The Hair Dresser Receives Christ

The day she heard the Gospel for the first time, she prayed to receive Christ.  That night, she also took down all the idols she had in her house, vowing to serve the One True God.

It never ceases to be a blessing to me when I have the priviledge of witnessing first-hand how the Lord leads another person to Himself, for it is usually done in such a miraculous way.  In Vietnam it is a custom for the ladies to go to the beauty shop once or twice a week to get their hair washed, head massaged and be generally pampered. The cost is around $1 USD so it is something the ladies can afford to do and actually need to do after working hard all week. My wife decided to join her aunt one afternoon for one of these special treats. 
 
As they arrived, the young lady who has just opened her shop was in great dismay. She began explaining to my wife that she just met this man on the internet from America and he began telling her about this Jesus who is the One who created her and had a plan for her life. My wife said, “Yes, this is right. God does love you and He does have a plan for your life and it is found only in Jesus Christ.” So for about two hours she asked Lien questions as Lien eplained about the Gospel. Lien suggested that she go out with us that night to drink coffee, so she could hear more about the Gospel. Lien returned home to share with me her experience and our plans for the night. 

We went to our favorite coffee shop to talk with her and I simply began with just how awesome God is and how awesome His love is for us. I walked right down the tracks of how one could become a child of God through faith in Jesus. I asked if she would like to place her faith in Jesus and pray to begin her relationship with Him as His child. She agreed and right there, in our favorite coffee shop, as the place was closing, she prayed to make Jesus Lord of her life. As soon as she finished praying, she asked if I could take down the Buddhas from her house. She had been a Buddha worshipper her whole life and had never heard the Gospel until earlier in that day. Once she prayed to receive Jesus into her heart, she knew she was only going to serve the One True God and needed to get rid of the idols she had erected in her unbelief. The Apostle Paul explains it like this: 

“This is the Gospel itself, which has reached you as it spreads out all over the world. Wherever that gospel goes, it produces Christian character, and develops it, as it has done in your own case from the time you first heard and realized the truth of God’s grace. ”

— 1 Thessalonians 2:13

A Powerful Divine Appointment

One afternoon Lien and I were visiting Church members who had not been to Church in a while, as well a those who had been hurt or who simply wanted us to come and pray with them. This was an amazing afternoon for the Lord and He truly gave us some divine appointments. One of them was so powerful that I thought I should share it with you. 

A couple, who are leaders in the Church, had asked a while back if we could pray that the Lord provide them the ability to buy the land next to them so they could build a new house. We did pray and the Lord answered our prayers.  So they bought the land and started building their new house. Following the example of those who had been sharing the Gospel with the people building the new Church, they began to share with those who were building their new house. When we had arrived that afternoon to pray with them, they asked that we pray for the workers to receive Christ, for they had been sharing with them for weeks. We did pray and, well, as the Lord has a tendency of doing, He answered our prayers.

This couple shared the Gospel with those building their new house.  Two workers were led to the Lord as a result!

Once we finished praying with the couple, the woman went and asked the workers to come and hear the Gospel once more. As the men came and stood before us, I asked one of them for his name and he replied “Cuong”. Lien said, “It means Strength” so I began sharing with him how we think we are so strong and we are able to handle all that life gives to us. But then things start to happen. We loose our jobs, we don’t have food, we loose loved ones, our bodys get ill, and we soon realize that we are not “Strong (Cuong)” at all but actually we are weak and in need of help. I stepped right into the Gospel about how we cannot save ourselves, but God, who is All Powerful, has offered us salvation. I asked if he wanted to be saved by this strong God today and he immediately said, yes. 

After we prayed and congratulated them on their decision to receive the Lord Jesus as their God, they left to go home. The woman began to share with us that Cuong was once a school teacher, but fell into trouble and lost everything. He had became very poor and even spoke out loud several times while working on their house, “What is the use living, I would be better off dead.” Little did I know that he who thought he was “Strong” actually had become very weak due to his troubles, but God knew and rescued him.

The Construction Workers Receive Christ

New church building and the construction crew.

The work on the new Church has continued and progressed by leaps and bounds in the two months that it has been under construction.  The Church decided to hire professional workers for the task of doing this monumental job instead of entrusting it to the members who had little or no experience. With that said, several of the members still show up daily to help where ever they can and at the same time to share the Gospel with those who are doing the work. 

One of the church building crew receives Christ.

Our first Sunday back, the man who is in charge of the construction work decided to show up to the worship services to see what it was all about. Well, during the invitation when about 15 Church members came forward, he responded with a desire to meet Jesus for the first time. He came down and was lead to the Lord by Pastor Hai, and Pastor Cuoc. He has since been to every service since his decision and his countenance has been dramatically changed.

Entire Families Coming to Know the Lord

We have seen how God has really blessed individual lives and families as a whole in miraculous ways. More often than not, we have seen that when one person comes to Christ, their entire family follows. Listen to the words of one of these families that were miraculously saved by the Lord Jesus Christ and how they are now on fire for their Savior.

“It was like what befell Job who lost everything! Our family lost almost everything. Father was found to suffer from diabetes, my brother from Leukemia. What terrible blows! Then all our pigs in our farm died – simply perished! We lost everything! We had about 1,000 pigs. Suddenly they were gone! All of them, like in the story of Job. Then God took Cong Tuan. It was ‘blow upon blow.’ But no – it was God’s hand of mercy! He was leading us to salvation. For during this time of treatment in Singapore we had the opportunity to be witnessed to and loved on by the Church in Singapore. God really used them to lead my brother to the Lord and then opened the door for me to make Jesus Lord of my life.”

— Tram's Testimony

 First Cong Tuan (The brother with leukemia) and his Sister believed!  Then their Mother followed (and gave up suicidal ideas).  Later, the Father also believed, followed by many relatives and friends.  The sowing of the Gospel continued day after day, week after week.  Relatives and friends received the Gospel – and believed!  Idols and ancestral spirits were given up.  Presently, the number of conversions is up to 50 and counting– praise the Lord! Three years ago, Lien and I had the opportunity to share the Gospel with Tram (the writer of the above) but she was closed to the truth that Jesus was the only God and that He alone offered life, true life. We had not heard from her in almost two years before we read her report of how she and her entire family have been radically saved from Buddhism and Ancestry worship.