Vietnam in July was for teaching material, especially for the children’s bible study as Lam and Mai, who teach not only the children’s weekly bible study, but also the weekly adult bible study, had virtually no teaching materials or teaching aides. They requested felt board figures/sets so they could visually bring the Word of God to life to their students. Sylvia, a dear lady from CFC, sent us information about a website and phone number where this material could be ordered. When we contacted the company, we were hoping to purchase two sets, one for the children’s bible study in Binh Chau and one for the Mother church in Ba To. We discovered the sets were quite expensive, so we decided to only buy one set. Then, God put it in Dennis’ heart to explain to the person he was talking to why we were purchasing this material. Praise God as the company offered to give us a 50% discount so we could buy the two sets. Later, I went to buy some more material from Gospel Supplies here in Tucson, and as I went to the register to pay, I met a young man named Andy. After sharing with Andy about our ministry in Binh Chau, Andy offered to pay for almost half the material from his own pocket. We thank God for touching the hearts of so many people that are willing to prayerfully and/or financially support our ministry in Binh Chau.

For two weeks, it seemed like every single day, God would do something to reveal to us that it was His Will for me to return to Vietnam. So, with my suitcases full of bibles, felt board figures, and other teaching material, I boarded a plane to Vietnam. We requested prayer support for my safe travel and favor in going through customs in Vietnam that my suitcases would not be subject to inspection and the bibles/teaching materials would not be confiscated. In response to all the prayers being lifted up in my behalf, God gave me a safe trip and protected all my precious materials as I breezed through customs without a hitch. We thank God for all your faithful prayers.

I was met at the airport by some of my family members, and one of my sisters had rented a car to take her to Binh Chau. However, I was told that my Mother had become ill and had been admitted to a hospital in Saigon. I immediately went to the hospital and spent the day with my Mother. I discovered that my Mother was hospitalized due to some prior medical problems that she has been battling over the last three years. That evening God gave me peace in my heart to leave for Binh Chau and trust Him to heal my Mother.

The next day I called Pastor Quy to let him know I had arrived safely and was at my sister’s house in Binh Chau. Pastor Quy and some of the Elders of his church came to Binh Chau and we had a great time of fellowship. Pastor Quy went over with me some of the work to be done to further God’s kingdom in Binh Chau and  Ba To. That evening I curled up on the floor like a baby, trembling, and thanking God for the opportunity to serve Him in Binh Chau and asking that I be obedient to Him. The more I see God working in my life, the more grateful, humble, and God-fearing I become. I know that my boldness in Christ comes from knowing I can only do what God strengthens and enables me to do. I spent the next day fasting and praying and resting from the long trip to Vietnam.

The following day was Sunday and I traveled to Ba To to attend Worship Service at Pastor Quy’s church. Then the next day, Lam and Mai, the husband and wife team who travel from Ba To to Binh Chau each week to teach the adult and children’s Bible studies, came to Binh Chau to visit. Lam had arranged to take a week off from his work so the three of us could go visiting Christian families in the Binh Chau area. We spent the first week visiting these families who were Christians, but were not attending the .home .Worship. Services or the Bible study classes. We fellowshipped with them and encouraged them to come to the Worship Services and Bible studies. At the end of that first week I was asked to teach the Friday night adult Bible study. After the Bible study 2 women prayed to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Sunday night Pastor Quy held a revival at his church in Ba To ( he does this one Sunday night each month) for his church, the three churches he oversees in that area, and the home church in Binh Chau. I rented a van and we transported believers and non-believers from Binh Chau to the revival. We all had such a joyous time singing, praising, and worshipping God. After his sermon, Pastor Quy gave an altar call and 10 people came forward to receive Christ, including 3 young people from Binh Chau. Praise God!

