A year ago, the Lord led us to go a little further beyond our usual fields. That’s when He brought the Nguyen family into our lives — a mother and her six children. Nguyen is a 35-year-old orphan who grew up in a children’s home.
When we began sowing the Word of God in this area, she welcomed us with joy. We started visiting regularly, playing with the children, showing Christian films, and holding Bible lessons. At Christmas, we prepared gifts for the family.
Nguyen’s husband works odd jobs — here and there, wherever he can — earning about $9 a day. Every day he drinks around two liters of beer. Recently, their eldest daughter gave birth. The family lives in extreme poverty, eating just one bowl of rice a day.
We’ve been regularly helping them for about a year, but recently realized that even this is not enough for their needs.
Just a few days ago, a translator friend visited, and we went to see the family again. We shared the Gospel with them and called them to turn to Jesus Christ. Praise God — Nguyen and Salome made the decision and prayed to receive Him!
They are part of the Raglai people group — a community that is very difficult to reach with the Gospel. That’s why we kindly ask you, dear friends, to support us in prayer for this people. There are fewer than 100,000 of them left on earth.
Beloved, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your dedication, consistency, and faithfulness in the work of spreading the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
It’s been five years since the Lord, during the pandemic, introduced us to the Mien family from the Raglai tribe, who later (eight people) were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Mien, the head of the family, and his wife cannot read, and their children would tell them and read to them the Word of God. But they don’t understand all the words in Vietnamese, because they have their own tribal language. The parents work hard to understand what we are trying to convey to them. To explain one truth of the Gospel sometimes takes us several hours to make it clear. Relationships also play a big role — the ones the Lord builds through love, food, and improving their lives. And now five years have passed, and our brothers and sisters have started sharing their faith with relatives and neighbors. And of course we see and are inspired by how the Lord blesses us.
Just the other day, the church evangelism team took the Chung and His family and drove them (5 kilometers) to the Nguyen family. There they introduced them to each other, read the Word of God, and prayed. Our team came back on wings of love, even though it was pouring rain and it was very hard to get back home — the trip was 30–40 kilometers. Beloved, we thank you for your labor of love in the work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
In 2017, my wife and I moved to Vietnam to spread the Word of God. Before that, we had gone on several short-term mission trips and fell in love with the country and its people. Later on, the Lord opened doors for us to serve in Thailand and Laos as well. From time to time, we travel there, continuing to sow the Word of God. My wife Irina has the gift of evangelism. No matter where she is or whom she meets, she always speaks about her Lord. Even now, while in the hospital, she encourages almost every woman going into surgery with a word from God. Vietnam has a very hot climate — temperatures sometimes exceed 40°C (104°F). We have contracted dengue fever twice, a disease that sadly takes the lives of many locals. Due to it, Irina suffered a minor stroke — but the Lord showed us mercy and spared her life.
Recently, we faced yet another trial: my wife was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Over the course of five months, she underwent many tests and procedures. A surgery was performed, and now she is going through chemotherapy. Irina is afraid of chemotherapy and feeling overwhelmed. Please pray for us! This is a very difficult season of life for my beloved Irina and me. God continues to guide and sustain us through your prayers and your help. We humbly ask you to strengthen your intercession for us and support us as we walk through this valley — believing together for healing, hope, and peace.
We have been periodically serving in Laos since 2018, visiting the country and sowing the Word through printed materials, evangelism, food distribution, and helping with the construction of a house of prayer. We pray and present our desires before Him — that in this poor country, there would be a team of evangelists.
This time, it was very difficult for us to enter the country. Previously, we even entered by mopeds and served, but the laws are constantly changing, and this time we barely made it in on foot. Throughout it all, the Lord was with us.
Since everything had been arranged and planned, a local brother met us at the appointed place. We bought groceries for 40 people — leprosy patients — and traveled another 40 kilometers off-road. The village road was just dust, and for some reason, they were even sweeping it. The poor, sick people were already waiting for us. Before distributing the food, we shared the Gospel, prayed, sang a song, and handed out the food. Everyone was very grateful.
We also gave two flannelgraph sets to those responsible for children’s ministry in the church. The next day, we visited a church we are helping to build. We prayed, blessed them, and then began our 700-kilometer journey back home to Vietnam.
Thank you for supporting ministry in Southeast Asia. May the Lord bless you abundantly.
A team of three brothers came to visit us, with whom we had planned the ministry in advance. One of them had already visited us before, and that was a great blessing for us! The brothers prepared thoroughly for the ministry, and the Lord blessed us abundantly.
We visited the 12 families under our care, to whom we distribute food and teach the Word of the Lord. With the help of the brothers, we also gained new opportunities and methods for ministry! We held a baptism in joyful fellowship with the Russian-speaking church. We blessed a newborn boy named Li in a Raglai family. In that same family, we also helped build a toilet.
Wherever we went, the Lord was with us and blessed us. There are many people here who cannot read, and the brothers brought audio Bibles, which we distributed with prayer. We held a children’s program in the tribe, which gathered about 50 kids. There were sports games and Bible lessons, and we blessed each child with treats. It was a wonderful time of sowing God’s Word.
Beloved, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts and souls for your labor of love in the Lord’s work. Together we can do much. I sincerely ask you to support my wife Irina in prayer — she will soon undergo surgery.
Everything has its time, and this spring, we received yet another blessing from the Lord—the blessing of Dominika, a baby girl born into a family from our church.
While we primarily serve local Vietnamese people and indigenous tribes, we also have a Russian-speaking congregation of about 30 people, including residents and tourists.
Artem and Ilena have lived here for over two years and have been attending church for more than a year. Artem works in video editing, while Ilena is a hairdresser. She once battled cancer, and doctors told her she would never be able to have children. They have a 20-year-old daughter who already lives independently, and now—by God’s miracle—they have been blessed with another baby girl, whom we joyfully dedicated today.
Over the past three months, we have dedicated five babies, and two more were recently born, waiting to be blessed. The most recent baby boy was born just a week ago to Chung and Hien, our brother and sister from the Raglai tribe. Please pray for these families.
Dear friends, from the depths of our hearts, we thank you for your support and prayers, which fill the cup of God’s blessings and overflow to meet every need. We praise the Lord that together, we can do so much!
