Vietnam is four hundred miles longer than Cuba. It is about as thin or thick as Cuba, but instead of 13 mil­lion people it has 87 million! There are 87 million Vietnamese, and not even 2 million in the country know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. Two years ago, we met with the Vietnam Evangelical Fellowship lead­ers. We presented a plan whereby we could plant 1,200 churches throughout the country. The leaders were thrilled and a little shell shocked. They said they had never attempted any­thing that big. Yet they embraced it enthusiastically as the Lord's will, and an answer to their prayers!

Now, we're seeing 160 church-plants taking root and bearing fruit. Our coordinator in Vietnam, reports 300 churches started. Most churches average 40 members or so, there are some that already have more than 150 people! There's been persecution; some churches were oppressed until they were closed down. So we're taking our cues from the Lord and moving to other fertile locations, so the work will meet its goals in this first phase.

The need for efficient effectiveness in ministry is so great in Viet Nam that we are trying a new strategy-recruiting workers into a three-month "challenge program" to see whether they're capable of evangelizing, discipling, and gathering converts.

We first ask them if they can do evangelism, if they have led people to the Lord.  The vast majority answer yes.  Then we ask, "Where are those people today?  Did you disciple them?"  This question is key.  We want to know about follow-up.  When we get a yes to this question as well, we ask about experience in leading cell groups and about the growth of the cell groups under their leadership.

Once we've established evangelism, discipleship, and shepherding skills, we invite the would-be worker into our challenge program.  Can you show us growth in the next three months?  Can you demonstrate church-planting skills?  Those who accept the challenge are signed up not for pay, but for observation only!

Yet even under such stringent requirements, more than 100 have already eagerly signed on!

This is what we're doing in Viet Nam.  As I've shared with a few friends of the ministry about the challenge program for the Viet Nam workers, I'm pleased to report that we're getting good reviews for stewardship.  This plan seems to be a good use of resources.  It also seems like a healthy, biblical approach to, and application of, the workers' faith.

This unique new challenge program is going to produce an enormous immediate wave of evangelism-and, we believe, a good crop of long-term workers!  These are people who, even in the face of persecution, want to throw their lives at the work of the soul harvest-at a pay rate of just $75 per month!

Look to the Lord's words: "Ask the Lord of the harvest . . . to send out workers" (Luke 10:2).  Jesus turns from this request of the Father and directly summons the 12 disciples to go and proclaim the Gospel.  The word "summons"-proskaleo-is from the same root as ekklesia, the "called-out ones."  Christ's first calling was to the 12 . . . but from then on, the calling is to you and me!

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