HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, July 21 — A simple thanksgiving service was held in the compound of the Liturgy of the Hours Group (the Catholic group of priests and nuns who translate and distribute the Scriptures to the Catholic Church in Vietnam) to celebrate the production of 1.0 million New Testaments.
Invited to the service were the Rev. Fergus Macdonald, UBS General Secretary, and Mrs. Dolina Macdonald, Mr. David Thorne, UBS Asia Pacific Regional Secretary, Mr. Tan Nguyen, former UBS East Asia Regional Secretary, and Mrs. Phu Nguyen, and Mr. Wee-Seng Kua, UBS Asia Opportunity Coordinator.
Father Nguyen ngoc Tinh, Coordinator of the Liturgy of Hours Group, made the opening remarks. He welcomed all the guests and thanked the UBS for its continuing supply of Scriptures to Vietnam. He highlighted the purposes of the thanksgiving service: to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Liturgy of the Hours Group and the 10th anniversary of the UBS's re-involvement in Vietnam, and to thank God for the production of 1.0 million New Testaments and Bibles in Vietnam. "The production and distribution of 1.0 million NTs is a miracle and only God can work such a miracle. We must therefore thank God for this miracle."
Rev. Fergus Macdonald delivered a message based on Psalms 119:72, which declares that God’s Word is more precious than gold and money. He emphasized that it was a privilege for UBS to share this precious Word with the Christians in Vietnam. He congratulated the Vietnamese Church on the accomplishment of the Scripture production program and assured them of the prayers and support of the UBS fellowship.
Based on the Scripture passage of Luke 8: 4-15, Father Tran Phuc Nhan, one of the founding members of the Liturgy of Hours Group, reminded us of the parable of the sower. He stressed that God’s Word is a seed that has to be sown in such a way that it may develop and bear fruit. All of us have the responsibility to provide the world with the Word of God. He urged us to pray for the strength so that we may encourage one another in the mission of sharing His Word to our people and taking part in “making Christ more known and loved in Asia, in this very early third millennium.”
Mr. David Thorne thanked God for the miracle of Scripture production in Vietnam. He recounted two God-arranged events, which allowed him to make contact with the Vietnamese church leaders during his first visit in 1990. These two events eventually led to the import and production of Scriptures in Vietnam in subsequent years.
Mr. Tan Nguyen shared about his memories of events that led to the supply of the Holy Scriptures to Vietnam. He had the privilege of being involved in the process of making the Scriptures available again in Vietnam. It was his hope that more Scriptures would be printed to meet the huge demand in the country.
Mr. Nguyen also paid tribute to Rev Le Cao Quy, Coordinator of the Vietnamese Bible Production Program, for his significant contribution to the production and distribution of Scriptures to both the Catholic and Protestant churches in Vietnam.
UBS resupplied the Scriptures to Vietnam in 1991, at which time the churches were in severe shortage of Bibles. The first supply of 10,000 Bibles to the Protestant churches came by ship from Korea to Hanoi and Danang. These Bibles came at the right time, like rain in drought. Several other supplies also arrived in Khanh Hoa, Saigon, Can Tho and the Mekong Delta, making a total of 33,000 Bibles. But compared to the demand, this number is just like a drop of water in the bucket.
Vietnam has 7 million Christians, about 6 million Catholics and 1 million Protestants, scattered from the North to South. There is a hunger and thirst among these Christians. In order to provide the Scriptures to the churches more quickly and efficiently, UBS supported the local Bible production program with official permit from the government. UBS assisted the church leaders in locating printers and negotiating for cheaper prices. UBS also assisted the printers who had no experience in printing on Bible paper. The work began in 1993. In eight years, 1.0 million New Testaments and 260,000 copies of Bibles have been printed for the churches in Vietnam. This is indeed a miracle for which we thank God.
Written by Mr. Tan Nguyen
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