January 2020 Training in Hanoi

Sixty leaders and pastors of the Hmong Fellowship Church (HFC) of Vietnam met in Hanoi, Vietnam, January 6-21, 2020, to study homiletics (preaching), doctrine of the Word, and the Gospel of John. All who gathered, both the instructors and students, were blessed to learn new things from God’s Word, to be strengthened in faith, and to be equipped for ministry to others.

In addition to the three courses, this training session was marked by two special events:

Gospel Partnership Celebration: The leaders and students of the Hmong Fellowship Church requested that there be a special worship service to thank the Lord for seven years of partnership in the gospel. Bounkeo Lor came to Vietnam to meet with the Hmong Fellowship Church for the first time in 2013. During the past seven years, the relationship between their church and the WELS has grown and a full pastoral training program has been developed. Soon, Lord willing, ground will be broken for the construction of a training center which will enable the training of the many more pastors who are eager to learn. The special worship service focused on the blessings of the Triune God poured upon us. “From the fullness of his grace, he has blessed us with grace upon grace” (John 1:16). We gave thanks to the Lord for all his blessings, including the ways in which he has equipped and used Bounkeo Lor in this work. We sang songs of praise to the LORD and rededicated ourselves to faithful service to him and his people.

Teaching Assistants: The second group of 60 pastors will begin their training this year. Nine pastors from the first group have been chosen to serve as teaching assistants. They will assist with course preparation, classroom instruction, and assessment. The best way to learn is to teach. We are confident that these newly appointed assistants will serve well and learn much.

Students expressed their thanks once again to the people of WELS for supporting their ongoing theological training. They asked that WELS would continue to remember them in their prayers, asking especially that the Kingdom of God would continue to come to them and to many others through them.

From Professor Brad Wordell from the Pastoral Studies Institute

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