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Lancaster First United Methodist Church
December 18, 2011
Robert McDowell, Senior Pastor
“Christmas around the World: Vietnam”
One year just before
Christmas, I pulled up to a traffic light, and as I looked toward my left I
noticed some steps leading from the sidewalk down to a very modest apartment. I
remember thinking that I had never realized that an apartment had ever existed
in that section of the street.
And there it was. And on
the door of this hidden apartment was a sign that had the words, “We Still
Believe.”
A smile came to my face
as I thought about the child or the children who were living in that apartment
and who wanted to make sure that Santa wouldn’t forget them.
That sign reminds me of
the unbridled and confident faith that the scriptures tell us that we can have
as we go through life. A faith in a God who knows all about us – where we live,
our hopes, our dreams, our joys, and our deepest longings.
The Christians in Vietnam
have a lot to teach us about what it means to keep believing against all odds.
The Vietnamese artist, Le Van Tai painted a Nativity scene with encouragement
from the Hong Kong Fellowship of Christian artists while he spent four years in
a Hong Kong refugee camp.
Why did Le flee Vietnam
to endure 4 years in a refugee camp? Why was he separated from his family for 11
years? How did he get to Hong Kong?
During the late 1970’s
and early 1980’s, Le, along with nearly 2 million South Vietnamese escaped their
new communist rulers by risking their lives on rickety boats that departed into
the South China Sea at night, evading communist gun boats.
About one third of the
escapees died at sea, by drowning, exposure, or piracy. The more fortunate ones
eventually got to places like Hong Kong, where they hoped for eventual
resettlement in America, Australia, or elsewhere in the West.
Presumably Le escaped
capture, had a sturdy boat, avoided pirates, and arrived in Hong Kong safely.
But he still had to languish for 4 years in a camp. And he endured an 11 year
separation from his family in Vietnam, whose communist tyrants were not always
eager to allow wives, parents and children of capitalist-loving escaped boat
people to rejoin their loved ones in the West, except for a price. What would
compel a Vietnamese to risk the nightmare of unsafe travel on the South China
Sea, with a 30 percent chance of death, not to mention an uncertain future in a
camp and years of separation from family?
From a little of our
modern history, we remember how in 1975, what was then North Vietnam took
control of South Vietnam and they set up a very vicious communist dictatorship.
The new regime imprisoned over a million people and murdered tens of thousands
of suspected counter-revolutionaries. They were now a one party state that
banned all political opposition, took away any right to private property and
free speech, and prohibited the Christian faith. The Catholic Church which
represented about 8 to 10% of the population thanks to the French influence in
Vietnam was forced to celebrate Christmas privately during that time.
The story of Christmas in
Vietnam has some similarities with the Christmas story we find in the bible.
Both stories speak of danger, uncertainty, and fear. Jesus was born within the
Roman Empire which had control over the people of Israel. And Rome wasn’t about
to welcome any newborn King. There was only room for one King.
The Christmas story isn’t
just a story about a baby born in a manger. It’s a story of a young woman who
discovers that she will conceive and give birth to this newborn King. Because
of the nature of this pregnancy, she will have to endure the ridicule and the
hurtful rumors that will most definitely surround her at every turn. It’s a
story of a King doing everything in his power to try to kill this newborn King.
And like Le, the Vietnamese artist who was forced to flee for his life, the
Christmas story is a story of a family fleeing to Egypt and becoming refugees in
seek of safety.
As I mentioned earlier,
the Christians in Vietnam have a lot to teach us about what it means to keep
believing against all odds.
Around
the same time that Le, the Vietnamese artist who I was talking about a little
bit ago was finally reunited with his family after spending several years away
as a refugee, two Vietnamese American UM pastors, Ut To and Karen Vo To, had a
dream and that dream is now a reality. The Lord laid on their hearts the vision
of starting up the United Methodist Church in Vietnam.
In 1998, the United Methodist Church began its work in Vietnam when a small
team traveled to Vietnam to visit with Christians there and especially to visit
and learn about the ministry of Rev. and Mrs. Ma Nguyen, who were persecuted for
their faith. Having experienced United Methodism in the United States, the
Reverend Ut and Karen Vo To wanted to take the church to their people. And in
February 2002 the United Methodist Church in Vietnam was born when they were
sent to the nation of their ancestors as General Board of Global missionaries!
Just this
past year, Vietnam has granted legal status for the United Methodist Church to
exist in Vietnam.
Today there are over 200 United Methodist Churches representing
over 11,000 church members and the church in Vietnam continues to grow!
Let’s
watch a video that shows how the United Methodist Church is making a difference
in Vietnam. (Show video.)
Like the
family who had that sign on the front door of their modest apartment, “We Still
Believe,” the Christians in Vietnam remind us to not stop believing, especially
as we draw close to the Christmas celebration.
This
belief against all odds has rubbed off on the United Methodists of our own West
Ohio Conference.
April 19,
2010 was an historic day. It was on that day that our Bishop along with
representatives from our West Ohio Conference joined the United Methodists in
Vietnam to dedicate a 7,800 square foot ministry center in Ho Chi Minh City. It
was a day to remember.
