With a Mission is a short-term mission trip program to Vietnam run by various Vietnamese churches and congregations. It is led by the Kew Baptist Vietnamese congregation, partnered with Hurlstone Park, VicWest and Vietnamese English Brisbane churches. As Christina, Director of With a Mission, said, “We are a people 'with a mission (WAM)'. Our mission is to make positive impact on others life by bearing the good news, bring hope, joy and peace promised by God through active missional community work.”
Every couple of years they raise funds to send a missionary group to Vietnam. The group connects with local churches and tries to help people in the local area. This includes building houses and donating medical supplies. The With a Mission team chose to build houses because having a proper home is essential to people’s basic needs, including shelter, security and children’s development. For local Vietnamese Christians, having a secure home means they can stop worrying about their poor living conditions and “focus on building a stronger and better relationship with those around them and living their life with a mission." The team faces challenges operating in Vietnam. The Vietnamese government prohibits evangelism and religious expression even though religious freedom is protected in theory. The team works through local churches so that the local people can continue to develop relationships with other Christians even after the team returns to Australia.
With a Mission has sponsored two trips so far in 2014 and 2016, which raised $15,000 and $20,000 respectively. In 2016, the trip to Kien Giang included providing a medical check-up for more than 500 people. They also gave $5,000 to Vietnamese Christian Restoration Ministry to "restore and renew hope to people suffering from drug addictions and other destructive lifestyles in Vietnam.” With a Mission is sending another team in January 2018 to Binh Phuoc in the south-east of the country. They are hoping to raise another $20,000 for the trip.
Christina noted that the local people were sceptical of their work at first, imagining the team to be a bunch of tourists. But their attitude changed when they saw the team wholeheartedly putting themselves into the work of building houses, including carrying bricks and cement, hardening the floor, cleaning up the waste, and assembling the wall and the roof. Despite the heat and exhaustion, the team worked with “joy and laughter.” The willingness to serve and get one’s hands dirty really resonates with the local people. Even if most of the team had little experience in building houses, the readiness to work hard shows that they genuinely care about the people’s needs. As Christina noted in the WaM end of year report, "I have seen God's grace at work in WAM ministry throughout the year. He inspires and encourages every member of WAM to step outside of their comfort zone to do things that bring glory to the Lord.”
Building houses
Khoi-Phong Doan said he joined With a Mission because he wanted to “help out with the church.” By building houses and serving the local Vietnamese people, he said it “gets them to ask why and that’s what leads them to Christ.” He said that being on the team has “help[ed] me as a Christian to serve others because that’s what Jesus did.”
Kua said that With a Mission is about showing people that there are people who care for them and are willing to serve them. It is a “bigger impact if we are there and help them ourselves.” He said he is very appreciative of what he has as he is “lucky to be in Australia.” He believes that it is important not to take for granted the freedoms and prosperity that we have in Australia and to remember and help those in Vietnam. He noted, “There will always be people in need. We have a ‘luxury life’ but the people back in Vietnam have to live in need.” Kua said going on With a Mission was a “great experience and he “still remember[s] some significant parts like it was yesterday.”
In the fields
The With a Mission team is inspired by the call to serve people and meet their physical needs. As it is written in James, “If you know someone who doesn’t have any clothes or food, you shouldn’t just say, 'I hope all goes well for you. I hope you will be warm and have plenty to eat.' What good is it to say this, unless you do something to help? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead (James 2:14-17 CEVUS06 & NIV).” Christina noted that "Obedience = Love + Trust + Action. It starts with love as God wants you to love Him with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbour as yourself. And out of love comes trust. If you trust what God is saying to you, and you believe that He loves you, then that will lead to action."
Christina noted that the pioneering people who change the world “invest their time and energy not in what is but what could be.” With a Mission is about making "a positive impact by bearing the gospel, the joy and hope that God promises.” It is ultimately part of a “dream of living our lives with a purpose, with a mission,” something that all Christians can take inspiration from.
Source: BUV News