This mission study book takes its students to Indochina’s three countries threaded together by the Mekong River and a common history of war and privation. The author’s geographical and historical sketches of each country are filled with compelling information in an attractive format.

While reviewing this book, memories from my seven trips to this area came to mind.

Even though the communists in Vietnam once closed down all churches (but have now permitted some to reopen), I found a strong Christian witness. In Ho Chi Minh City I worshipped with a huge "blood washed throng" who had hazarded their lives to remain true to their Savior. I met an old pastor who had preached until imprisoned––who then witnessed inside that prison until there was "revival." 

Last fall my wife and I revisited Cambodia. We were astonished at the ultra-modern airport which replaced the old shed we remembered from previous visits--when entrance into the country was chaotic. We now saw Phnom Penh bursting with splendid new hotels, supermarkets and lovely homes. Missionary friends immediately began to tell us what a great work God is doing in that country. "Many are coming to Christ," they said, "and new opportunities for sharing the Gospel are everywhere (including the opening of new schools for training young Christians in the Word of God). There’s truly an open door here!"

The next day we were driven to the retreat where I spoke to Cambodian Christian workers. Although they had lost their loved ones through the Pol Pot atrocities, they gave glowing testimonies of the Lord’s grace that has brought healing and hope. Later I preached in a fishing village church filled with people praising Jesus for salvation.

It’s against this background that I reviewed this mission study book. I confess its message of seeking social and economic justice, without recounting what God is doing among these people, does not give the picture I wish United Methodists could see of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. When such dramatic "Kingdom business" is being transacted, it’s hard to focus only upon the problems this study book tells us are the most pressing.

Common themes covered in the study are: 1) the devastation of war, 2) displaced people, and 3) poverty.

The American military intervention in Indochina was certainly not the first war to affect these nations. The study book fails to recount that their history is riddled with war. In addition to civil wars, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos have fought China, Japan, France and Thailand. 

We read in the introduction, "Each of the three nations suffered from the action of the United States during the Vietnam War." 1 The U. S. is described as "the current imperial power," "motivated by self-interest"2 and blamed for its involvement. The fact is minimized that America entered the conflict hoping to stop the spread of communism in Asia. It has been our history, as Americans, not to conquer, but to help liberate people. 

The author’s conviction that all war is wrong (a tenant of liberalism) is not a view shared by many Americans.

One cannot fully comprehend the legacy of pain suffered by the people of these three countries. But the author does not underscore the fact that communism is the main source of this pain. 

Horror photos and weapons on exhibit in the Ho Chi Minh City War Museum sickened Beth and me. The communist government displays pictures there of the Vietnamese who have fled to the U. S. They are identified as enemies of the State whom they are hoping to track down.

Our hearts ached as we viewed the Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide in Cambodia where communists documented their own atrocities. It is known that thousands passed through this torture chamber during Pol Pot’s "re-education" program. The 6,000 photographs hanging on the dilapidated walls are haunting images. These nameless faces speak of stark terror as they faced execution.

DISPLACED PEOPLE

The problem of displaced persons is discussed. We lived in Hong Kong when the "boat people" from Vietnam were housed in large camps. Escape from communist Vietnam was made in any vessel in hope of reaching freedom. My friend, a former Christian Missionary Alliance missionary (World Relief representative), tells me, "I object to all the boat people being stereotyped as ‘economic refugees.’ That was a convenient term that the United Nations and host nations in southeast Asia adopted to help devise ways and means of sending the refugees back to Vietnam. They painted these boat people with this one brush deliberately ignoring that...some of these people fled atheistic communism out of a desire to be free from tyranny."3

Cambodians were also displaced. Pol Pot’s ruthless killers (communists) were responsible for the murder of up to two million people. Everyone with enough strength to flee Phonm Penh did so. A friend told us of her escape to Thailand--stepping on corpses so as not to activate the many land mines laid by the Khmer Rouge.  No such accounts are a part of the mission study material.

The study tells of numbers of the "displaced" that came to the U.S. Churches often sponsored them. Scant  reference, however, is made to the fact that many were brought to Christ, and that hundreds of churches were planted. Some returned to their home countries as evangelists. One such person I met told me he now goes back as a businessman, with a strong Christian witness to his fellow countrymen. Another said she returned because she could not live in comfort in the West when her Cambodian brothers and sisters did not have the Gospel.

New Life on the Mekong discusses poverty--a true concern for all of us in the body of Christ. Many faith-based agencies in these three countries (including our United Methodist Committee on Overseas Relief), are addressing this problem. 

The author tells us that multinational corporations are exploiting these nations. Actually, in recent years we saw the opposite to be true in Asia. When large companies come in (with local government approval), better facilities (including housing) and pay are provided for workers. Local people clamor for these jobs. Their living standard rises.

