September 1996, Volume 4, Issue3
MAURICE, MARIE HALL OCTOBER 18, 1996
The Maurice and Marie Hall Recognition Dinner is scheduled for Friday, October 18, 1996 at 5.30 in Banquet Room B, Heritage Center. This room will seat up to 135 people.
Gordon Hogan, Bible and Missions faculty member and one of the adviser to the student team, said he has talked with the Dining Hall manager. The menu will be a pasta buffet, and meal tickets will be available for $5.25 each at registration.
Everyone whose life has been touched over the last 50 years by this dedicated couple in missions work are urged to be at the World Missions Workshop Oct. 217-19, and to be present for this dinner.
Charles Caudill, president of World Clrristian Broadcasting Corp. and Gordon Hogan, missionary to Pakistan and Singapore and now missionary-in-residence at Harding are asked to host this dinner.
WMW REGISTRATION
Enclosed with this newsletter is a copy of the registration form for the World Missions Workshop. You will notice the cost is $5.00, plus $25.00 for meals Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning.
Please send in you registration by October 10, if possible. We will have a display on the VN work, and Leonard & Dona Blake plan to be with us. Leonard will have just returned from Saigon.
Let's have the largest single group at the Mission Workshop!
BAO NGUYEN TRANSLATES WBS "KNOWING JESUS" BOOKLET, FOUR BIBLE TRACTS INTO VN
As reported in the June newsletter, Bao Nguyen, assisted by his son, has completed translation of the second World Bible School booklet, "Knowing Lesus". (I incorrectly put the title as "Who Is This Jesus". gc) Brother Bao sent this to me on diskette for ease of printing, already formatted.
Tex. Williams called July 26 wanting a quote on printing costs. On Monday, July 29 (immediately after my return from the Campechhe, Mexico, Campaign July 27). I got with Alvin Jennings of STAR BIBLE on this. He gave me a quote of 65 cents each on a press run of 1,000 copies, and 25 cents for each 1,000 additional. They make press runs of 1,000, 3,000, 5,000, 7,000 and 10,000. The answer keys would be $50 for 500.
Early in June, I arranged for STAR BIBLE to send one each of the following tracts-"What is the Church of Christ", "Neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jew" and "Pentecostalism and the Bible" to Bao Nguyen. In August, I also sent him a copy of brother Perry Cotham's new tract, "Receiving Eternal Life". Funds are urgently needed to get these tracts, and the two WBS booklets printed. (The first WBS booklet is "God Has Spoken".)
HELP NEEDED !!!!
I am making progress on the book VietNam: Taking Christ to the Smaller Dragon. I need pictures, anecdotes, memories of the church and Christians in VN. Also, we urgently need to contact VN Christians for work among the VN community in the US.
SIX BRETHREN TO VISIT VIET NAM IN OCTOBER
Six Christian men from Alabama, Tennessee and Virginia will visit Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) and Hanoi in October. Because of special activities that are planned for the university's 40th aftemoon, we were requested to split our Hanoi visit into two sections, with the second group to go in April or May 1997. There will not be a medical missions team this year.
T. J. Hughes, Charles Thigpen, John Sharp and Danny Gray, all members of the Ethridge, TN, church, and Dr. Dennis Jones, president of Intemational Bible College, Florence, AL, an Leonard Blake, Gainesville, VA, will arrive in Saigon Oct. 5., where they will meet with the 8th District church. They are due in Hanoi Oct. 7, and will be guest lecturers at the National Economics University Center for Rural Development.
On Oct. 9, Blake will return to Saigon, where he and his family spent two years in 1965-67 as missionaries. The other men will go to Bangkok for two days, and then split up. Thigpen and Gary will go on to India, to work with churches in Bombay, Madras an Andra Pradesh. Gray will retum Oct.23 and Thigpen on Nov. 1. Jones, Hughes and sharp will work with the church in Mildura, Victoria, Australia-a mission of the Ethridge church. Blake will retum Oct.15.
Pray for these men that the Lord will bless and guide them in their efforts, and that the church in Viet Nam will be strengthened as a result of their work.
BLAKES PLANNING FOR NEW WORK IN HO CHI MINH CITY Leonard and Dona Blake, missionaries in Saigon in 1965-67, are seriously looking at returning to VietNam. They have been involved in orphans home/child placement work all their married lives except for the 26 months in VN. Leonard has his Ph.D. in social work from Oklahoma University.
