Vietnamese Baptists organize to help
___DALLAS--Texas Baptists who know the feeling of being strangers in a foreign land are trying to help refugees half a world away.
___Vietnamese Texas Baptists considered providing aid to Afghan Pashtun refugees when the Texans gathered in Dallas late last month, on the eve of the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual session.
___The Pashtun are an ethnic minority from Afghanistan who have been displaced by years of battle, including conflict with the former Soviet Union, civil war and now the United States' assault on the Taliban. Some have been scattered from their homes in Afghanistan; others have settled in camps just across the border in Pakistan.
___"The opportunity and invitation to be the presence of Christ in the refugee camps challenged each one of the Vietnamese pastors, seminary students and their spouses," reported Jim Klassen, the BGCT's Vietnamese specialist.
___Texas Vietnamese plan to network with NorthWoods Church for the Communities, a BGCT-affiliated church in Keller, to provide relief for the Pashtun, Klassen said. NorthWoods and its pastor, Bob Roberts, have established an array of global missions programs.
___About 30 Vietnamese, primarily from across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, attended the dinner meeting Oct. 28. Metroplex Vietnamese leaders meet every-other month, Klassen said, noting the Texas Vietnamese Baptist Fellowship is expanding statewide.
___Seventeen Vietnamese churches and one mission are affiliated with the BGCT, Klassen said.
___"A common thread throughout the evening was clear: Vietnamese churches, who have been the recipients of so much, are now ready to start helping other ministries and missions, including ... relief efforts for the Pashtun refugees," he added.
___In addition to Klassen, Patty Lane, director of intercultural initiatives for the BGCT, helped coordinate the meeting. Other items on the agenda included:
___ Praise for the BGCT Vietnamese Sunday School material, along with discussion regarding how to distribute the material more widely.
___ A retreat for Texas Vietnamese pastors and wives, which would foster fellowship, encouragement and spiritual growth.
___ A focus on starting Vietnamese churches in the Metroplex, home to more than 100,000 Vietnamese residents.
___This effort will receive a boost soon, when mentoring materials, prepared by BGCT pastor Otto Arango, are translated from Spanish to Vietnamese.
___ Formation of ministries designed to serve Vietnamese prison inmates.
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