Lam was scheduled to return to work the next week, but God put it in his heart to take another week off so he and Mai could go with me to visit non-believers. We visited several families and invited them to come to the Friday night Bible study. That Friday night I was asked to teach the adults again and God put it in my heart to teach from Deuteronomy 28 on the blessings and curses of God. I was so thankful when 42 people showed up for the Bible study (up from 9-10 last August). After the Bible study, 3 people prayed to receive Christ. Praise God! We then had a fellowship meal to help bring people closer together. Later that evening everyone had gone home except three of my sisters and me. Usually, we would have our Bibles lying around, but this night we had put them all away, except for a Gospel tract. Then 7 policemen showed up because someone had apparently complained about a large gathering in the house. The policemen told me that I had broken the law by not reporting to them I was in Binh Chau and what my purpose was for being there. I explained I was not aware I had to report to them since I had already reported to immigration when entering the country in Saigon. I was told that I needed to pay a fine of $100 US. I felt they were looking for a bribe so I refused to pay the fine because I felt I had not broken any law. They then told me I would have to surrender my passport until I could talk to the Chief of Police on Monday morning. When I told them that I would not give them my passport they said I would have to go to the police station. My three sisters accompanied me to the police station. I was questioned about being a Christian and asked if I had opened my Bible in the house that night. One of the policemen had picked up the Gospel tract at the house and put it in his pocket. I asked if they carried weapons as policemen and they said yes. I then stated I was a Christian and my Spiritual weapon was my Bible and yes I did open it that night. I said it not out of sarcasm, but with a humble heart. God gave me the words to say and the peace to say them. They smiled at my response to their question and decided to let me go home, but stated I needed to come back Monday morning and meet with the Chief of Police.

I went to the police station on Monday and was interviewed by the Chief of Police, who is the highest ranking government official in Binh Chau and the surrounding smaller towns. He told me he could actually fine.me $1,000 US for not reporting. to him .when .I first arrived in Binh Chau, but because he knows and respects my brother-in-law, he was only going to fine my sister $10 US for holding an unauthorized meeting at her house. Upon further questioning, he stated that he did not like Christians because we force people to believe what we do. I explained that we do not force our beliefs upon others, but we are called to tell people that God loves us so much that He sent His only Son that through Him we might have the gift of eternal life and escape the torments of hell. He then asked me to tell him how I became a Christian. I was able to give him my complete testimony on how God had worked in my life and how I knew for certain I would spend eternity with Him. The Chief of Police listened very attentively and did not stop or interrupt me as I spoke for about 45 minutes. What an AWESOME God we serve! Dennis and I had prayed so many times that God would soften the hearts of the government officials in Binh Chau and here God was giving me the opportunity to share the Gospel with the top official in Binh Chau. Because of his position and the situation, I did not ask him if he wanted to receive this gift of eternal life, but I did  tell him that someday he would face difficulties and I shared how he could call on the name of Jesus. I thank God for the opportunity to plant the seed in this man’s heart. I pray that God would water that seed and someday this man and his family may come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. I was told that I could go, but that I could not hold any more gatherings except in the government approved home church.

After the meeting I had with the Chief of Police, I was advised by Pastor Quy, Lam, and Mai not to continue going out to visit families since the government might be watching my activities. I spent the next two days at my sister’s house in my room upstairs praying, reading my Bible, and visiting with family. I had thoughts about maybe I might have to pack up and return home early, but God had a different plan. On the third day my sister (Kim) was downstairs working in her little shop when a woman stopped in and asked where the Christian church in Binh Chau was she had been hearing about. Kim asked if she was a Christian and the lady said she was not. Kim then brought her upstairs where I was meeting with Pastor Quy and some of his staff. I gave my testimony and Pastor Quy shared the Gospel with her. She did not pray to receive Christ, but the seed had been planted. The next day the lady returned with her 11 year old daughter and I talked with both of them. I have a chalkboard where I have drawn the Creation through sin coming into the world with the fall of Adam. Since most Vietnamese I talk to have no or very little knowledge of God or Jesus, I have found this to be quite effective in preparing them to hear the Gospel. I explained to the lady (Thuy) and her daughter (Kieu) what the Bible says about these events and then presented the Gospel. God had been working in their hearts and both prayed to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The next day I was told that the daughter, who was 11 years old, had gone to school, gathered some of her friends together on the playground, and shared what she had learned about Jesus with them. The mother brought one of her friends to Mai and she prayed to receive Jesus as her Lord and Savior also. Thank you, Jesus!

The next day more people came to Kim’s house to inquire about the Christian church or to ask about this Jesus their other family members were talking about…and then more .people came, and then even more people came. At times, 3 or 4 people would be sitting downstairs waiting for an opportunity to come upstairs and hear about the church and Jesus. What an AMAZING and AWESOME God we serve! This could have only happened through God’s intervention. Kim would ask if they were Christians, and if they weren’t, she would send them upstairs to talk to me. Sometimes I was there by myself and other times Pastor Quy, Lam, and Mai would be there with me. Some prayed to receive Jesus and others didn’t, but God allowed us to plant many seeds in each of their hearts. Satan thought he had disrupted our ability to reach out to people through home visits, but God’s Word in 1 John 4:4 came true “ because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world”. AMEN!

