By His Providence
Rev Nguyen Gia Hien
Pastor, Brisbane B-P Church, Australia
I really give thanks to God for what God has done in my life. Truly, by His grace and mercy alone, God has done His good and gracious work in my life for my salvation and for my full-time training and ministry.
My Salvation
By God’s grace, I was born to a Christian family. My grandparents, my parents, and my siblings are Christians. I went to church regularly and I was baptized at the age of 14. Then in 1975, when I was 15 years old, the North of Vietnam defeated the South and then the North and the South were united into one nation, the country of Vietnam. Vietnam is a communist country, so when I studied at high school, I had to study certain subjects such as socialism, communism, Marxism, Leninism, and Darwin’s theory of evolution. Deep in my heart I never believed such theories, but I was partly influenced by those theories. Sometimes, there were some doubts arising in my thoughts. I wondered if God truly existed or where He was. I thought that if nobody in the world believed in the Lord any more, would I believe in Him and be willing to follow Him by myself?
One day I thought about this matter so hard that I had a terrible headache. In my depression and tiredness, I prayed to the Lord to have mercy on me and reveal Himself to me so that I would believe in Him and worship Him because I knew Him, and not because of my parents or other Christians. There were no miracles or wonders happening to my life at that time, but God mercifully listened to my prayers and made me thirsty for His Presence and His Word so much that I fervently prayed and read the Bible in Vietnamese and in English (KJV) any time that I could afford, in the morning, in the afternoon, or in the evening. Even when I studied at the Teacher’s Training College, I always had the English Bible in my hand or in my schoolbag and made use of every free minute to read the Bible. My lecturers and classmates knew that I was a Christian because I usually shared the Gospel to them.
By God’s grace, the more I read the Bible, the more I knew about God and about myself. My faith in Him grew up and I realized that I needed His forgiveness and salvation because I had sinned against Him. God guided me step by step to a deeper sense of sin and repentance. God made me see that although I had never committed any serious crimes such as murder, robbery, or adultery, I still sinned against Him when I did not honour Him, thank Him, glorify Him and when my heart and mind embraced anything unholy, unclean, unkind, untrue, insincere, selfish, arrogant, etc. God showed me not only my sins but also my sinful nature.
Like the apostle Paul, I cried out, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 7:24-25). Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour who is able to save me, transform my life, help me, guide me and keep me in this world of darkness, full of sins, snares, sorrows, and temptations. Even now, I still need the Lord and His Word and cannot live without Him and His Word. Only in Him can I overcome my sinful nature, worldly pleasures and temptations. Only in Him can I have a godly and holy life because of His holy life in me.
God’s Calling
Growing in God’s Word and grace, I was constrained to dedicate my life to Him to live for Him and serve Him. I was very active at my local Evangelical church, serving as a deacon in 1981. Then seeing that the church did not follow the Bible closely, I left the church in 1986 and worshipped with several brethren at home. I usually spent my summer vacations travelling to other parts of the country with a Christian brother to visit other Christians and preach the Gospel to their friends and relatives. I do thank God for His protection.
As my brother in Canada sponsored my parents and my siblings including me to migrate to Canada in 1985, I decided to withdraw my documents to stay in Vietnam in 1988, thinking that many missionaries were willing to endure hardships to come and preach the Gospel but they could not, how then could I run away? My decision made my parents and siblings so sad and disappointed, but I could not do otherwise.
Then in 1992 I was sent to teach at the National University of Economics in Hanoi with two other lecturers for four months. Constrained by God’s love, I shared the Gospel with my students and my colleagues. I do thank God for His protection. When I went back to Ho Chi Minh City in 1993, one of my colleagues continued to attend our Bible study and worship and after 6 months she decided to receive the Lord Jesus as her Saviour. By God’s grace, two years later, in 1995, this lady, Trang, became my wife, and we had our daughter, Hanh, in 1997. We both taught at universities and earned a lot of money, but my heart was always burdened for the salvation of my people.
Then I saw several new English versions and read a book on textual criticism, stating that the New Testament was compiled from about 5,000 Greek manuscripts, among which no two manuscripts are the same, and all these extant manuscripts are only copies. This book did shake my faith in God’s Perfect Word. When I read the Scripture, I did no longer have such a strong conviction as I had before. Then in my heart, I desired that one day I might study Greek and God would help me discover more Greek manuscripts to make the Bible more complete. What a dangerous and wrong concept! Anyway, I did not share this with other brethren, but just kept this to myself, knowing that this might shake their faith too. Then I realised that I needed to be trained at a Bible College and prayed to the Lord that He would open a door for me.
Then in 1999, one of my uncles introduced me to Trinity Theological College (TTC). I came to Singapore and joined TTC in July 1999. However, though I was thirsty for God and His Word, I was disappointed by their liberal and modernist teachings with human philosophies. After one month I decided to go home. Thank God that by His providence, before I left Singapore, I met one Vietnamese FEBC student. He was very surprised at my decision. After hearing my explanation, he told me that the Far Eastern Bible College only taught the Bible. Then he told me that if I wanted, he would introduce me to the principal of FEBC. I agreed right away. Then I came to see Rev Dr Timothy Tow in August 1999 before I left. I was very happy and thankful to God when Rev Tow said that he was a disciple of Dr John Sung because I respected Dr John Sung so much. There was a great revival in Vietnam under his ministry in 1938. Thank God that by His providence, He brought me to FEBC.
Then I went back to my country, and returned to Singapore to study at FEBC in July 2000. I completed my studies in 2004. Four years went by so fast! I do treasure every minute of studying God’s Word and the Biblical languages at FEBC. I do thank God so much that through the sound teachings at FEBC, my faith in God’s Perfect Word has been restored. Here at FEBC I have learnt sound and fundamental doctrines including the two doctrines that many believers do not want to take their stand: the Perfect Bible and Biblical Separation. But I thank God for helping me treasure these two doctrines. I say amen to the doctrine of perfect inspiration (VPI: Verbal Plenary Inspiration) and perfect preservation (VPP: Verbal Plenary Preservation) of the Bible without apology or doubt because the Bible is my spiritual food and the foundation of my faith, my salvation and my ministry.
Missionary to Brisbane
There is one more detail why God led me to Brisbane, Australia, although my heart was for my people in Vietnam. After my first year at FEBC, one of my uncles who was a medical doctor and a pastor (with his DMin) in Denver, Colorado, USA, emailed me and invited me to minister to his church after my graduation, as he was going to retire within a few years. I asked him for one year to pray for God’s leading. During that time, my wife got a scholarship to the University of Queensland and insisted that I should accept the invitation. After one year, my heart was still for my people in Vietnam, so I refused his invitation in 2002.
Knowing my decision, my wife applied for her PR (Permanent Residence) in Australia and got it in 2003. I could not choose any other way. There is God’s higher hand. After my graduation in 2004, I went to Brisbane in June 2004. By God’s grace and strength, I started a Bible study. Thank God that True Life Bible-Presbyterian Church adopted me as her missionary preacher in September 2004. Step by step, we had our church registered as Brisbane Bible-Presbyterian Church in July 2006. We just had our inauguration service on 18 March 2007. All this is by God’s grace and all thanks and praise and glory be to the Lord alone.
I have fervently prayed so hard for the advancement of the Lord’s Church. Although I sometimes feel hopeless and helpless, I look to the Lord, trust in His sovereignty, His guidance, His help and good timing. Amen.
