Christmas in Vietnam

Out with the pumpkins, in with the Christmas trees. Ten years ago Christmas in Vietnam was a regular working day that came and went without notice, but in recent years it has become a major celebration. Lights and decorations are strung up around town, wreaking havoc with the traffic as people cruise by to check out the latest displays. All the five-star hotels have major manger scenes in their lobbies, and although Christmas is still a working day, urban Vietnamese get into the Christmas spirit by exchanging gifts and decorating their houses and children! Santa is the main theme - Santas on motorbikes delivering gifts, Santas welcoming people into the shops, even a Santa training school for would be Santas - no wonder most Vietnamese think that Christmas is Santa's birthday!

Quick to seize this opportunity for evangelism, Christians in Vietnam will be inviting their friends and relatives to church, and almost certainly pressuring them to go forward during the altar call. While some young believers are always sharing their faith, many will take their friends to church having never told them even the basics of the gospel message, or the real meaning of Christmas. Many leave this task to the pastor, which is why they just try to get them to church. But who makes the better messenger? The friend they have known for years, or the stranger up at the front, in this unusual building, with all these weird things goings on?

Pray

-May the message of Christ's coming cut through the growing clamour of Christmas in Vietnam. Amen.