http://www.pray4vn.com/ en-gb Pray4vn - Webmaster - info@pray4vn.com info@pray4vn.com Mon, 06 Sep 2010 00:28:36 +0200 Mon, 06 Sep 2010 00:28:36 +0200 http://backend.userland.com/rss e107 (http://e107.org) 60 http://www.pray4vn.com/e107_images/button.png http://www.pray4vn.com/ 88 31 Search Pray for Vietnam query http://www.pray4vn.com/search.php http://www.pray4vn.com/news.php?item.53.5 Over 50 children live in the Bo De pagoda in Hanoi. All are orphans, many abandoned as babies by teenage, drug-addicted or divorced mothers. Kieu Thu Huong was one such baby and, at 18, is 'mother' to the other children in the pagoda where she has lived her entire life. Some parents in extreme poverty ask the pagoda to care for their children and maintain regular contact. However, most children never see their parents again. In nearly 20 years, only one mother has returned for her child. Life in the pagoda is frugal. Money raised from Buddhist followers barely covers school fees and food. Even donations of second-hand clothes are insufficient for all the children.Give thanks that people of compassion take in orphans. Ask that those in the pagoda, both monks and children, would still have the chance to hear about Jesus. Pray for those whose dire circumstances prompt them to abandon their children.'Let the little children come to me.' Ask the Lord to raise up his people to meet these children's needs. Pray4vn - Webmaster<info@nospam.com> Tue, 15 Apr 2008 07:56:51 +0200 http://www.pray4vn.com/news.php?item.53.5 http://www.pray4vn.com/news.php?item.52.11 Cat tien duyen. Haven't you heard? Everyone's talking about it - the latest solution for independent career women too busy to find a husband. -Or for their male counterparts, who just can't find a nice girl to settle down with. Anxious mammas are more than happy to dole out the fee of 500,000-3 million VND ($30-200) to experienced fortune-tellers, though results are not guaranteed. During the ceremony, the prowling spirit of a deep and passionate lover in a previous life is offered paper money, paper houses, paper concubines, etc, and then is entreated to relinquish his or her hold on the bachelor/ette. 'The most important thing is to believe in what you're begging for, otherwise your wish won't come true,' says the fortune-teller. 'Your faith represents the desire and resolution inside your heart. God helps when you believe in him.' Pray4vn - Webmaster<info@nospam.com> Wed, 14 Nov 2007 00:20:03 +0100 http://www.pray4vn.com/news.php?item.52.11 http://www.pray4vn.com/news.php?item.50.14 Dak Nong (VNA) – The number of Protestants in the central highlands province of Dak Nong is on the rise, reaching close to 40,000 to date."Protestantism is growing fast, especially in ethnic minority groups," said Pastor Y Djen, Head of the Dak Nong Protestant Representative Board.He stressed, "The provincial authorities have always created every favourable condition for Protestant followers to practise their faith." Three years ago, there were only 1,000 Protestant followers and one pastor, who belonged to a Protestant chapter in Dak Nong province.To date, there are 15 Protestant chapters, and 95 followers’ groups operating throughout the province. They are instructed by 15 pastors and hundreds of missionaries.Dak Nong province has done more than facilitating Protestant followers’ execution of the rights to religious freedom.Socio-economic development programmes worth billions of VND to improve Protestant followers’ lives have been implemented, giving funding for the building and repair of 4,000 houses, and providing land and loans to thousands of Protestants to help them develop household-based economy.Thanks to these programmes, the poverty rate in Protestant followers was reduced significantly to below 30 percent from 70 percent.- Pray4vn - Webmaster<info@nospam.com> Mon, 29 Oct 2007 01:00:00 +0100 http://www.pray4vn.com/news.php?item.50.14 http://www.pray4vn.com/news.php?item.49.5 A dire shortage of pastors has lead to incredible workloads. Scores of rural churches still have no pastor, a city church may have one pastor – for over 2000 members. One such pastor preaches on average five times a week, on top of a full time administrative job and poor health. Is it any surprise, then, that the tendency is to write a topical sermon, whipping it up in a third of the time it takes to prepare one in a more expositional style? Despite their personal preferences and the needs of their congregations for solid expository Bible teaching, many pastors just don’t have the time! This, in turn, may hinder the church’s outreach to highly educated, deep thinkers, who find such sermons simplistic and repetitive.Commit to the Lord those currently in Bible college, as well as those who have recently graduated, or returned from overseas theological education. May God also raise up more pastors, as well as lay people able to share the load in churches. Ask that all who teach would be both equipped and passionate to delve deeply into the riches of God’s Word, and to effectively communicate these riches to their congregations. Pray4vn - Webmaster<info@nospam.com> Wed, 18 Jul 2007 08:02:12 +0200 http://www.pray4vn.com/news.php?item.49.5 http://www.pray4vn.com/news.php?item.48.5 It all started about ten years ago, when she found a small book about creation in a friend’s home. This young Vietnamese girl lived in a province just south of Ho