UNION UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

JUNE 2013

LAO EVANGELICAL CHURCH EXPRESSES DESIRE TO ESTABLISH

LAOTIAN LANGUAGE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY

On May 24, 2013 Mr. Craiq Chambron, on is a landlocked country in Southeast behalf of the Lao Evangelical Church (LEC), Asia. Its thickly forested landscape consists met with Dr. Son Nguyen, COO and Dr. Tu mostly of rugged mountains. The Mekong Truong, CAO of UUC to discuss the possibil- River forms a large part of the western ity of establishing the Laotian Language boundary with Thailand, whereas the School of Theology. mountains form most of the eastern bor- der with and the northwestern The Lao Evangelical Church is the largest border with Thailand. Laos' population is registered Christian church in Laos. It is approximately 7 million and the median believed that the church has around age is 19.3 years old. 120,000 members (2% of the population) among approximately 150,000 total Chris- The Lao Evangelical Church grew out of the tian population, and 200 ordained Pastors. work of Swedish Protestant (1890), Swiss (continued on page 2)

MEETING AT FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

A meeting was held at the School of Intercultural Studies to continue Fuller Seminary’s Inside this issue: Message from commitment to assist UUC in curriculum development efforts, particularly in the Doc- the President 2 tor of Ministry program.

Ministry in Context 3 Present at the meeting were Dr. Scott Sunquist, Inside Story- Katu Tribe2 Dean of School of Intercultural Studies, Dr. Kurt Fredrickson, Associate Dean for Doctor of Min- UUC Summer 4 istry Program, Dr. Timothy Park, Director of Seminar 2013 Inside Story 2 Korean Program at Fuller, Dr. Son Nguyen, Vice Thanksgivings 4 President, Dr. Tu Truong, VP & Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Makmur Halim, Dean of Indonesian Prayer Requests 4 Inside Story 2 School of Theology, and Dr. Nghi Tran, Director

UUC Day of Prayer 4 of Institutional Assessment of UUC. During the meeting Dr. Sunquist, Dr. Park and Dr. Fredrickson shared their rich experi- Inside Story 3 ences in developing curriculum and organizing onsite and online classes which are very helpful to UUC's future growth.

Inside Story 4 COMMENCEMENT SERVICE 2013

Please join UUC at the Commencement Service 2013 Inside Story 5 held at 3:00 PM on June 22, 2013 at UUC headquarters, 14200 Goldenwest Street, Westminster, CA 92683. Your presence will be a great encouragement to the gradu- Inside Story 6 ates in their ministries. PAGE 2

LEC Expresses Desire to Establish Laotian Language School of Theology (continued)

Brethren (1902) and Christian and Missionary Alliance missionaries (1928). In 1956, the missionaries who worked in three different parts of the country came together to establish the LEC.

Between 1975 and 1990, the country closed its door to the outside world and religious freedom was restricted. Since the country opened up in 1990, the membership of the LEC has been growing. The LEC recently started a Bible school training program at its headquarters in the state capital Vientiane. Until now, most of the pastors were trained in neighboring countries. Although public evangelical activities are not encouraged by the socialist government, the churches in the capital city, towns and rural areas are experiencing considerable growth, especially with increasing youth membership. For a long time the church leaders have recognized an urgent need of theological education for pas- tors, but the political situation has prevented them from providing such educa- tion. A follow-up meeting is tentatively set for October, 2013 in Laos.

Craiq Chambron has served as the preservationist for the preservation of the original Vietnamese tribal language manuscripts done by Wycliff Bible Translators in Bangkok. He also served in the Indo-China History Project, Bang- kok, Thailand. This project involved the acquisition and preservation of memorabilia and documents pertaining to Christian & Missionary Alliance missionary activity in Southeast Asia. Through this project, he became involved with LEC.

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT The prayer for them is that they “be clothed in salva- tion.” To me that means they are to be for the people Commencement Prayer for the UUC Community an experience of the presence and goodness of the Lord. They are to be filled with God’s grace and wis- “Let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, dom. They are to have “the tongues of those who are and let your faithful rejoice in your goodness.” taught, so they know how to sustain the weary with 2 Chronicles 6:41 their words” (Isaiah 50:4). All our efforts at UUC to bring support, leadership training and theological edu- Before King Solomon dedicated the newly built temple cation to our students will fall short unless the Lord in Jerusalem, he said a prayer that fills chapter 6 of 2 “clothes them in salvation” so that the people have a Chronicles, 42 verses in total. My favorite part of the faithful guide and witness to God’s grace and love in prayer comes near the end, the second half of verse 41 Jesus Christ. So as we approach another commence- quoted above. I suggest it to you as our prayer for the ment celebration on June 22, please join me to pray for UUC community, our 2013 graduates, and our students our 2013 graduates, and for church leaders everywhere and alumnae all over the world. And as a prayer for the that God will clothe them in salvation to make them global church, especially Christian sisters and brothers humble and effective spiritual leaders of the Christian in situations of severe challenge due to poverty, op- Church. pression or abuse of power by those who have some advantage over them. The prayer for the people, the “faithful” in verse 41, is that they will rejoice in God’s goodness. In many parts I take the word “priests” to mean not the particularly of the world and among many of the congregations our Catholic use of the word we are familiar with today— students and graduates lead, this means experiencing that was not its meaning in the Old Testament—but the goodness of God in the midst of difficult, challeng- rather to mean the ones called by God to draw the ing, and sometimes tragic circumstances. Having grown people to a faithful experience of God, and to pray for, up in American style poverty myself, I can witness that support and lead the people on their journey. joy in the Lord’s goodness is possible in such circum- (continued on page 3) PAGE 3

