Dear Ministry Partner,

I ended up my July with conducting emotional funeral services. I was blessed to be a comforter and encourager to the family. The Bible said, “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.” (Ecclesiastes 7:2).

Unfortunately, many Vietnamese see death as a taboo topic and may therefore be reluctant to discuss death. In this occasion, I conducted 3 services, and a special service was in the evening when there were some non-Christians participating. It was special event to share the gospel and encourage the bereaved.

The death reminds us of three realities.

1.    Death and life are not ruled over by humans. Human beings cannot create life.

2.    God is the One Who controls our life and death.

3.    The death is the beginning of a new life. Once a seed is dead, the new life begins. Death is not the end, but it is a starting point for eternity for believers.

What does death mean to ministry? Whenever I join a funeral service, I have an intense longing to see a life and ministry that pleases God. Because of the funeral, I have seen the end of earthly life. At the funeral, I mediate on God more deeply and long to hear his voice say, “My son, you are a faithful and righteous servant.” Whenever I heard a pastor was getting seriously sick, I pray and ask God to give them a chance to live or to repent and to serve God better.

Perhaps because Moses was aware of how short life is, he exclaimed that “teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12, NIV). This request means that we need God to reveal to us the brevity of life. This will help us grow wise. Wisdom is important because the choices we make during our brief stay on earth have eternal consequences. The reminder from Psalm 90 gives us details about the meaning of life and God’s wrath on sin. Our earthly lives will not last long, and we need wisdom to prepare for what follows.

Thank you for your prayers and your support,

National Director/CCI Vietnam

Prayer Requests & Praises

• We would like to praise God and thank everyone for their prayers because my son was accepted to a secondary school, the 6th grade, which is near our home and is a better school.

• Praise God that my wife has a new job, a manager of a Christian home-school. Pray that God can use my wife as a means to bring more non-Christians to enroll there, where their children can get high quality education and learn the Word of God.

• Pray for Miss L as she started her new journey of learning in the United States. Her dream is to return to her country and to serve God in a teaching ministry.

• Pray for a special class for Hmong teachers in north Vietnam, which will be launching in November 2022. We are starting to recruit now. Pray that God will bring the right people who are able to teach and make disciples.

• Pray for our Hmong Coordinator’s wife as she is pregnant with their second child. She is going to deliver a new baby this October. May God provide for their needs and keep them healthy.