Reaching Out in Asia

When we were based in Bangkok we were reaching out to other nations in S.E. Asia as well. We worked together with Paul Kauffman, a very dear friend, in Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. I often flew into Saigon during the Vietnam war. Flying over the land I could see the extent of the bombing with craters covering the countryside. I worked in Saigon with Timothy Chow and the Vietnamese chaplains ministering to the thousands of wounded Vietnamese soldiers who were helicoptered into the hospital in Saigon. Many with legs off, arms off, and blinded, came to the Lord. A very special memory of one of the meetings is of a small child leading her blinded father to the altar to receive the Lord. We gave "little Bibles" to the troops out in the fields of battle. These were booklets with many specific scriptures applicable to the situation of life they were in.

Garth Hunt, with the Christian Missionary Alliance, was a key man and a good friend, who had a church multiplication program with great results.

This was a time of war and urgency to get the Gospel out. I used to arrive from Bangkok usually on Sunday mornings. That was coupe time in Vietnam and twice a new government took over as I arrived. You could not tell who was driving your taxi. It could be a Viet-Cong. You didn't know. Claymore mines were going off regularly in hotels.

It was a joy to meet Billy Graham during that time. He had come to minister to the US troops. I had been asked by the missionaries in Thailand to invite him to come there for a special evangelistic campaign. He spoke to 5000 of the troops at the airforce base. It had been pouring with rain and they were standing in mud. The amplification system had failed. No-one could hear anything. But when Billy Graham stood up and spoke, the rain still pouring down, he could be heard perfectly. Such was the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon him.