God’s grace opened doors to an unprecedented mission opportunity in communist Vietnam.

In 2011, leadership from the Hmong Evangelical Lutheran Church in Vietnam (formerly known as the Hmong Fellowship Church) invited WELS pastor Bounkeo Lor to train their church leaders in the truth of the gospel. Since then, Lor and other WELS representatives have made trips to Hanoi, Vietnam, to train approximately 60 church leaders at a time. The Hmong Evangelical Lutheran Church (HELC) was a church body of 55,000 members in 2011. In the years WELS has provided training, the HELC has grown from 55,000 to over 160,000 members and formed many new churches.

The message of free grace received from Jesus Christ replaced the HELC’s old law-based preaching and brought peace to the Hmong Evangelical Lutheran Church—church leadership stabilized as a result. In 2018, the communist government in Vietnam noticed this positive change and invited WELS to build a theological education center in the capital city of Hanoi. The new building was dedicated on July 15, 2023. WELS is currently the only protestant church with official government permission to work with the Hmong in Vietnam. The Lord is opening a door to reach the more than two million Hmong people who live in Vietnam and the surrounding countries.

Fast Facts

• The first cohort of 55 students completed their seminary level training, graduated, and became pastors on July 16, 2023.
• 60 new HELC leaders (Cohort B) began a six-year theological training program in 2022. An additional 63 HELC headers (Cohort C) began their studies in July 2023.
• Almost 1,400 congregational leaders receive training through courses designed for rural congregations.
• 12 of the new HELC graduates were commissioned to serve as instructors in the rural training program.