The author tells us, "The problem of poverty and the global market system is one of the most serious questions facing the church in its contemporary mission, not only in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, but also in the United States."4 

In this he concurs with his liberal colleagues who blame the world problems on the U. S. and global economics. The leaders of the free world, however, point out that free trade is the best way to help the poor nations–along with massive aid.

PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS

Only slight mention is made in this study that in Vietnam "there continue to be instances of harassment or arrest of religious leaders."5  Actually many believers, especially the Hmong, are being brutally oppressed by the communists for their faith. I have met heroic Christians who have told me they are still mainly "underground."

A new report indicates that in Laos today communist officials have declared Christianity the "No. 1 enemy of the state." Christians in droves are being forced to sign the declaration--"I unequivocally resign from this foreign religion." Christians face various penalties, ranging from fines, to prison, to forced removal from their villages. In some villages they are forced to take part in pagan rituals such as animal sacrifice, drinking blood and speaking to spirits."6

Dr. Faye Wilson’s accompanying Study Guide contains human interest pieces and activities designed to involve participants in the five classes.

She says, "Mission study calls us to clarity, to repentance, most importantly, to caring."7 Absent is any emphasis on Jesus’ command to "go" (to take the good news of the Gospel). 

I was glad to see in the study the word "repentance," but the term implies only that we are to repent of our complicity in the agonies of war suffered by the peoples along the Mekong River. Repentance, to John Wesley, was the individual’s "prerequisite" for salvation.

The "During the Night of the Cross" litany in Session 2 makes no reference to the atonement of Jesus on the cross. The printed prayers close without using Jesus’ name.

The student also finds the use of "b.c.e" (before common era) and "c.e." (common era). This politically correct interpretation of history effectively removes "Christ" from the pivotal place heretofore ascribed to Him. 

BUDDHISM

Buddhism is a dominant religion in these countries. "In the Mekong River Delta alone there are more than 400...pagodas."8 We would part company with the author on his view of Buddhism.

Buddhism is one of the most impregnable strongholds, successfully resisting any attempt to be replaced by Christianity.  Today some one billion people and 2,000 unreached people groups are identified with Buddhism.9

In this book Buddhism is not regarded as a stumbling block. The author would have us see it as an alternate religion and Buddhists as "companion pilgrims."10 

In Session 3 Dr. Wilson asks participants to find Christian parallels to the "four noble truths of Buddhism."11 

Since I have ministered in Buddhist countries for twenty-seven years I’ve seen the darkness and hopelessness there. Christianity and Buddhism, just like light and darkness, are incompatible! The Buddhist is told he must depend on himself alone for "salvation" which he must earn in order to reach Nirvana (the place of non-existence). There is neither forgiveness nor any light in his life. 

Buddhist monks and nuns are responding to the Gospel. Through reading a borrowed Bible and talking to a local pastor one Buddhist monk "accepted Jesus as his personal Savior. Quietly, he packed his things, left the temple and went back to the pastor...still dressed in his saffron robe.  ...He traveled around preaching the Gospel and started a church. He led many to Christ and eventually married a Christian (believer)."12 

I have also seen the liberating power of the Gospel bring Buddhists to Christ. In the Methodist Church we established in Taiwan (1961) our people came to Christ, at great personal cost, repudiating the whole Buddhist culture. They gave me idols that they had worshipped asking me to dispose of them. There is no middle ground between Jesus and Buddha.

Hudson Taylor, great missionary statesman and role model for many (including martyred missionary Jim Elliott) writes in his journal of an early trip to inland China where he stopped at a huge Buddhist compound:

         "...nothing could be more evident than that idolatry was here a living system, flourishing
          unmolested by soldiers of the Cross.  ...The hideous figures of idols, seen through smoke and
          flame, making it seem like...a place where Satan’s seat is."13

When a priest stopped Taylor, telling him to bow to Buddha, he could not restrain himself. He stood on a stool and began to preach Jesus. He was told to leave, but he said he was "guided here by PROVIDENCE to reach these multitudes who had never heard the precious truths of the Gospel." In a Buddhist town nearby, he said, "I preached Jesus to a good number of people. Never was I so happy in speaking of the love of God and the atonement of Jesus Christ."14  He then heard a Chinese, of his own accord, telling his countrymen in their own dialect that although they are sinners God loves them, and Jesus died and paid the penalty for their sin. 

While the study book places great emphasis upon the need for human reconciliation ("We have not yet fully reconciled with these former enemies."15)  Nothing is said regarding the need for God/man reconciliation. Everyone, we are to  onclude--whatever her or his faith--would be getting along if we would just give understanding, help and caring during the difficult times described in this study.
Such a premise is false. To hold to "humanitarianism" as our primary motivator is to take away the imperative of missions. To pursue any cause, however good, without the sure foundation of Jesus Christ will lead only to defeat and heartache. God’s people have been given the Gospel of salvation that addresses the needs of the whole person--and with it the clear call to take it to the whole world.

The concluding chapter of the book begins with six quotations of Jesus. 