Leonard was in Saigon and Pnom Penn with a medical missions team, in March 1995, and will be in Saigon Oct 5-15, including three days in Hanoi, as noted above. Their four children are grown and married.
Dona's sister, Leecia Bruce) Penrod of Nashville, also worked with the church and school in Saigon in 1966-68. The Blakes also plan to be at the World Missions Workshop Oct. 17-20.
FUNDS NEEDED FOR PRINTING, SUPPORT
Funds are desperately needed if we are to make available the materials in Vietnamese that Bro Bao and Brother Can have translated and written.
"God Has Spoken" WBS booklet $1200
"Knowing Jesus" WBS booklet 1200
Four gospel tracts 1000
2 Books by Tran van Can 500 ea.
Support for Y-Kre Mlo 125 mo
WBTC Easy-to-Read Vietnamese Bible 50000
Funds for all but the Bible translation are to be sent to: Gene Conner, 1613 Kingston Drive,Grand Prairie, TX 75051. Bible translation funds are to sent to: World Bible Translation Center, P.O. Box 820648, Forth Worth TX 76182-9967
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We are beginning NOW to work on plans for the Viet Nam work for 1997. If you have any ideals or good suggestions, or contacts in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City that will help us get into those cities--and perhaps DaNang, Haiphong, Dalat, Nhatrang or Can Tho, please let me know as soon as possible. GC
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Help us locate: Fred Givens, Jim Hopkins, James Fritch, Jack Huebner, Gene Chumley, Henry Reyes, K. T. Henry and others who served with the church and/or school in Viet Nam.
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Viet Nam for Christ Newsletter is published quarterly by Gene Conner, 1613 Kingston Drive, Grand Prairie, TX 75051 (ph. 972-263-7182). There is no charge for a subscription, but donations to help defray costs are appreciated.
Tro+?-ve^` Trang DDa^`u/Back to Home Page
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Viet Nam for Christ Newsletter, June 1996, Volume 4, Issue 2
Maurice, Marie Hall to be Honored During WMW October 17-19
Maurice and Marie Hall, missionaries and Christian educators for 50 years, will be honored at a dinner during the World Missions Workshop October 17-19 at Harding University, Searcy, Arkansas.
Maurice resigned his commission as an Army officer during WW II, and they served in the Lord's army in France for several years. In the 1950s, they joined with Otis and Alma Gatewood and Roy Palmer and his wife in establishing Michigan Christian College in Rochester, MI. Sons James and Bill were born in France, and they later adopted Ron.
In 1962, Maurice and J. D. Bales of the Harding Bible faculty made a trip around the world looking for another French-speaking nation for the Halls to resume mission work in. They decided to make the Republic of Viet Nam their new home, arriving there, along with Philip Carpenter, in January 1964 and started building on the foundation laid by Ken and Lillian Wilson and Joe and Annette Hale.
Maurice, Lynn Yocum and Gene Conner put together the plan for the beginning of the American-Vietnamese International School (AVIS) (later VIS) in September 1965, which opened September 30 with 80 students in grades 1-8. After preaching for churches in Michigan, Kansas and California, they became part of the new World Christian Broadcasting System when it was begun in the early 1980's in Abilene, and moved with WCBC to the Nashville area.
Where Are They Now? Help us locate:
Jim Hopkins, James Fritch, Jack Huebner, Gene Chumley, Robert Reyes and others who served with the church and/or school in Viet Nam.
Viet Nam Plans Now Point to Early October
Several factors have caused a change of plans for taking a medical missions team into Saigon June 29-July. One factor that is being watched closely is the current meeting of the 10th Plenary Congress in Hanoi. The outcome of this Congress session will d etermine the future of Viet Nam.
The Lord willing, the medical missions team will go into Saigon September 28-October 6. The National University of Economics and Rural Development lecture team would leave Los Angeles October 5 bound for Hanoi, returning October 13.
Anyone interested in being part of one of these teams should contact Gene Conner at Alexander Travel Service, 903 N. Bowser, Suite 100, Richardson, TX 75081 or FAX 214-783-6377, or E_MAIL: contact avion@iadfw.net as soon as possible.
