August
Blending Conference in Laos
The 2023 Blending Conference in Laos took place smoothly in Vientiane on June 10. This marked as a significant recovery of the church life since the outbreak of the global pandemic of coronavirus disease. It was also the first time that the churches in Laos actively invited the saints from overseas to participate in this blending conference. Approximately 160 local saints and 150 saints including the saints from Europe, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and the neighboring countries attended the conference.
The content of the conference was from the 2010 Memorial Day Conference-Living a Life for the Fulfillment of God’s Eternal Purpose. The main burden was that the saints of all ages could be strengthened to rise up and to function by building up the vital groups, and to consecrate themselves for the spread of the kingdom so that they can live a life for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose.
Brothers also shared the burden regarding the propagation of the gospel. The location of Laos is in the heart of Indochinese Peninsula. As the transportation systems of railway and highway have finished, Laos will soon be the center of transportation for neighboring countries, and also the hub for the blending of saints from varies countries. The urgent need is to gain a strong testimonyin Laos. Laos has a total of eighteen provinces, but currently there are only four churches. We all need to pick up the burden to preach the gospel of the kingdom. Brothers also invited the saints from regional countries to come to Laos for propagation and to spread the gospel throughout the land.
During the conference, local saints opened their homes for hospitality and served together with the saints from other countries in the meetings. All the saints also seize the opportunity to blend and to fellowship in many ways before and after the conference. May the Lord keep strengthening His churches in Laos.
The Publication Work in Vietnam
The publication work in Vietnam started as early as the late 1960s when some brothers here first got into contact with the ministry of Brothers Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. It was then a spontaneous burden of these brothers, who were among the few that knew English, to translate these riches into Vietnamese to nourish and supply the saints, who were all in Christianity at the time. With pen and paper, and a single heart for the Lord, the translation work continued through the early 1980s when the saints officially started the church life in the Lord’s recovery. As saints grew in life and in number, the need for ministry translation also grew larger. It was not until 2006 that we started having fellowship officially with LSM, and the publication work officially started with 3 full-timers.
As of August 2023, there are 8 full-time saints laboring in this work, along with some volunteers, to feed nearly 4,000 saints in the Lord’s recovery across the country. By the Lord’s abundant blessing and the faithful labor of these saints, more than 300 titles of various categories of this rich ministry have been translated. We also have dedicated saints laboring on the translation of the annual seven feasts.
The Vietnamese translation of the New Testament Recovery Version was done towards the end 2018. In the past, Bibles could only be printed abroad and then imported into Vietnam. This year we have obtained a license to print the Vietnamese New Testament Recovery Version with footnotes, and they can now be printed and published freely and legally in Vietnam. We are printing and publishing 1,800 copies this year to verify the qualification of printing house and planning to print and publish 8,000 copies in the future.
We have been preparing for the translation of the Old Testament Recovery Version. On June 1st, 2023, we started the Vietnamese Old Testament Recovery Version translation project. This project is expected to finish in 7 years. Other translation projects in the works include the High Peak of the Divine Revelation set and The Collected Works of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee. May the Vietnamese speaking world of more than 97 million within the country and more than 4 million overseas be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as water covers the sea! (Isa. 11:9)
Ministry Distribution
At present, mass distribution and propagation of Christian books in general and ministry books in particular still remain extremely limited due to political reasons. However, the Lord is not limited. In 2012, we published a website called www.suoinuocsong.com for the sole purpose of publishing Watchman Nee and Witness Lee’s ministry. This website has been a great source of truth and life supply for all the churches in Vietnam for the past 10 years. Readers can read online for free as well as order printed copies on this site. Alternatively, they can call in the publication office directly to order. By the end of June, the website is almost finished with new multi-device technology and a security upgrade. The ultimate plan is to make our website function like www.ministrybooks.org , offering full access to the existing ministry material in Vietnamese with an advanced search function for a subscription fee. Recently we have built a verse-requester tool for translation purposes. It may be available for public use in the near future. Since July 2021, some titles have been made available to buy as ebooks via Google Play Books, which makes the ministry even more accessible to saints both within and outside the country. Many have testified of being greatly helped by the availability of the ministry, especially electronically.
The Saints’ Enjoyment of the Ministry
Just as it had started the church life in Vietnam with truth and life, this ministry has been supplying the churches here with truth and life for the past 40 years. In the mornings, many saints gather in small groups for morning revival online. They pursue the Holy Word for Morning Revival, although several months behind that of the English-speaking world. 1000 copies of the HWMR are sold per release in addition to the HWMR online subscription service. Elders and responsible ones all over the country also enjoy the Ministry Magazine with more than 200 copies sold per release. Saints here also meet in small groups for a weekly corporate pursuit of the Life Study. Children, young people, and college students all have their own meetings where they pursue ministry materials selected specifically for their age group. A number of saints have also been faithfully participating in the annual seven feasts.
Another line of truth pursuit is the Vietnamese New Testament Recovery version. Some pursue personally while others gather in small groups to read it with footnotes, following monthly and yearly schedules. We all benefit greatly from the Recovery version. Many have testified that it is easier to read than the version we had before with clear, modern Vietnamese. Through the life supply of the genuine New Testament ministry, the saints were saved from the world, released from religion, grew, and matured in the divine life to be built up with one another.
Rhema Vietnam
Rhema Vietnam has just started in November 2020 with the specific burden of actively reaching out to seeking ones in Vietnam, especially Christians, which account for 1,1% of the entire population (8,5% including Catholics), despite limited freedom. Since then, thousands of eBooks have been downloaded from our website and more than 400 hundred have asked for printed sets. Rhema seminars are held on the First Lord¡¦s Day of the month with 80 attendees on average, around 10-15 of which are new ones. So far, we have covered five topics: The Mystery of Human Life, The Economy of God, The All-inclusive Christ, The Knowledge of Life, and The Glorious Church. As a result, many readers have joined bible studies with local saints and some even have been participating in the church life.
We really thank the Lord for what He has done in Vietnam. May the Lord continue to strengthen and use the literature work to hasten His move in Vietnam.
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