I arrived about midnight Saturday morning in Saigon. After a good night's sleep, we went to Frenchy's for a breakfast of eggs, bread and chilled coconut milk and began a lengthy informational session about the work in Saigon.

    As best we can tell, there are five congregations of the Church of Christ in Vietnam - all in the south, none in the north. The largest of the five are in Saigon and Can Tho, both begun through Dad's influence during the near decade he was there.

    Over the years, the church and Tom's Kids have grown the same way: one person sharing their love and the Lord's with a friend and gradually being brought into fellowship with the Lord and His people.   When Dad started Tom's Kids, one of them, Phuc, was a cousin of Frenchy's wife. Phuc told her friend, Uyen. Uyen shared it with her brother, Hoang. Eventually, Uyen attended Sunset Institute of the Bible in Lubbock and then Faulkner University where she received her degree in Business. She and her brother serve as two of the leading members of the church in Saigon. The picture above is at our strategy meeting with (from left) Jack, Jerry, Uyen, Hoang, and Frenchy.

    Every Sunday, the church sends out a number of taxis to pick up members and bring them to worship - otherwise, there would be no way for them (especially the children) to come to church. The church also, as a part of its benevolence program, distributes rice to needy families each week and every two months, has a fellowship meal that includes the whole church.                       

    When Dad was alive, a couple of times a year, he would put together a special event for the children - usually involving a cookout and a trip to a park. These events served to bring all the children together at once and foster unity for the program (one year he gave them all hats bearing the name "Tom's Kids." It had the added advantage of making children from their group readily identifiable). Since Dad's passing, large events like this have not been possible. Dad always paid for the event out of his pocket, or had some of his friends chip in for the event. I talked with Frenchy about planning another event like this when the kids were out of school during the summer. We believe we can do this for all the Tom's Kids in Saigon for about $1200. If you are looking for a project that will really influence a lot of needy children, this could be it for you.

    If I had forgotten just how underground the church has to operate in Vietnam, I was reminded Sunday morning. Slowly the taxis and motorbikes began to arrive (most everyone travels by motorbike - sometimes whole families on one bike). To get into Frenchy's house, you enter through a large metal gate into a small courtyard. Those who came for Sunday School put their motorbikes in the courtyard. After Sunday School, as many of the bikes as possible were pushed into the house (see picture above left), down a hall toward the kitchen. Late comers parked in the courtyard. Just as worship was about to start, Frenchy went out to close the courtyard gate (see picture on right) which effectively blocked off the courtyard (and therefore a view of the large number of motorcycles and our gathering) from the street. Then, Frenchy  closed the large glass doors to his house and closed a large curtain. The Ward Police must not know of these meetings. Finding out would mean having to move the church, or possibly worse.  

    Even with air-conditioning and fans, the room became hot rather quickly. But if anyone but me was uncomfortable, I couldn't tell it. Everyone engaged joyfully in worship. No one moved (or even slept!) during my lesson on faith from the gospel of John. The worship was inspiring to me and a bit emotional as I thought back to how often Dad had sat somewhere in the same room I was sitting in and worshiped the Lord with these brethren who had become so dear to him. There were over sixty in attendance and when I remarked about the large crowd gathered in such a small room, someone said: "This was nothing. I was there one Sunday in a hotel room with your Dad and over a hundred people were in attendance!"

      After worship, the children were fed, rice given out to the needy, and then the adults gathered for a meal cooked in large part by Frenchy's wife and we engaged in great fellowship. There were several visitors, all brought by church members. One was an investment banker from Australia.

    That afternoon, Frenchy, Jerry, Jack, and I left Saigon on a bus for the four hour ride to Can Tho where I was to spend the next week.