Keep these mission teams and the church in Viet Nam in your prayers.
Dinner for The Hall's at WMW
There will be a dinner given for Maurice and Marie Hall to recognize their 50 years in the mission field. The dinner was suggested by Wayne Briggs of Abilene, former missionary to Viet Nam.
After working in France for a number of years, the Halls helped start Michigan Christian College (some of the young missionaries in VN in the '60s first met the Halls there), and were the first full-time missionaries of the church in Viet Nam, arriving there in January 1964. For the last 12 years, the Halls have been active in WCBC, broading the gospel from a station in Point Barrow, AL. They recently pa ssed their 56th anniverary. They have influenced many to go into mission work.
Those attending the dinner will pay for their own tickets. We will probably have a plaque and / or some other memento to give to these valiant soldiers of the cross. The dinner will be hosted by brother Caudill and some of us involved in the Viet Nam work. It should not necessitate any outlay of funds, with the possible exception of the plaque. They have many friends in the brotherhood who would be willing to help defray the cost of a plaque and portrait, or whatever we decide to give. Until the newsletter goes out, this information has not been decided on.
Funding is Needed for VNFC Programs
Christians and churches interested in the work in Viet Nam and among the Viet Namese in the States are being sought to help fimd five programs. They are:
Support for Y-Kre Mlo $125 month (money transfer to be worked out)
VBS radio program in D-FW $250 month
Printing materials in Vietnamese $1,000 month
"People to People" program helping with travel funds for some prospective team members for July trip to Ho Chi Minh City (these include Gene Conner, Elizabeth Bui [RN], and others) $3,000 each
WBTC Easy-to-Read Vietnamese Bible $50,000
Funds for all but the Bible-translation are to be processed through the New York Avenue Church of Christ, 5371 New York Avenue, Arlington, TX 76018. Bible translation funds are to be sent to: World Bible Translation Center, P.O. Box 820648, Fort Worth, T X 76182-9967.
Viet Nam Churches Need Church Growth Training
Some recent observers of the churches in Viet Nam have recommended that church growth and Back to the Bible training materials be prepared and presented to those churches. This could be done in seminar/workshop training sessions, and also left with the churches in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Daklak Province Ban Me Thuot area), and Hanoi, as well as churches around Cu Chi, Nhatrang and elsewhere that have seemingly accepted denominational teaching and practices.
This is easy to understand, given 21 years of struggles to live under communisrn, and the lack of contact with New Testament can be forgotten or obscured. Our brethren need our constant prayers.
Christians with these materials or the expertise needed to train brethren (II Tim. 2:2, Mat. 28:19-20) should contact contact Gene Conner, 214-263-7182, or Charles Thigpen, 615-762-9821.
Bao Nguyen Translates "WBS Knowing Jesus?" Booklet
Bao Nguyen has now completed translation of the WBS booklet "Knowing Jesus". Several months ago, he transleted "God Has Spoken". Funds are urgently needed to get both of these excellent booklets printed.
Brother Bao is now looking for a tract or book on Pentecostal teachings to translate, as well as the tracts "What is The Church of Christ?", "Neither Catholic nor Protestant nor Jew" [note: as of 1996/08/25, he has those two tracts already, thank you], an d other materials that would be usable in helping the church grown among Vietnamese. Bao and Ruth plan to be a part of the October trip.
Jim Ridgeway Moved to Iowa May 1--Job Transfer
After six years in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Jim Ridgeway will begin working as a District Manager for Radio Shack stores in western Iowa April 27. He has been an associate, assistant store manager, store manager, and Franchise Division representative while in D-FW.
New York Avenue church of Christ will continue to serve as funds administrator for the Viet Nam Missions Development. All funds donated will be logged in and disbursed as appropriate or as requested, in case of specific bequests.
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Viet Nam for Christ Newsletter is published quarterly by Gene Conner. There is no charge for a subscription, but donations to help defray costs are appreciated.
Comments on New Look
We have reoeived several favorable comments about the new look of this newsletter: "professional", "attractive", and other terms. Thanks to Dwight Wacaster, Evangelism Cominittee DCBCon at New York Avenue, who reformatted the newsletter in February. Keep the comments and suggestions coming.