Stories from the Field: Vietnam — Covert Evangelism

It was sometime in the early 2000s when I traveled to Vietnam with a mission team. On this particular day, my translator and I went onto a local university campus with a very simple plan: walk around, sit down, meet students, and see what doors God might open. We weren’t holding a service or gathering a crowd. In fact, because of the environment we were serving in, we needed to be careful. We knew there could be people watching, so our conversations needed to look like exactly what they were—people sitting together and talking. After a few conversations, I found a place where a number of students were gathered and sat down with my translator nearby. Before long, a young man came over and sat beside me. He spoke very good English and was curious about this American visiting his country. “Where are you from?” “How long have you been here?” “What do you think about Vietnam?” We talked for a while, and eventually I turned the conversation toward something far more important. “Have you ever heard of Jesus?” His answer stopped me. No. Here was a young university student who could communicate with me in English, ask me about America and carry on a wonderful conversation, yet he told me he had never heard about Jesus. So I told him. Sitting beside him on that university campus, I quietly shared the Gospel—who Jesus is, why He came, His death on the cross for our sins, His resurrection, and the salvation He offers to those who put their faith in Him. Then I asked whether he wanted to receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He looked directly at me and nodded. Because of where we were and the possibility that people were watching, I told him, “Keep your eyes open. You’re not praying to me. You’re praying from your heart to God.” Then we prayed. I would quietly give him a portion of the prayer. He would look away, pray, then turn back toward me and nod to show that he understood what he had just prayed. We continued that way, one portion at a time, until we had gone through the entire prayer. When we finished, I looked at him and asked, “Did you believe that?” “Yes.” I told him, “Now you are a child of God.” There was no applause. No music. No crowd gathered around us. To anyone watching from a distance, it probably looked like two men having an ordinary conversation on a university campus. But heaven knew differently. Before we left, we discreetly placed a Bible into his hands so he could begin reading God’s Word for himself. I’ve sometimes called moments like this “covert evangelism.” The Gospel didn’t need a microphone that day. It didn’t need a stage or even a closed set of eyes. It simply needed someone willing to share Jesus and someone willing to hear. I don’t know where that young man is today. I don’t know where his journey with Christ has taken him in all the years since we sat together on that bench. But God knows. And I am still amazed that He allowed me to be there for the moment when a young man who told me he had never heard of Jesus heard the Gospel—and said yes to Christ. “For ‘whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.’” — Romans 10:13 NKJV There are still people in this world who have never heard the name of Jesus explained to them. Who is one person God has placed in your life that you could intentionally pray for—and perhaps share the Gospel with—this week? Praise His holy name!