Chi Minh City. She grew up visiting the pagoda regularly with her family, who were strongly influenced by her uncle, a famous monk in that area. He was much loved and respected, and when he passed away, continued to be revered in family worship. So, surely, wasn’t it his influence in the spirit world that lead to his niece being accepted into a prestigious university in Ho Chi Minh City?While studying in the city, a desire to improve her spoken English skills brought this girl into contact with foreigners, one of whom knew of this “Creator” mentioned in the booklet she’d read many years ago. This new friend explained the difference between Buddha and the Creator of the world, and also told her about the Creator’s Son. After careful consideration, the girl decided that she believed in this Creator and His Son.Instinctively, she knew that it would not be right to keep visiting the pagoda with her family. Her parents were fairly casual about it anyway, so it would be easy to make excuses. But to forget her uncle and to cease praying to him …? Would total commitment to the Creator God really cost her this? She enjoyed her first visit to church, in particular, the story from the man at the front. But she was confused – a Vietnamese lady at the church said that she prayed and prayed to this Creator God, but that He didn’t seem to hear her. So was this new religion really any different from going to the pagoda? And in general discussions about religion, this Creator drew scathing criticism from her very best friend. Could she confess her own desire to follow this “despised” Creator God? And how, oh how, could she ever tell her parents?Prayer points:"I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.” In this girl’s life, did the “planter” and “waterer” ever meet? Reflect on God’s power and grace! How would it feel to faithfully “plant” without seeing fruit for your efforts?God gives us families to love and nurture us. For this girl, in what way might “forgetting” her uncle feel like betraying her family? What consequences might she fear… for her future? …for her family? What would a godly relationship to her elders look like?At this time, the Holy Spirit has done a wonderful work in this girl’s life, giving her great joy in studying the Word and in prayer. However, she has still not told her parents. Pray for her and her parents at this time, that God will touch the hearts of them all. Pray4vn - Webmaster<info@nospam.com> Wed, 18 Jul 2007 07:59:30 +0200 http://www.pray4vn.com/news.php?item.48.5 http://www.pray4vn.com/news.php?item.46.5 Vietnam officially authorised two Protestant churches to operate freely in a symbolic gesture towards greater religious freedom, officials said Monday.The Vietnam Seventh-Day Adventist Church and the Vietnam Grace Baptist Church received Saturday in Ho Chi Minh City "certificates of religious practice", said an official at the government's committee for religious affairs."After one year, if their operations are stable and meet all criterias of the ordinance on religious activities, they will be given the full legal status," she said."The two were established in Vietnam before 1975 and they operated normally after, although they did not have legal status."The US State Department in November took Vietnam off the list of countries oppressing religions, saying all religious prisoners had been released, laws restricting religious activities lifted and numerous churches reopened.Vietnam was added in 2004 to the US blacklist for its repression of religious groups, mainly Protestants.The state-controlled Vietnam News Agency said the two churches would be allowed to perform religious ceremonies, print prayer books, build or upgrade worship places and organize religious events.Government's figures say there are about 60 "Protestant sects" in Vietnam."Two of them were fully acknowledged in 1958 and 2001. One was given a similar certificate in September 2006 in (central) Danang," the official said.Established in 1929, the Vietnam Seventh-Day Adventist Church currently has almost 13,000 followers, VNA said. The Vietnam Grace Baptist Church started in 1962 and claims 2,592 followers, mostly in the south.The situation for Protestants is however still difficult in Vietnam's central highlands, where authorities broke up large-scale demonstrations in 2001 and 2004 against religious persecution and confiscation of ancestral lands.The violence triggered mass exodus to Cambodia and tension is still present in the troubled region.VNA said that during Christmas celebrations, Communist Party leaders "expressed hopes" that Protestants in central highlands' Dak Nong province would "prevent plots and schemes aimed at shattering unity."Source: Agence France PresseDate: Dec 25 2006 Pray4vn - Webmaster<info@nospam.com> Wed, 24 Jan 2007 19:55:16 +0100 http://www.pray4vn.com/news.php?item.46.5 http://www.pray4vn.com/news.php?item.47.5 Bird flu has killed poultry in southern Vinh Long province, raising the total number of localities in Vietnam stricken by the disease to five, according to a local veterinary agency on Friday.Specimens from dead chickens in the province's Binh Minh district have been tested positive to bird flu virus strain H5N1, the Department of Animal Health under the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said, noting that 20 chickens raised by a family died on Jan. 7.Ten chickens in the affected