December 5, 2007 - January 23, 2008:

Why did I go to Vietnam? About 5 months ago the Binh Chau church encountered a setback. Lam and Mai, the Bible teachers in Binh Chau, made the decision to go back to Pastor Quy’s church in Ba To. This left Binh Chau without anyone to shepherd the church there. Pastor Quy, Dennis, and I were really concerned who would now lead the brothers and sisters of the Binh Chau church in their walk with the Lord. On a temporary basis Pastor Quy and Mrs. Quy agreed to take on these responsibilities. They would travel to Binh Chau 3 times a week to hold weekly Bible studies and Sunday Worship Service. This was a very big undertaking, as Pastor Quy not only pastors his own church in Ba To, but he oversees 6 other churches in the province. We began praying that God would raise up a pastor or Bible teacher for Binh Chau.

God began to put it in my heart to go to Vietnam and help the brothers and sisters of the Binh Chau church in whatever way He wanted me to. On one hand I wanted to go, but on the other hand, I did not want to go and stir up government resentment towards the church. Our prayer was to be able to put a cross and sign on the Binh Chau church by the end of 2007 and I didn’t want to slow down that work.

One morning I got up at 5am and went out to my prayer room to pray. I found myself face down on the floor asking God for something I normally would not to. I prayed that I would go to Vietnam if God would touch someone’s heart to provide $5,000 for the airline ticket and money to help the church in their Christmas Outreach programs. About 2 weeks later a lady called and asked for our tax exempt number because God had put it in her heart to bless our ministry. A few days later when Dennis opened a letter from her, it contained a cashier check for $5,000. God was beginning to get my attention that He wanted me to go to Binh Chau.

Even though a clear sign was given to me I still had some reservations. So Dennis and I began to pray, that if it was God’s will for me to go at this time, Pastor Quy would invite us to come. In October we received a letter from Pastor Quy requesting that we come to Binh Chau to help with the church for the busy Christmas season. Dennis could not get away from his work, but he and Cheree encouraged me to go. By answering this second prayer, God was making it clearer that He had work for me to do in Binh Chau.

Still, I had that concern that I might hamper the relationship between the church and the government. I decided to ask God for another sign. We had been praying to be able to do a mercy ministry during the Christmas season and provide 2000 pounds of rice to needy families in Binh Chau. The approximate cost would be $2,500. I prayed if you really want me to go to Binh Chau, Lord, then touch some people’s hearts for this money for the mercy outreach. We sent this request to Nancy Lupo and she put it out to the CFC prayer chain. A few days later when Dennis arrived at his EE class there was a letter on his table from one of the CFC prayer chain partners. He opened the letter and there was a check for $2,500! “And the Lord shall meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus” Phil 4:19.

How could I not go now? With God opening every door and the love and support of Dennis and my children, I was off to Binh Chau.

Upon arriving at Tan Son Nhut Airport in Saigon I was greeted not only by my family (sisters, brothers, cousins), but also by almost the entire Binh Chau church, plus Mrs. Quy and a deacon from the Ba To church. It was such a joyous occasion and I gave thanks to God with a humble heart for the love that surrounded me. We left immediately by bus to travel to Binh Chau about 3 hours away.

When we arrived at Binh Chau I experienced a very heart touching reunion with my Mother who I had not seen in almost 2 years. She had been bedridden the last year and a half after suffering a stroke and broken hip. There were many, many hugs and kisses given along with praising the Lord for giving me this time to see my Mom again. I spent that evening visiting with all my family.

My plan was to rest the next day from the long flight and all the excitement, but God’s plans were different. People in the church started coming over the next morning bringing their friends and neighbors. Throughout the day God gave me many opportunities to share the Gospel with non believers and several people prayed to receive Christ into their hearts. At the end of the day I gave thanks to God for giving me the strength to do His work after not having much rest the past 2 days.