We are told "Love of God and love of neighbor are the two central characteristics of a disciple."16 The author says, "Few of our discipleship training classes emphasize the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount, focusing rather on prayer, worship, the importance of Bible study, etc.: all necessary, but no substitute for the teachings of Jesus."17 He infers that the central thrust of the "teachings of Jesus" is God’s justice for the poor.

He buttresses his argument by saying, "To be made a new creation in Christ is to heal the sick, seek justice for all people, and oppose oppression."18  Franklin Graham would disagree. He says, "the greatest compassion we can show is to tell others about Jesus."19

The author tells us to love our enemies, turn the other cheek, go the second mile, do not store up wealth, judge not, etc.  He is oblivious to the truth that all these good things could be observed by moralists. But salvation comes by faith in Jesus alone.

My wife and I remember Bishop Arthur J. Moore’s words to us as we were commissioned as GBGM missionaries (January 22, 1960): "The supreme aim of missions is to make the Lord Jesus Christ known to all peoples in all lands as their divine Savior, to persuade them to become His disciples, and to gather these disciples into Christian churches; to enlist them in the building of the Kingdom of God; to cooperate with these churches; to promote world Christian fellowship; and to bring to bear on all human life the spirit and principles of Christ."

We are to proclaim to the world that Jesus is the only Savior. He said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me." If this isn’t our cause we’re just another social organization, or worse yet "false prophets."

The author suggests some ways in which we Methodists can support mission work in the Mekong:  by initiating a local learning program; by writing protest letters to government officials if we hear of persecution; by supporting aid agencies or sending delegations to tell these people that we care. 20  The role of prayer is not viewed in this study as the dynamic essential we know it to be. Without it our efforts are futile.

Patrick Johnstone says:

"All parts of the world must be reached and disciples made from among every people before Jesus returns. ...This can only happen through prayer. Prayer to break down spiritual strongholds, remove barriers, open closed doors, and soften hard hearts; prayer to send those who will preach and support them until those goals are achieved for every part of the world and for every people."21

This study on missions does not include the concept that the peoples of the Mekong are in desperate need of the Good News of the Gospel.

Dr. Billy Graham addressed the 11,000 Christian leaders from all over the world at Amsterdam 2000 Saying, "Light a fire. Let the light of Jesus Christ, the Light of the world, shine throughout the whole earth, until He comes again." 

In a recent message to our United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) distinguished missions expert Rev. Samuel Moffett said, "There was a time when Christians did not question the need for missionaries. Millions and millions were slipping into a Christless eternity. Spreading the gospel, as the church saw it, was "a race against time and the devil for the eternal salvation of the human soul. ...The old theology of the lostness of unbelief and of salvation only in Jesus Christ still sends out more missionaries around the globe, and builds more new churches than any other theology of missions."22  The meeting closed with "GBGM’s directors and staff responding to Moffett’s speech with a standing ovation."23

May it be that all United Methodists will join in this ovation. It was John Wesley who sent out his young preachers with the urgent message, "Offer them Christ."  THAT’S OUR SUPREME TASK IN MISSIONS.

Endnotes:

1. R. Lawrence Turnipseed, New Life on the Mekong: Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, 2001, Introduction VII
2. Ibid., p. 77 
3. From a personal letter dated July 10, 2001
4. Turnipseed, p. 95
5. Ibid., p. 20f
6. Religion Today Feature Story, July 18, 2001 
7. Turnipseed, p. 113 
8. The Peoples of Vietnam compiled by Asian Minorities Outreach Chiang Mai, Thailand 1998, p. 46
9. The Buddhist World Waits, an OMF international tract
10. Turnipseed, p. 101
11. " 1) existence is suffering, 2) suffering has a cause, namely, craving and attachment, 3) there is a cessation of suffering, which is Nirvana, and 4) there is a path of right views, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.", Dr. Faye Wilson, New Life on the Mekong: Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, p. 129
12. Report from East Asia, Christian Communications Ltd printed in OMF International Global Chinese Ministries, November 1998
13. Hudson Taylor in Early Years, Volume 1 -- 1776-1860, Howard and Geraldine Taylor, an OMF book, page 288f
14. Ibid.
15. Turnipseed, Introduction V
16. Ibid., p. 90
17. Ibid., p. 90
18. Ibid., p. 91
19. Proclaiming Peace and Hope for the New Millennium, an Amsterdam 2000 tract
20. Turnipseed, p. 93
21. The Gateway Peoples, a tract written by Patrick Johnstone author of Operation World, WEC International
22. Good News Magazine July/August 2001, p. 37f
23. Ibid., p. 38

Dr. William A. Ury is a graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College and Drew Theological Seminary. He studied Mandarin at Yale University and the University of Michigan. He and his wife, Beth, served for 17 years as missionaries with the Board of Global Ministries. A retired ministerial member of the East Ohio Annual Conference, he has served with other mission agencies.TheUrys have five children and fifteen grandchildren.