God's Church on the Move: The Asia Update

Joy: Welcome to God’s Church on the Moon, the podcast that takes you around the world to the spiritual hotspots where God is definitely at work. With me in the studio today are Ron and Charis Pierce. Welcome, guys.

Ron: Hi.

Charis: Hi.

Joy: I’m particularly excited about this, Ron, because I know that you have not traveled for quite some time, and now you are back in the air.

Ron: Yes, COVID sort of put a pause on international travel, but we’re back in the air and visiting the folks over there. Up to this time, we’ve been operating off of Zoom, getting reports almost once a month. We never stopped working — it was just a matter of being nice to be there too, just to sort of see what’s going on, you know? Just face-to-face with the leaders, etc.

Joy: So what we’re going to do today then is go to three countries. I flew into Bangkok in Asia, and we had people come in from China, Laos, and Vietnam. So I’m going to take you to those three countries today to give you an update on the latest. Alright, here we go.

Laos

Ron: The first country is Laos, which is a communist country. One of our partners there is a young man with an army of young pastor-evangelist church planters under him. He is more than impressive, and so is the entire group — solid in every facet of ministry. When he brought in the stories, I just — I couldn’t sit still.

We met in a hotel, and he was up and down showing me pictures. He is a young guy himself — probably in his 40s. He talked about how the church is growing, both in depth and in number, with people reaching out for answers.

The first thing he talked about was the Word of God. Their plan is to give a New Testament to a new Christian every time they show commitment. Until then, they give a portion, such as the Gospel of John. But when they sense that there’s something deeper, they give them a New Testament. Then, they will trade in that New Testament for a full Bible when they are water baptized.

I asked, ​“What do you do with the New Testament?” He said, ​“We recycle it. We believe in recycling.” So, this is a very green operation. When they get past the New Testament, they move to the full Bible, expanding their understanding.

He gave me a statement that I’ve used over the years, but he put it in a different way: ​“When there’s a move of God or a revival, you have to feed it with the Word of God.” That’s how they grow, and that’s what’s happening in Laos right now.

Joy: So how do you know they’re growing?

Ron: Because they get persecuted. He said, ​“We know very well that they are aggressive in their walk with God. They show their family that they’ve changed.”

He told a story about a man who was resistant to accepting the Lord, but his wife had accepted Christ. She said to him, ​“You’re an ugly person inside. You need to change. You have to start reading the Bible. It will change you.” So he did. He accepted the Lord, started reading the Bible, and his character changed. He said, ​“This is how you make good people — by accepting Christ and feeding on the Word of God.”

Regarding persecution, the government has changed its tactics. Instead of arresting pastors, they now apply pressure at the village level. If a village is not a ​“good communist village,” they won’t receive benefits like water wells, roads, or electricity. Every village chief must be a Communist Party member and enforce communist beliefs. While it’s technically not illegal to be a Christian, they cannot share their faith or meet together. Christians refuse to worship the village demon, which marks the village as disunified, leading to punishment.

I asked, ​“Is this stifling church growth?” He said, ​“No, it’s providing an opportunity.” Once people accept Christ, their lives change so radically that unbelievers notice. During COVID, Christians showed peace while others were fearful. They shared their food and resources, displaying love and hospitality. Their joy and contentment stood out so much that people could recognize a Christian just by the way they walked down the road.

I asked, ​“Has the persecution stopped anything from happening?” He said, ​“No, Christians don’t worry about persecution. It exists, but it’s not a topic of discussion. What matters is that people don’t know Jesus.” That is a revival.

Vietnam

Ron: My dear friend flew in from Saigon and was overwhelmed by the growth of the church. The number of pastors they need is staggering. Some question the numbers, but we have proof. We just can’t provide it publicly because these are closed countries.

He told me they are currently training 1,000 pastors through Zoom rooms. In the villages, they set up a TV with a computer, satellite dish, and generator.

They also provide SIM cards with unlimited data for $26 a year — only $0.50 a week. They buy wireless earphones for $8. This means for $34 a year, a young pastor can climb a hill, set up his phone in a tree to catch a signal, and receive Bible school education in privacy.

This is a Bible school education for $34 a year. Where else in the world can you get this?

Ron: Amazing — what I find amazing is how God gives creativity to all the different countries for each of their circumstances. We sit here and think, ​“I wouldn’t have imagined that!” Even though I know we couldn’t have foreseen before COVID that they would be training this way.

Joy: I know, quite a picture.

Ron: I know! Well, here’s another one. My friend was going along, and he says this — he says, ​“Yes, and VBS is back on the road again. We’re doing fine.” I said, ​“So how many kids did you do this year?” ​“Oh, 10,000 — 10,000 kids doing the vacation school throughout the country, in villages, etc. And they have youth camps, these Zoom rooms, the correspondence course where massive numbers of pastors are being raised up.”

