Day 3 Sunday in Saigon

Sunday morning began early with church at the Evangelical Church of Saigon. We had gone to this church the last time we were in Vietnam and it is located in District 1 of HCMC which is where our hotel is. The church is very large and there were approximately 1000 people in attendance this morning. The church has a section where English speakers can sit and listen to an interpreter through a set of headphones. At the end of the service there were four young Vietnamese men who professed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The pastor prayed with them all in front of the church. It was a very moving experience. Five years ago when we were here I witnessed the baptism of about 40 new believers. At the conclusion of the service we shared in the Lord’s Supper with the congregation.

I talked with two Vietnam War veterans after the service who were seated in the English section. One of them was from Kentucky and he told me that he travels to Vietnam twice a year. He has a number of friends and contacts that he does various things with. He shared with me that there is a Southern Baptist church in Saigon called Grace Baptist. I got his contact information and I hope to speak with him some more before we leave.

A church of 1000 seems like a very large congregation, but Saigon is a city of around 9 million people. Very few Vietnamese consider themselves Christian, only about .5% of the population. Approximately 10% of the population identifies as Buddhist and 6.5% as Catholic. About 80% of the Vietnamese population consider themselves non- religious. The Vietnamese government has been oppressive to just about all organized religion in the past. Over the last several years a number of doors have been opened and I am sure even more will be in the future. Religious materials and proselytizing are strictly forbidden in Vietnam, but some areas are more tolerant than others. I noticed that the bibles and hymnbooks in the church were labeled “For Internal Use Only”.  Pray for the Vietnamese people and that they might be given full access to the gospel through missionaries, teachers, and materials in the future. The gentleman from Kentucky shared with me that there are now over 30 Gideon camps in Ho Chi Minh City.

When I met the man in the park yesterday (the one who gave me the ride on the moped), I asked him if he knew who Jesus was. He shared with me that he did not go to church anywhere, but he knew who Jesus was because he had learned about him when he was refugee in Hong Kong many years ago. It is amazing to me sometimes to see how the Word is spread, even in areas where the “doors” are often closed.

Tomorrow we are going to take a trip out to the Cambodian border to the city of Tay Ninh. The city is the birthplace of the Cao Dai religion. Cao Dai is a mixture of multiple religions including Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Taoism. The religion has been made famous by the ornate design of its temples which are crowned with the all-seeing eye. After visiting Tay Ninh, we are going to take a trip to Nui Ba Den (The Black Virgin Mountain). The mountain was the scene for years of bloody fighting between American forces and the Viet Cong. I hope to have some pictures to share tomorrow.

UPDATE: Don't know how I left this out, but our luggage arrived today. They located it yesterday in Beijing, China and were able to get it to us this afternoon. DeanAnne and I were both so happy to see that suitcase. I have been wearing the same pants since Tuesday and washing the other stuff in the sink at night. Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers.