By now you know that my father,Tom Tune, passed away on February 5. He'd spent 21 days in ICU at the Veterans' Hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas. He had come back to the States from Vietnam to have open heart surgery. Before he could get that scheduled, he became ill. We still do not know what was wrong with him, but the illness snowballed into a variety of issues that eventually took his life.

For ten years Tom Tune

served as a missionary in

Vietnam. He established

two churches, one in Saigon

and the other in Can Tho.

He also founded "Tom's

Kids," a charitable project

devoted to educating

poor children. "Tom's

Kids" is administered by

Amazing Grace

International, Inc., a

Virginia Charity.

Tom Passed away on

February 5th of this year.

This newsletter is to bring

you up-to-date on the work

he began in Vietnam and to

give you the plans for the

future. After this newsletter,

the report will be named

"Report From Vietnam:

Current News about Tom's

Kids and the Growth of the

Church.

Tom served in missions

from 1962, when he and his

family went to Hong Kong.

There he established

two churches and

published a variety of

literature in both

Chinese and English -

including a hymnal. He

also worked in Guyana,

the Mediterranean, Fiji,

and The Cook Islands.

Christianity, in its broadest form, is not unknown in Vietnam. But exactly what Christianity is really all about is still a mystery there. Dad knew the best way to reach people is the same way Jesus did, by being interested in them, showing the interest, helping them when needed, becoming their friend, and then, gradually, teaching them the will of God.

To that end, Dad began Tom's 

Kids, an effort to help poor chil-

dren to go to school. Though public

schools are available in Vietnam,

they are not free. Dad, along with

supporters from the United States,

began paying the tuition for under-

privileged children. Currently, in

two cities (Saigon and Can Tho), we

have about 150 students going to

school. His interest in these children

drew more children and their parents

to him, and he baptized several hun-

dred over his years there. With your

help, we intend to continue sending children to school. A member of the church in each of those cities administers the funds, stays in contact with the children, and encourages them and their parents to come to church.

In Can Tho, Dad purchased two buildings for the church to meet in. Since the Church is not legal in

Vietnam, Dad believed having two places to meet was advantageous. But also, he purchased another building in which to house a school. He had two dreams for this school. First, and easier to get started, he wanted the school to focus on teaching English. The school is operational and is being administered by five Christian ladies: Tho Le Huynh, Yen Nguyen, Nhanh Huynh, Anh Linh Nguyen, and Ngo Cam Nhung. New students are coming every day and we are in the process of purchasing more desks and chairs and air-conditioning for the

school. There is another school up river from the church buildings in the jungle. That school is administered by Ray Huynh.

The church in Can Tho, led by their preacher, Hai, will work with these students, teaching them

Bible as they teach them English and encouraging them to come to worship on Sunday. The worship assembly on Sunday is a huge event. Members begin traveling to worship at 7 am in order to arrive by 8:30 for Bible School. Worship begins at 9:30 and at 11 am, there is lunch. So many of theses are young people who come from so far, that we believe it is important that they have lunch before they return home. We are looking for many to come to Christ as a result of this work.                 

Pictured at the right: Some of the

women in the Can Tho congregation. From left: Yen, Nguyen (just graduated from Four Seas Bible

College last year and now teaching English in the school), Oanh, Lan (one of "Tom's Kids" who just

graduated from High School), Tho,

(teaches in the English School),

Phuong (graduated from Four Seas and now teaches the Ladies' Bible Class and teaches Bible to children), Hue (lives at the church building and acts as matron for the children and takes care of the buildings), Nhi (she is one of "Tom's Kids" and is in the 6th grade) and Ray, who teaches English in her own house on the river.