I just returned from a two week trip to Vietnam where we were able to share the Gospel in an unprecedented manner…through good works!

Built on eighteen years of faithfulness, Hope for Vietnam is registered as an NGO (Non Governmental Organization) with the Communist government. This type of status is reserved only for the largest of organizations like WorldVision, etc. But this ministry from a small church in Hermosa Beach has won trust due to all the good works that have been performed there. I will write about that later but here’s a tiny little overview of what I experienced in the harsh environment of this Third World nation, where the team of nine endured 100 degree temperatures in nearly 100% humidity.

In a backwards village a short distance from the infamous “Hamburger Hill” of the Vietnam War we shared food, scholarships for selected children, and investigated the tanks provided by Hope Chapel that supplied water to many village families.

One of my favorite things to do was to to teach the 10 Commandments in 5 minutes to an underground church. (With translation, from English to Vietnamese to this particular village’s dialect, it took a little longer.)

But the biggest surprise for everyone (including myself) was discovering how popular my cheesy magic tricks were. These simple performances broke down barriers and opened the doors of many hearts to prepare them for the greater things we were to bring.

Stay tuned for more reporting from the front lines about what we did in Vietnam, from Saigon to Da Nang, to the Laos border.