flock were culled to prevent the spread of bird flu.Bird flu has, since early December 2006, stricken 43 communes in 18 districts in the five southern provinces of Ca Mau, Bac Lieu, Hau Giang, Kien Giang and Vinh Long, either killing or leading to the forced culling of more than 42,000 poultry.Specimens from many healthy unvaccinated ducks in the southern Mekong Delta have been tested positive to H5N1, the department said.Recent local media reported a limited number of ducks and chickens have died in the last few days in several localities, including the two central provinces of Thua Thien Hue and Quang Nam, and southern Long An province. Specimens from the dead fowls are being tested for bird flu viruses.Bird flu outbreaks in Vietnam, starting in December 2003, have killed and led to the forced culling of dozens of millions of fowls in the country.Source: Xinhua General News ServiceDate: January 12, 2007 Pray4vn - Webmaster<info@nospam.com> Wed, 24 Jan 2007 19:53:14 +0100 http://www.pray4vn.com/news.php?item.47.5 http://www.pray4vn.com/news.php?item.45.5 Residents of typhoon-ravaged central Vietnam are taking hope in the amazing story of a baby boy who survived when he was ripped out of his house and sent flying along with the home's roof.Le Ngoc Dong, 13 months old, was blown over a three-story school before landing in a pond 150 meters away, his family says. His fall was cushioned by a bed of floating plants that also kept him from sinking until his father plucked him out."It's a miracle," his father, Le Van Vinh, a 35-year-old welder in the city of Danang, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa by telephone. "My son is very lucky. My family is very lucky."The infant has gained the nickname "Parachute Boy" after his wild ride."Everyone here knows his story," said a doctor in Danang's Thanh Khe Hospital, who said the boy sustained only a slight head injury. "He's very lucky he fell into the plants."The baby was sleeping in a cradle hung from a roof beam in his small home Sunday morning as his family and some friends sheltered from typhoon Xangsane, which killed at least 42 people in Vietnam and has left tens of thousands homeless.When the 117-kilometre-per-hour winds tore the roof off the house, the cradle and little Dong went flying with it. His father and two friends immediately ran out and saw the roof and the cradle fly overa nearby school as they gave chase.A neighbour, Vo Van Hoa, told local Thanh Nien newspaper he also saw the strange sight of the flying roof and cradle. "When the roof was in the air, it broke into two parts," Hoa told the paper. "One part fell down on the school and the other part flew over the school and into the pond behind it."When Vinh and his friends caught up, they found baby Dong's cradle in a bamboo stand and the baby himself sinking slowly in the pond, slowed down by the aquatic plants known as "duckweed."The boy retrieved, everyone returned to ride out the rest of the storm in the now-roofless house, which eventually collapsed, though no one else was injured.Now homeless, Dong's father said the whole family still feels like celebrating."My house has collapsed and we're staying with relatives while I rebuild," Vinh said. "But I will hold a party to celebrate my son's miracle survival." Source: Deutsche Presse-AgenturOct 04 2006 0525 GMT Pray4vn - Webmaster<info@nospam.com> Thu, 02 Nov 2006 14:24:27 +0100 http://www.pray4vn.com/news.php?item.45.5 http://www.pray4vn.com/news.php?item.44.14 Five people have been reported dead and 37 weremissing after a tropical storm lashed the central Vietnamese coast,officials said Tuesday.Flooding caused by heavy rains from the storms killed most of thefive victims, including two in central Quang Binh province and oneeach in Ha Tinh and Quang Nam provinces, officials said.Most of the people reported missing were fishermen from Nghe Anprovince who did not make it to shore ahead of the storm, said Ha HuyThong, head of the provincial flood and storm department."Five fishing boats with about 35 fishermen still remain missing,"Thong said. "We are searching for them."One fishermen drowned off Nghe An when his boat capsized Monday onits way to shore, he said, but rescuers were able to pull five of hisshipmates out of the water alive.Rescuers and military units throughout central Vietnam remained onalert Tuesday even though the rain had passed through the coastalareas."In the mountainous areas, it is still raining heavily," Thongsaid. "We have to watch out for landslides and flash floods in thoseareas."The storm, which hit at about 3 p.m. Monday, had wind speeds of upto 74 kilometres per hour and had moved quickly from a tropicaldepression to a storm close to Vietnamese waters, local weatherforecasters said.Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung sent an "urgent message" Monday toseven central provinces to call boats ashore and prepare disasterunits for the first tropical storm to directly hit Vietnam's coastthis year. Four other storms have brushed past.Vietnam's storm-response system was caught off guard in May whenTyphoon Chanchu swept away more than 200 Vietnamese fishermen workingoffshore who had not been warned.The deaths prompted calls for a more vigorous warning system.Source: Deutsche Presse-AgenturSep 26 2006 0336 GMT Pray4vn - Webmaster<info@nospam.com> Mon, 02 Oct 2006 14:31:34 +0200 http://www.pray4vn.com/news.php?item.44.14