Christian & Missionary Alliance Celebrates 100 Years of Great Commission Ministries in Vietnam

By Michael Ireland
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

DA NANG, VIETNAM (ANS) -- In 1911, a team of three Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) international workers, led by Robert A. Jaffray, entered Vietnam, then known as French Indochina, with the purpose of establishing the country's first evangelical church.

C&MA Logo

When Vietnam fell to Communist control in 1975, The Alliance had established a national church with a membership of 53,000. Today, there are 1.2 million believers in Vietnam, most of them Alliance.

The C&MA - related Evangelical Church of Vietnam (ECVN - also known as Tin Lanh) had its largest-ever gathering to celebrate 100 years of ministry, June 14-16, 2011. Held in Da Nang's large indoor stadium, the event drew an estimated 15,000 people, with an overflow of about 1,000 in the outer halls.

The Dan Nang celebration was the first of four 2011 celebrations to mark 100 years since the beginning of Alliance outreach to Vietnam. The second celebration was held in Hanoi on June 20, with about 4,000 in attendance, the third in Ho Chi Minh City on June 23-24, and the final celebration took place July 2 in Garden Grove, California, at the Crystal Cathedral.

During the Ho Chi Minh City celebration, retired international worker Dr. Tom Stebbins preached an evangelistic message in Vietnamese on the prodigal son to a packed house of 15,000 people. Nearly 1,000 responded to become followers of Jesus Christ.

You may view a video of  Dr. Stebbins here: http://tinyurl.com/65obu4p In it, Dr. Stebbins, who is the brother of Ruth Thompson,  tells the story of the ultimate sacrifice Ed and Ruth Thompson made as missionaries in Vietnam. (Produced in 2010. [duration: 05:24]).

 "[The Vietnam believers] want to be a force for Jesus and the Kingdom advance to other nations. They are a sleeping giant in the cause of missions," said U.S. C&MA President Gary Benedict, who attended the celebration.

The celebration featured a parade of hundreds from 20 tribal groups, all with membership in the ECVN, along with a 480-member tribal choir that sang "The Halleluiah Chorus."

Thousands of believers raised their hands, responding positively to a call for total commitment to Christ, regardless of how difficult. Delegates were challenged to reach Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Europe, or anywhere there are lost people.

Today, there are 1.2 million believers in Vietnam, most of them Alliance. However, of the 71 people groups in Vietnam, 52 still have less than 2 percent who follow Jesus. About 40 million people in North Vietnam do not know Christ.

Formed as a cross-denominational missions society in the 1880's, The Alliance evolved into a world evangelization movement in the early 20th century and became an evangelical missions and church-planting denomination in 1974.

The Christian and Missionary Alliance is a worldwide family of Christians mobilized to fulfill the Great Commission by living out the fullness of Jesus Christ in personal experience and building His Church worldwide.

C&MA Founder Dr. A.B. Simpson

While pastoring a Presbyterian congregation in New York City in 1881, C&MA founder, Dr. A.B. Simpson, witnessed the physical and spiritual plight of the city's homeless, downtrodden and infirmed, and of its disenfranchised immigrant populations. This daily exposure moved Simpson to devote his life and ministry to taking the whole gospel to the whole world.

Having experienced the all-sufficiency of Christ on a deeply personal level, Simpson articulated a core theology, proclaiming Jesus as Savior, Sanctifier, Healer and Coming King. This "Fourfold Gospel" remains the spiritual foundation of The Alliance, the "deeper life" engine that drives the church toward the completion of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20).

The Alliance logo features the cross, a pitcher, laver and crown. They are the four symbols that join to illustrate the central theme in The Christian and Missionary Alliance, that is the Fourfold Gospel: Jesus Christ is our Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King. The globe represents the denomination's mission in the world.

Today, there are more than 2,000 Alliance churches in the United States and more than 20,000 fellowships in 81 countries around the world, where nearly 5 million Christians call themselves "Alliance," united by an unquenchable passion to reach our communities for Christ and provide access to the gospel where no access yet exists.

Editorial note: This reporter graduated in 1987 from Crown College, the Midwest regional college of the C&MA located in Minneapolis, MN, with a B.A. degree, double-majoring in Magazine Journalism/Bible & Theology.

Michael Ireland is Senior Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can donate online to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Senior Reporter