Joy: So we finally got down to the area of, ​“Okay, is this growth stopping now that COVID is on the wane?” He says, ​“No. People saw what we were doing. They heard the Gospel during COVID; they were scared. And in the villages, churches have been planted. They’re multiplying. We’re baptizing. The government is coming in and warning us not to be so aggressive, but it’s not slowing down at all. We have to continue to produce these pastors to go into the villages, to reach out, to train. What is really valuable right now are all the Bibles and New Testaments that we’re putting into the country. We’re taking in a lot — probably record numbers. We’re saturating Vietnam with them. I can’t go into details for security reasons, but we’re bringing them in multiple tribal languages, from north Vietnam to south. And they need them in bulk because there are so many Christians who have never held a Bible in their hands. They’ve been believers for years, but they’re poor, they couldn’t get ahold of a tribal-language Bible, maybe they couldn’t even read, so now their grandchildren who go through school are reading the Bible to them. But when they hold the Bible — it’s not something they worship, but they treasure it in their heart. Even if they’re illiterate, they’ll have someone else read it to them. This means a lot.”

Ron: And then you have people over here criticizing, saying, ​“Well, these people aren’t real Christians because they can’t read or write, and they don’t study their Bible for 20 minutes every morning.” No! These people find ways. They find ways to grow in Christ. They go to services. I was talking to my brother about what church services look like there. He said, ​“We’re meeting in the countryside.” I asked, ​“What’s a big gathering?” He said, ​“300 to 500 people — that’s a good-sized church service.” I asked, ​“How long does it last?” ​“Oh, no — two hours, three hours. There’s no time limit.”

Joy: Yeah. Over here, if we don’t have people in and out of church in 65 minutes, it’s like a criminal offense.

Ron: Exactly! It reminds me of going through a fast-food drive-thru. If you don’t get served and out of there within a couple of minutes, you’re angry. And that attitude has crept into the church.

Joy: Absolutely! It’s the TikTok generation, where attention spans are just shrinking and shrinking.

Ron: Right! But overseas, they gather for extended periods of time, and there are no time limits. It’s based around prayer, God’s Word, worship, and a lot of singing — especially in Vietnam. Vietnam is a musical country.

Joy: So, the church in Vietnam is growing. Pastors are being trained. And people are impressed with how Christians show love — by giving away food, giving their time. That’s impressive to them because they’re used to people hoarding. Christians give.

China

Joy: Just one thing before we move on — what you were saying about how they don’t worship the Bible, but they appreciate it. That’s so important. I think they realize that it’s the Word of God. It’s not just another book or devotional, but God speaking to them. That’s something we forget here. This is the Word of God.

Ron: Yes! Every religion in the world has written texts. Buddhism has its scripts. Islam has the Quran. These are teachings passed down through generations. But the Bible — it’s comprehensive. It explains life, both now and for eternity. It’s woven together by the Spirit, touching our spirit. People from other religions read the Word of God and there’s only one response: ​“Wow.” It explains everything. It touches them. It answers what they’ve been searching for. And once they read it, all the other books fade away.

Joy: And then people here say, ​“Why don’t they just open the Bible app on their phone? Why do we need to send them physical Bibles?” Because they’ve been trapped in false teachings for years. They’ve finally found the Truth. They treasure the Bible because it’s what they’ve been looking for. It’s not worship; it’s reverence.

Ron: Exactly! Jesus said, ​“I am the Word.” When they read the Bible, they’re looking into the eyes of Jesus. No other religion does this.

Back to China

Joy: China is searching for the Word of God. The leaders I met with all reiterated one thing: They need 40 million Bibles. The church is growing. COVID lockdowns built frustration. People demonstrated. Unemployment is high. Surveillance is constant. They’re tired of being watched, tired of being judged. People are desperate. And Christians are coming in, smiling, happy, sharing, sitting down on park benches with people who’ve lost everything and saying, ​“Here’s Jesus. Here’s why I have peace.”

Ron: So, in China, when they evangelize, they go through everything — the technical part of the Gospel first: sin, salvation, the cross. Then they say, ​“Come to a house church meeting.” They bring them in, and the seeker sits in the corner, watching. Seeing the peace, the joy, the worship, the preaching. At the end, they say, ​“Can I be a part of this?” Because they see it works.

Joy: One thing that stands out to me is their reverence for the Bible. We’re missing that here. I might just delete my Bible app and go back to a physical copy.

Ron: No, no, no — I didn’t hear that!

Joy: But seriously, when you have a physical Bible, you know where things are on the page. You remember it. With an app, you press a button and the screen goes blank. It’s gone. There’s something to be said for opening a book and holding it in your hands.

China’s Growing Church

Joy: I asked them about church size. They said prayer meetings are 20 – 30 people. Online access is limited. The government-controlled Three-Self churches barely have Bibles anymore. How do new believers get Bibles? Older Christians give them theirs. Pastors rarely keep a Bible for long — they lead someone to Christ and pass it on. It’s a limited supply.

Ron: This year, Empower Ministries is providing 500,000 to 700,000 Bibles for China. I can’t say how we’re getting them in, but we are. And right now, house church networks tell us we are the primary supplier.

Joy: We’re working with 40 house church networks — some as large as 12 million people. They’ve told us, ​“We need Bibles.” The goal is 40 million.

Ron: Currently, we have our Bundles of Love campaign, and one of those is Scriptures for China. Anytime throughout the year, you can go to our website and donate Bibles. That’s a huge need.

Final Thoughts

Ron: 40 million Bibles — that’s the need. One day, we’ll reach that goal.

Joy: Well, thank you for that update. As always, it was thrilling!