Many Vietnamese who come to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior who were previously Buddhists still take awhile to get rid of the idols they have in their homes because of the need to continue to pray for their ancestors. God gave me favor to explain what the Bible says about such idols and 3 families had the church come over and remove the idols from their homes and destroy them. When I talked to my sister after returning to Tucson, she told me another family had gotten rid of their idols since I had left. Please pray that God would open the eyes of all His people to remove these idols from their homes and worship the one true God.

I didn’t go to Binh Chau on this trip with the intention of building a church, but with the hope of being able to encourage and strengthen Christians in their walk with the Lord and to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with non-believers. However, God was giving me so much favor with those He brought to me and was opening every door for His Work to be done in Binh Chau, I felt led to explore the possibility. I didn’t want to jump ahead of God, but I didn’t want to fall behind Him also. We just prayed that we would submit to God’s Will and ask for Him to guide us in what He wanted us to do. Some obstacles had surfaced with the current home church---tension between the wife and her non-Christian husband, too small a house for the group that had grown to over 40 people, the fact with the Bible studies now the house was needed for 3 or 4 nights a week instead of only 1 night, etc. We truly needed a place that could solely be dedicated to God’s work. We had purchased a piece of land 2 years ago on the outskirts of Binh Chau with the hopes of seeing a church built there in the future, but a change in the tax laws had made it impossible now to build in that area. So I started looking for a piece of land in Binh Chau that was already zoned for residential. God led me to a piece of land that seemed to suit our needs. We began to pray for God’s guidance and God put it in Dennis and my hearts to go ahead and borrow enough money to purchase the property and fund a church being built there. We would trust God to touch people’s hearts that would want to financially support His church in Binh Chau. The land was purchased, a contractor hired, and construction started. Then Satan really got busy and stirred things up. Neighbors were concerned about rumors a church was going to be built there, government officials showed up to question me again, the cost of the materials/labor came in higher than we first estimated, etc. however, at each roadblock God gave us favor and another door was opened. Finally, the government officials agreed we had met .all the requirements. to build a house there (we. can not officially call it a church at this time). As of today, the “house” is well under construction and should be completed by February 2006. Thank you, Lord!

It has now been close to two months since I returned home from Vietnam and God’s work continues in Binh Chau. The children’s Bible study group has grown from 8 or 9 to over 30 now, including several in their teens. The adult Bible study consists of 30-40. A husband and his wife and their 5 children recently came to the Lord. The husband happens to play the guitar and piano and is a very good singer, which is another witness to God’s favor as the church does not have a Worship Leader. Now they do! For their Christmas Service they had approximately 100 people attend! Praise God!

We thank all who have lifted us up in prayer and/or given financial support for our ministry to Vietnam. We thank God for touching your hearts to be a part of expanding His Kingdom in Binh Chau. Through your generous gifts were we able to purchase teaching materials, such as the felt board figure sets, Bibles, Hymn books, food distributed to widows and the poor, funds were given to 6 very poor families to enable them to start businesses to support their families, medicine and vitamins given out to those in need, renovate the kitchen of Pastor Quy’s wife which is used to cook for the church, purchase dishes to be used for the kitchen, rent buses to transport people to church functions, and much more. You were not there physically, but you were all there in Spirit bringing the love and mercy of our Almighty God to the people of Binh Chau and the surrounding area. May God bless you and give you as much joy in your hearts as He has given us to be a part of His Work in bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Vietnam.

Please continue to pray for Pastor Quy, Tam, Lam, and Mai as they minister to the needs of the people. Please pray for the 37 people that prayed to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior that God would protect them and provide people to disciple them in their walk with the Lord. Please pray that God would continue to increase our passion to serve Him in Vietnam. Please pray for the additional funds needed to complete the “house”, to build a bedroom and kitchen behind the church so Lam and Mai can have a place to stay while they serve God in Binh Chau, and to build a fence around the property to detour vandalism. Please pray that everything we do we are careful to give God all the Glory, Power, and Honor.

In God’s Love,
Mai Spencer