Letter from Cody: Vietnam – Nov. 2009

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Pastor Bauler conducting one of the training classes.

Have you ever been locked out of your car or house? Perhaps we can look through the windows and see the keys lying right there, but getting to those lonely keys is a mission impossible! Yet when the door is unlocked, without a thought, we are in the car and ready to go. What a difference an open and closed door makes! But it is not only in the physical world that there are open and closed doors. Jesus says, “Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.” Revelation 3:8. In fact, not just is there one open door, but there are many. “There is a large work to be done, and the vineyard of the Lord needs laborers. Missionaries should enter the field before they are compelled to cease labor. There are now open doors on every side… .” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 359. “If they will labor as the Spirit of God shall direct, He will open doors of opportunity before them for the work of building the old waste places.” God’s Amazing Grace, 326. It is not only when we think that doors are open, but even when they seem closed, the Lord bids us go forward. “A thousand doors of usefulness are open before us. Often we lament the scanty resources available, but were Christians thoroughly in earnest, they could multiply the resources a thousandfold. It is selfishness, self-indulgence, that bars the way to our usefulness.” Ministry of Healing, 206. May the Lord help us to see those thousand open doors before us and press through with triumphs for the kingdom of God.

One area that is now beckoning with an open door is the previously very closed country of Vietnam. About a year ago, Pastor Mike Bauler met a young Vietnamese pastor who was sharing about an opening door in Vietnam, and he invited him to come over and assist with the work. A few weeks ago Mike and a friend left for Vietnam and were very blessed to see the work that is going forward in this needy area. Like everywhere else, perhaps the greatest need is for trained workers, and the brethren there are seeking to answer this call. Pastor Tran and his fellow workers have instituted a program that trains workers for several months and then sends them out to put into practice what they have learned. After a year of training and practical work, those that have proven themselves effective workers return for more training and are sent out again. Although they are not allowed to openly proselytize (because of the lack of freedom of religion and speech), they seek contacts by friendship and then lead them to greater spiritual truths. Their work is bearing fruit, and through friendship evangelism, souls are being led from the darkness of Buddhism and Catholicism in this restricted access county. But while liberty is very much restricted by our standards, the door is presently opening more than it has in thirty years! No doubt the Lord is bidding us enter the open door. For many years, imprisonment and worse could be the result of faithfully following and sharing the Lord, but now new opportunities are available. Restriction of printing is beginning to be eased (not completely, but some). With these reduced restrictions, Pastor Tran is hoping to be able to translate and print truth-filled literature while there is still opportunity. In order to do this, translators are needed who can translate much-needed Spirit of Prophecy books into the local language and then print and distribute them. Presently, very few complete Spirit of Prophecy books are available, but it is hoped to be able to put translators to work in order to fulfill this vital void. Then these truth-filled books can do their work of bringing about a revival in the lives of the church members and touching the hearts of those who do not know this message of truth. Would you like to help our brethren in Vietnam walk through this open door? If so, please pray for the work there, and you can also mark your donation “Vietnam.”

Yours in the Master’s service,

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“Praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ.” Col. 4:3.

Some of the workers in the remote areas of Vietnam

Some of the workers in the remote areas of Vietnam