My name is Truong Chinh Dinh and I was born in 1958 to a middle class family in Vietnam. We enjoyed a fairly good life until I was 8 years old. A series of incidences led me to start questioning the meaning of my life. 

In 1975, the fall of Saigon made life even harder. Under the iron fist of the Communist government, we lost our freedom, opportunities and human rights.

In 1980, to avoid being conscripted and sent to the Vietnam-Cambodia war, my third elder brother and I decided to escape by hijacking a government boat to Thailand. This was when the first great miracle happened to me.

A small group of us were on the boat when suddenly, a larger group of soldiers got on. They were heading towards a different destination from our intended one. We were worried that we’ll be overpowered if we tried to force the boat to our destination. All of a sudden, it started to rain and all the soldiers moved to the passenger basement of the boat. The rain was brief but it gave us a golden opportunity to control the boat for a few minutes. We managed to steer the boat to our destination and no one was hurt. We thought that “Ông Trời” the Vietnamese God had saved us. 

My elder brother and I stayed at a Thai refugee camp for two years before being accepted and resettled in Melbourne. We are thankful to God and Australia for their love for refugees. When we first arrived, there were not much help available. As such, we missed our family and suffered from loneliness. We also struggled to find acceptance within the Australian community (it wasn't multicultural back then). To support ourselves and family back in Vietnam, we were often exhausted by hard labour work. It was a dark period for me and that's when the second miracle happened!

It wasn’t as dramatic as the first miracle but it happened through a combination of incidences. Firstly, God reminded me of the kindness shown to us by the Baptist people we met in Thailand when we were refugees. Secondly, He sent a Vietnamese Student Pastor to visit me occasionally and then later on he invited me to join a small group of Vietnamese Christians (meeting at Reservoir Baptist Church) who welcomed me warmly to their community. Thirdly, God showed me his words when I started reading and studying the Bible in English. Through these incidences, I realised (in fact God opened my eyes, mind and heart) that the God of the first miracle is the God of the Bible. God told me what i needed to know. He loves me and his love is the meaning of my life. 

From then on, I developed a deep desire in my heart. I wanted to help people know, experience and enjoy God’s love like I did. I started volunteering at church and driving non-Christian friends to our small worship service. I also accompanied church leaders with their visits and shared my testimony. Eventually, I decided to further my understanding of the Bible and took up courses at Kingsley and Whitley College.   

In 1996, I married the love of my life, Phuong. God used her to make my life fully meaningful and He gave us a special gift – Samantha, my little “Imago Dei” in 1998. They are my third miracle(s).  

Rev. Truong Chinh Dinh and family.

These miracles helped me find the true meaning of my life and through my studies at Whitley College, I realised (again, in fact God opened my eyes, mind and heart) that I was called to pastoral ministry. The two verses that impacted me most are:  “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) and “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27). 

I’m thankful for God’s calling and how He used other people to influence my future ministry and pastoral style. The Whitley teaching staff and BUV leaders (Dr Frank Rees, Dr Keith Dyer, Dr Geoff Pound, Dr Mark Brett, Dr Merril Kitchen, Dr Colin Hunter, Dr Ken Manley, John Simpson, Allan Marr, just to name a few) have been instrumental in helping me shape the development of my theology and pastoral ministry.   

From 1999, I was also given the opportunity to serve with the BUV Multicultural Task Force (later known as Multicultural Ministry Group) where I developed a vision for a reverse Multicultural church that worships in different languages. The focus of the ministry is to attract English-speaking generations into a multicultural congregation. This may seem too idealistic and challenging with issues such as availability of facilities, the possible tension between diversity and integration, and the drastic changes of local cultures and sub-cultures etc., However my wife and I see ourselves as the first brick for this type of church and with God, all things are possible!

In 2001, God further refined my ministry direction and vision by showing me who he wanted me to minister to. Through Luke 4:18-19: “They are the poor, the forgotten and the marginalized”, I understood God’s calling and moved to Brimbank to plant a Vietnamese congregation. 

The year 2006 marked the fine-tuning of our spirituality by an unexpected encounter with and experience of the Holy Spirit. Pastor Phong Truong helped us so much in understanding of them and he has since become our spiritual companion. Perhaps this is the manifestation of Acts 1:8 to remind us to “walk and live by the Spirit” rather than “just do ministry” by our own human strength and wisdom. We now define our ministry as “helping one another to be fulfilled by the Holy Spirit so that we can become like Jesus’ disciples who share God’s love and the Good News of Jesus to the poor and forgotten.”   

We have also been blessed to be a member of the Vietnamese United Revival Ministry.

Please pray for my family and our community at Brimbank New Life Baptist Church as we continue to be faithful to the Word, the call, the vision and ministry that God has revealed to us. 

Rev Truong Chinh Dinh    
Pastor, Brimbank New Life Baptist Church

My name is Gail Moe Dwai. I was born in the midst of conflict and civil wars in a Myanmar jungle in 1976 when the Burmese military dictators forced villages under their controlled area to relocate. My parents tried to flee from the forced relocation and hid in the jungle. I was born under the bush with no assistance from a midwife, with just my parents and small siblings around. Praised God, I survived and my mom was healthy.

Our family hid and lived in the jungle for many years. One evening when I was only two, my father and uncle was caught by the military patrolled groups. They killed my uncle the same night but let my father lived. He was taken to a camp where he was tortured and forced to work. They released my father after three months but he didn’t reunite with us in the jungle until many months later. We continued to hide in the jungle until I was five years old. Our family sought refuge at the Thai-Burma border where the Karen Nation Union based their military headquarter.

I grew up and received my basic education in Karen schools at the border. In 1995, the Burmese military attacked the Karen headquarter and we were forced to flee to Thailand where we became real refugees and were put in the Thai refugee camp.

In the year 2000, I decided to risk my life to pursue further theological studies. I sneaked out of the refugee camp and went through Burma to India illegally. Having lived in jungles and refugee camps all my life, I’ve never experienced town or city life. I’ve never even travelled outside my confined area in Burma or Thailand. Throughout my two-weeks journey to India, I was so anxious and constantly worried about being caught. I find my hope and faith only through Christ who gave me strength. And Praise God, I completed my Masters in Divinity at the Oriental Theological Seminary after three years.

I went back to the Thai refugee camp and began teaching at the bible school. In 2006, I met Rev Geoff Wright (a former pastor at Westgate Baptist Community Church) who visited the refugee camp and he helped me with the application for the Australian humanitarian visa. Together with the other Karen community leaders, we were granted our visa in 2008. With the help from BUV’s Refugee Airfare Loan Scheme, I was able to leave the refugee camp to travel to Melbourne. Praise the Lord for that.

In May 2008, a new congregation started in Werribee Baptist Church and I was appointed for my role as the pastor prior to my arrival in Melbourne.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” Jeremiah 1:4-5. The call to Jeremiah is very much similar to my life. I finally arrived in Melbourne on 8 January 2009 and begin my new life in a city! Although I still have worries but I have a stronger faith and hope in the Lord.

Rev Gail Moe Dwai and her family.

My vision for the church is to be fruitful and be a blessing to others. God bless us not for our own enjoyment but for us to shine the light and be a blessing to others. Our mission for the church is based on “triple Ls”:

• Pouring his Love within and beyond;
• Develop strong and relevant Leadership in the second generation;
• Leave a Legacy behind to our generations to carry on the life and ministry of the Church.

Please pray for our second generation to carry on the ministry of the church, the tradition of loving, caring, and hospitality to one another.