Message from the President (continued) stances. And not only possible, but often it is the expe- prayer for God’s people around the world, and espe- rience that brings dignity, hope, perseverance and a cially for those our graduates will touch with their lives sense of well-being in spite of what is happening and leadership. around us. In my current situation, living with a sup- posedly fatal brain cancer and at the same time experi- So this is our prayer: That in every circumstance the encing the power of prayer and the love of the com- Church’s leaders be clothed in salvation; and that the munity, I find again that I can rejoice in the Lord’s faithful rejoice in the Lord’s goodness. goodness with profound gratitude. The Lord is gracious and trustworthy in all circumstances. This prayer asks Rev. Dr. Dale Sewall that people know this truth. Please pray with me this President

MINISTRY IN CONTEXT

Katu Tribe (excerpt from Joshua Project)

More than 17,000 Katu people inhabit 40 villages in Laos along the Upper Xekong River and along the watershed of the Songboung River basin near the Vietnam border. In Laos the Katu inhabit areas within Xekong, Saravan, and Champasak provinces. It is very difficult to access many Katu villages because of the lack of roads in the area. The Katu live in long rectangular houses in the forests. Each Katu home contains between two to eight families. Their villages are often shared with the Alak, Ngae, Ta Oi and Talieng. About 30,000 Katu live in Vietnam, where they are officially part of the Bru-Van Kieu minority group.

Katu women traditionally tattooed their faces, but this custom has been dying out in recent decades. The Katu tend towards monogamous families, but rich men and village leaders are allowed to have two or more wives.

The Katu are known throughout Laos for their annual buffalo- sacrifice ceremony. Buffaloes are killed as an offering to the spirits, and to call on them to protect and bless their communities. One visitor recounted the sacrificial ceremony: "During the ceremony, the men of the village don wooden masks, hoist spears and wooden shields, and dance around the buffaloes in the center of the circle formed by their houses. After a prescribed period of dancing, the men converge on the buffaloes and spear them to death. The meat is divided among the villagers and each household places a piece in a basket on a pole in front of their house as a spirit offering."

Shamans (spirit priests) are also active among the Katu. They must be paid with chickens or silver for their ser- vices. Weddings are very costly for the groom and his family. They are required to pay a dowry worth the equiva- lent of 15 buffaloes. If they are unable to pay, the groom must live with his wife's family after marriage and work the debt off.

Rev. Hong Thanh Nguyen, a UUC alumnus has been serving as a missionary and pastor for the Katu for 25 years. He studied while serving the church. He said that only the online program at UUC could help him complete the education needed for his ministry. When he was still a student, twice a week he came to to get online to study. It was still better than leaving the ministry for several years to complete the program. The church has 600 members and growing. Rev. Hong recently participated in the Theological Forum held in Ho Chi Minh City sharing his experience of ministry in the Katu context. Please pray for Rev. Hong. UUC SUMMER SEMINAR 2013 Summer Seminar 2013 A Journey to the development in theology and ministry, and Urban World for Ministry and Mission led have the opportunity to meet faculty & by Dr. Ray Bakke will be held at UUC's other students to network in ministry and headquarters from Wednesday June 19 to fellowship. This seminar is also open to Friday June 21, 2013. This seminar is a part everyone who is interested in the subject. 14200 GOLDENWEST STREET of an onsite option for UUC students who WESTMINSTER, CA 92683 The details of the seminar can be found at: would like to gain knowledge in new www.uuc.edu

THANKSGIVINGS  We are thankful for God's providence of financial support when the time was right.

 We are thankful for the commitment of all of our volunteers and donors.  We are thankful to Fuller Theological Seminary, School of Intercultural Studies, for its commitment to assist in curriculum resources.  We are thankful for the healing for Rev. Dale Sewall. He has already lived past the two-year prediction of doctors and is now off of chemotherapy and feeling well.  We are thankful for our graduating students. This is the first year we have students graduating from the Indonesian Language School of Theology. We pray that all our graduates will become useful for God's kingdom. DAY OF PRAYER PRAYER REQUESTS UUC’s Board of Directors  Pray for the accreditation of UUC. There is a lot of work to be done as we change from primarily a program to an English language program to invites UUC students, meet the needs of the accrediting association. faculty and friends  Pray for additional funding for UUC. As UUC serves mostly underserved communi- to join them ties, the need of funding is urgent to meet the requirements of the accrediting in prayer for UUC on association as a financially viable institution. the first Monday  Pray for Rev. Hong Thanh Nguyen, Pastor of the Katu tribe in Vietnam. of the month.  Pray for the realization of a Laotian language program and the Church in Laos.  Pray for the Diploma in Ministry program for the tribal people in Vietnam and Indonesia.  Pray for Mr. Bich Truong, our faculty member in Vietnam. He has brain tuberculosis and is being treated in the hospital.  Pray for Peter Lee, for God’s healing of stomach cancer. Peter is the son of Mr. and Mrs. James & Chung Lee who have been friends and supporters of UUC for many years.  Pray for Rev. Dale Sewall, our President, for full healing of brain cancer.

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