18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven
and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to
observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you
always, to the end of the age."
(Matthew 28:18-20)
From January 18-27, New Philadelphia Church will be sending out a team to the mission field in Vietnam and I will be joining this team as a praise leader. My team will consist of 12 people who are giving up their vacation days and free time to go to this nation and fulfill the Great Commission that Jesus imparted on us. We will be visiting various underground church plants in Ho Chi Minh City and various rural towns and cities, praying for the sick, and hosting revival services. We believe that by the authority given to Jesus, we will walk in that same authority to declare freedom for captives in this foreign land.
I'd like to share with you some information about Vietnam. There are many religious organizations in Vietnam, the largest being Mahayana Buddhism. Christianity only makes up about 8% of the population. While religious freedoms are written into the Constitution of Vietnam, government restrictions still remain on many organized activities of religious groups. Christian missionaries from other countries are typically illegal and they cannot organize religious activities without government approval. Not only is Christianity generally looked down upon, it is common for many native Vietnamese Christians to be persecuted. It is our prayer that God will move through this land and change the hearts and minds of the people to be open to the gospel message.
I hope that you will have the same heart as us for this nation. There are two ways in which you can support us on this mission trip. First, I'd like to ask you for prayer. You can keep up with our team's progress by going to facebook.com/newphilly. There you'll find daily updates so you can pray for us about specific topics. Second, I will be raising 1,000,000KRW to cover some of the trip expenses. Please help me by donating!
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter!
Sincerely,
David Ha