How can our church do ministry overseas?

Pastor Thinh, Dr. Nguyen, & Pastor Khoa

By Dr. Binh Nguyen / Southeast Asia Ministry Team (SEAM Team)

All churches want to fulfill the Great Commission by sharing the Gospel to all humankind.  Yet, for many churches, doing ministry work overseas can be both very costly and difficult to manage.  However, churches love people, care for people’s spiritual and physical lives, and want to support ministries, especially overseas ministries that can change people’s lives for good.  Opportunities opened in 2000 when the Seattle Presbytery launched its ministry in Vietnam, establishing the United Presbyterian Church of Vietnam (UPCV) -- the first Presbyterian Church in that country.

This month, Pastor Khoa Ho, the Head Pastor of the UPCV will be in Seattle to share with churches in Seattle Presbytery about the last twelve years of ministry and their vision of planting ten new congregations this year in Vietnam.

The ministry of the UPCV is going well, yet in some locations it is still facing hardship.  The church wants to expand its ministry to include more people living in Vietnam into the Kingdom of God.  Therefore, the UPCV has decided to plant more congregations.

As we know, in order to plant a church in a country like Vietnam, leaders need to have wisdom, courage, and a deep love of God and people.  God has already equipped leaders of the UPCV with these qualities.

The UPCV already had ten leaders who have been leading the Bible study groups.  In addition to doing ministry, these leaders need to maintain paying jobs outside the church to provide for their families.  In order to grow these Bible study groups into congregations, these leaders have to dedicate all of their minds, hearts, and time to their ministries, which means they do not have any spare time to do work outside the church.  In order to fulfill their call to full-time ministry, they are seeking financial support for 30 months.  This would allow them to work toward self-sufficiency.  Ideally, the UPCV wants to provide $100 per leader per month.

The Southeast Asia Ministry Team believes that any church can support UPCV’s vision to expand the Kingdom of God in Vietnam. Many churches can afford $100 per month from their missions budgets to support a pastor, while those that can only afford $50 can have their contribution matched by the Seattle Presbytery.  This is a wonderful opportunity for any church, even those who have modest missions budgets, to be involved insignificant overseas ministry and build a strong relationship with a sister church in Asia.

Pastor Khoa Ho is available to meet with interested churches:
             -Tuesday, 3/20: At any time before Seattle Presbytery meeting
             -Wednesday, 3/21: At any time before 6:00PM
             -Tuesday, 3/27: At any time, except from 11:00AM to 2:00PM

If you have any questions or requests or donations related to the UPCV’s vision, please contact the Southeast Asia Ministry Team (SEAM@seattlepresbytery.org).

       - Dr. Binh Nguyen (206-965-0192), Rev. Paul Kim, & Rev. Dale Sewall