The next day was Sunday, and after the Worship Service, I asked Pastor Quy if it was okay that I spend the night in the church with some of the members of the church fasting and praying so as not to have any interruptions. Nineteen members joined me and we spent 24 hours praising God and lifting our requests up to Him. Some of the things we prayed for included
(1) that God would raise up a pastor or Bible teacher for the Binh Chau church,
(2) for God’s guidance and direction on what He wanted me to do,
(3) that God would give me many opportunities to share the Gospel and He would use us to draw many lost souls to Him,
(4) that He would give the brothers and sisters in the Binh Chau church a hunger and thirst for His Word,
(5) that God would prepare the way for the cross and sign to be put up on the church,
(6) that God would open the door for training for the leadership of the Binh Chau church, and
(7) that God would grant us favor with the government officials.

A family also asked us to pray for their 15 year old son who had run away from home 2 months prior. We prayed that he would call home and let his family know he was ok and return for Christmas. God answered our prayer and their son called and arrived home on Christmas Eve. Praise the Lord! “He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him, He hears their cry and saves them” Psalm 145:19.

Over the next 2 weeks we continued to visit families that were non believers or had accepted Christ before, but fallen away from the church. God gave us favor and we had many more opportunities to share the Gospel, and those that God had softened their hearts and drawn them to Him, prayed to receive Christ into their hearts. Others heard the Good News, but were not ready to make that commitment, but the seeds were planted and all were invited to the Christmas service. Many non believers we shared the Gospel with who did not pray came to the Christmas service. During the altar call, 5 of these people stepped forward and asked Jesus into their hearts. We give God all the Glory! God is faithful and rewarded our obedience to His Word, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations” Matthew 28:19.

I was also able to meet with Mr. Tu Do, the Binh Chau chief of police. He displayed a much friendlier attitude from 2 years ago. I also met again with the mayor of Binh Chau. During our conversation she stated that she had gone to a Catholic church when she was younger, but stopped. This gave me an opening to witness to her and share the Gospel. She did not pray to receive Christ (government officials take an oath that they can not join any religion while in office), but she sat quietly for an hour as I shared with her, agreeing with what I was saying. I believe God is working in her heart and one day He will draw her to Him. I will pray for her and her family’s salvation.

The Christmas service was a blessed occasion with about 150 people attending, including the government official who 2 years ago threatened to keep Mai from returning to Vietnam if this building turned out to be a church. I am sure he was there to keep and eye on what we were doing, but after the service, he was very cordial and extended his hand in peace stating things were different now. Gifts were given out according to the needs of each family such as medicine, noodle soup, cooking oil, sugar, milk, money for medical expenses, clothes, and fabric. All the children were given toys (teddy bears for the girls and trucks for the boys) plus school supplies. Afterwards all were served a dinner prepared by the ladies of the church on charcoal grills behind the church.

We could not do the mercy ministry to the scale we wanted to because we did not have enough time to meet the strict government requirements. However, silently were able to provide rice for many of the poorer families in Binh Chau.

From the 22nd of December through the 25th of December we traveled to all 7 churches under Pastor Quy’s guidance to attend their Christmas services. After all the Christmas services were over, we returned to Binh Chau for more fellowship, visitations, and Bible studies. We also started to remodel and repair the church in Binh Chau. We removed the wall to expose the pulpit, opened the baptismal pool, and did general repairs to the building. We also discovered they had watered down the paint (common practice in Vietnam) when the church was originally painted in 2006 so much of the church had to be sanded down and repainted. Pews were also purchased to replace the plastic chairs being used. The church is beginning to look like a church on the inside now.

One of the things that we had been praying about was to be able to put up a cross and sign on the church by the end of 2007. Pastor Quy showed me some papers from the government stating we could gather in this building and call it the Binh Chau Christian church. The paper had been issued in 2005, but the government didn’t sign it until April or May of 2007. Plus, the government had announced a few days ago over the town’s loud speakers (used for government announcements) that Binh Chau now had a Christian church. Based on these documents and the announcement we had a temporary cross and sign put up for the Christmas service. After a few days no one from the government had said anything about the cross or sign.

