“Saul of
Tarsus was not on his knees in prayer, but hastening to shed
innocent blood. Yet the Lord brought him down and made him
seek salvation. Our Lord knows how to reach inaccessible
persons. They may shut us out, but they cannot shut Him out!
This should much encourage us in pleading for souls."
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
The Muong and the Tho People
The Lord is moving among the
Muong! Over the last
couple of months close to one hundred Muong people have
accepted Christ as their Saviour. Most of them lack
fellowship as they live in remote villages far away from
other believers. Recent numbers reflect approximately 400
believers among the 1.2 million people!
The
Tho are a subgroup of the Muong. They are a
friendly people, poor and some are open to the gospel. Most
of them can speak the Vietnamese language. Their culture is
nearly lost, but they have still kept their own beliefs.
They are bound by ancestor worship and they believe in
guardian spirits for protection. Apart from a few Christians
known who are married to Tho people, the approximately
60,000 Tho people have not yet heard the good news of Jesus.
Praise & Pray:
- For the new believers. Pray they will grow
in their faith and will find ways to feed themselves
with Gods Word in Vietnamese.
- For Christians sharing their faith in difficult
circumstances.
- For a church planting movement among the Muong people.
Pray the new believers will get training and train
others to share their faith.
- For the ongoing translation work of the Muong Bible.
- For Christians to share Gods Word among the Tho people.
- Against all obstacles that hinder the Tho people from
seeking God.
The Nung People
There are approximately 850,000 Nung people in Vietnam. The
Nung mainly worship their ancestors, spirits, saints,
Confucius, and Kwan Yin. Nung villages are often built on
hillsides. There is usually a submerged field in front of
the house and a garden in the back. The Nung houses are
always built on stilts.
The Nung language resembles the Tay, and belongs to the Tay
-Thai Group. The Nung have a written language called Nom
Nung (Nung scripts) which has prevailed since the 17th
century. They have a dictionary.
The Nung have an abundant wealth of folk arts and cultural
activities including folksongs and alternative songs ("sli").
The smooth melodies of the "sli" are harmonious with the
natural sounds of the forests and mountains. This type of
folksong is a combination of verse and music.
The "Lung Tung" (Going to the Fields) Ceremony is very well
known and attracts many people of all ages. This ceremony is
always organized on the first month of the lunar year. The
Nung mainly wear indigo attire. The Nung live on rice and
corn. They also grow cash crops and fruit trees, such as
tangerines and persimmons, and anise.
Praise & Pray:
- For
one NEW family showing definite interest in coming to
reach the Nung!!
- For
more even more NEW workers to join the team.
- For
us as we do research to understand how we can more
effectively reach the Nung.