One of
the miracles in our conference’s partnership with this ministry center was in
the money that was raised to make this become a reality. Shawnee Valley is one
of the eight districts of our West Ohio Conference. Located in the southern
part of our state where there is very high poverty and unemployment, this
impoverished district raised what they called a “miracle offering” to be used
for this ministry center in Vietnam.
This one district
of mostly small, rural churches on the edge of Appalachia has pulled together to
raise nearly $295,000 for the conference’s support of Vietnam churches through
the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.
The district
has held four “Rally in the Valley” events for Vietnam. Key to their
fundraising success has been the decision to treat the 159 churches in the
district — which spans nine counties and 4,700 square miles — as one large
congregation.
Their motto
during this miracle offering has been, “If we’re going to move a mountain,
what would happen if we put all our shovels together on one single initiative?”
It’s like
each one of those churches had a sign on front of their church that said, “We
Still Believe.”
This past
week, a pastor in our West Ohio Conference told me that she will be traveling to
Vietnam with our Bishop to represent our conference’s Board of Ordained
Ministry. Through our partnership with the United Methodist Church in Vietnam,
our Bishop is serving as their Bishop. They will be making this trip to
credential new Vietnamese pastors to serve the new churches.
They already
have several churches that have over 200 hundred members. Praise God that the
United Methodist Church is growing in Vietnam!
Well, so much
more could be said about the church in Vietnam and what they can teach us about
believing against all odds.
On the
Vietnamese United Methodist website, they talk about how they enjoy making
lanterns to use to decorate for Christmas and that’s why we have several
lanterns in our sanctuary today. We celebrate how the light of Christ always
burns brightly at Christmas and how miracles are just around the corner.
Speaking of
miracles, I want to share a Christmas miracle that has happened right here in
our own church just three weeks ago. Many of us know about our beautiful
Crossroads facility located on West Fair Avenue, just three miles from here.
Opened in May of 2007, Crossroads provides space for weekly worship, creative
ministries, events for youth and young families, and meeting space for numerous
community groups.
This past
October, we had over 500 people from our church and community attend our
Halloween Carnival Outreach where we were able to share God’s love and invite
people to Sunday worship and future ministry and outreach events. Crossroads is
helping us reach people for Jesus Christ.
This past
May, we began a new aggressive five-year campaign with the goal of totally pay
off the remaining 2.4 million dollars building debt, which was a huge step of
faith for us. A little over a year ago, our church membership voted to go with
this five-year pay off strategy rather than continue to make minimum payments on
our two loans over the next seventeen years.
During the
first few months of our new five-year campaign, it looked like we were still
only going to be able to make the minimum payments required on the two loans.
We are able to make those minimum payments through your pledged gifts to
Crossroads and through the rental income from groups that use our Crossroads
facility during the year. By the way, we receive approximately $60,000 in
rental income on an annual basis through community groups who use Crossroads.
Crossroads is a busy place!
So here’s the
Christmas miracle. As of November 30th, we have totally paid off one
of those two loans.
Thanks to
over $600,000 from undesignated endowment funds, $94,000 from our Board of
Trustees, and over $30,000 of pledge and rental surplus funds, God has put us in
a position to pay off all of this debt by 2016. This is now an attainable goal.
With this
Christmas miracle, and knowing that you and I will continue to be generous
financial givers to Crossroads in these remaining four and a half years of our
pledge commitments, we are in a much better position to cross the finish line in
May of 2016.
If you
believe in Christmas miracles, can I hear an “Amen?”
To help us
celebrate this recent pay-off of one of our two loans, I have asked Randy
Williams, our Church Council Chairperson and our Lay Leader, to do us the honor
of burning the loan note.
(The loan note is burnt over a pan in front of the
altar.)
Christmas
miracles still happen!
I want to
close by sharing from a United Methodist Vietnamese pastor who writes these
words of Christmas greeting to all who have partnered with them over the years.
“Among the
many highlights we thank God for the many who came to Jesus over the past year
and for the spiritual and numerical growth in our United Methodist Churches in
Vietnam; for eighteen new United Methodist Churches in Vietnam; for several
professors who came from United Methodist seminaries to teach at Wesley
Theological College in Vietnam; for several wonderful teams who came to support,
encourage, and bless us; for the funds to purchase the United Methodist Center
building; and for the aid for hundreds of orphans, widows, and children with
food, medical care, clothes, eye glasses, and clean drinking water.
Hundreds
of thousands more continue to wait for somebody to love them. Children, widows,
and orphans wait for helping hands that would come to their aid. As people wait
in villages, towns, and cities for somebody to bring them the gospel. We want
to be that somebody. We are planning and preparing ourselves to do more in the
coming year.”
“Thank you
so much for your faithfulness in prayer and support. May the Lord grant you
peace and joy this Christmas and throughout the year.”
The
Christians in Vietnam remind us that miracles still happen not only in Southeast
Asia, but also right here in Lancaster, Ohio! Thanks be to God!
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