Early every morning people would come by my sister’s house where I was staying to talk, pray, and sing hymns. This one morning, December 29th I believe, we were talking about how we could put up a permanent cross and sign when a man stopped by from Saigon that used to live in Binh Chau. I had shared the Gospel with him and his wife 2 years ago when the church was being built. His wife accepted Christ, but he did not. He did, however, attend the church until they moved away to Saigon. He had heard that I had come back to Binh Chau so he drove from Saigon to visit me. He told me he now worked for a company in Saigon that makes and installs signs on commercial buildings. My heart began to race. I asked him if he could do a sign for the church and he said that would not be a problem. I was so happy. I checked with Pastor Quy to see if it was okay to order the sign and the cross since the government had recognized the church. Pastor Quy said he didn’t see why not.

The day the cross was delivered to the church a government official stopped by and stated we could not put the cross or sign up. We explained to him that we had the documents to do it, but he insisted we did not. We asked him where we could go to get permission then. We spent all day going from one official to another, getting different answers from each office. Finally, we returned to the church. Based on the documents we had from the local officials recognizing the church and trusting God for His protection, we went ahead and installed the cross and sign that evening after the government offices were closed. Over the next few days, the government asked the Binh Chau church and Pastor Quy to take the cross and sign down, but they all told them that they could not do that. As of today, the cross and the sign remain up. Praise the Lord!

Immediately, God used the cross to draw a man to Him. A man from the nearby town of Nhu Lam (we have been praying for this town for some time as we were told it has no Christians living there) drove by the church on his motorcycle. He stopped and told one of the workers at the church that God had healed him from some serious injuries and he wanted to accept Jesus. The man was invited to come to church the next day for Sunday Worship. He returned and Pastor Quy shared the Gospel with him and he prayed to receive Christ. This was truly a “wink from heaven” to remind us of God’s Glory and Power.

While I was in Binh Chau I made a trip back to Saigon to purchase some Bibles and study materials from a Christian bookstore owned by a pastor. He has a large church in Saigon and is well known. During our conversation he mentioned he also ran a school that teaches church leadership, discipleship, and evangelism classes. They teach people how to share the Gospel using different methods, one being EE. He had heard about the church in Binh Chau and asked me to give my testimony to his church and/or students at his school.

A couple of weeks later I returned to Saigon with some of the leadership from the Binh Chau church to tell the pastor I would not be able to speak before his congregation this trip due to my commitments to the work in Binh Chau, but maybe my husband and I could on a future trip. The conversation turned to his school and the more I heard about it, the more God was putting in my heart this was exactly what the Binh Chau leadership needed. We prayed and then I stepped out in faith and signed 6 people from the Binh Chau church up for the 15 month class, trusting God to provide the financial support. They will go to Saigon 2 days a month for 8 hours a day of classroom instruction each day and then be given 3 hours a day of homework assignments(24 lessons a month) to be completed before their next class session.

The cost will be $75 each month for each student. This includes $50 for the cost of the classes and $25 for transportation to and from Binh Chau/Saigon and reimbursing them for the pay they will lose from their jobs each month (2 days in Saigon and 3 hours a day for homework). These are poor people who could not afford to go if they lost any wages from their current jobs. I am praying that God would raise up people that would be willing to help financially support these willing servants to receive this training they so desperately need to be effective leaders in the Binh Chau church.

Before I left God answered another prayer. A Bible teacher from Da Nang, who used to attend Pastor’s Quy’s church in Ba To, came to Ba To to visit his daughters for Christmas. Over several conversations with him, this man, Lam, agreed to come to work with the Binh Chau church. He has 2 years of Seminary and a very good reputation for being able to connect with the youth. Isn’t God Awesome!

Two days before I left Binh Chau we spent another day of fasting and praying thanking God for all He had done for us and all He will do in the future. We asked for His shield of protection to surround the Binh Chau church and its members from any government interference.

“The Lord is near to all who call on Him in truth” Psalm 145:18. We want to thank God for answering all of our prayers. We want to thank CFC and all who have prayed and supported us financially to enable God’s Kingdom to be established in Binh Chau, Vietnam. We thank you for your obedience to God and the encouragement, love, and support you have shown the people of Binh Chau.God has granted us favor because of your faithfulness and passion to see His children in Binh Chau come to know Him. Together, God is allowing us all to be a part of His work to show the people of Binh Chau the love of Christ.

In Christ’s love,
Mai Spencer