An Inspiring Story of Prayer: How One Church Planter Is Pushing Back the Darkness
LA Church Planting Part 5
by Lee Nguyen
As pastor of the Vietnamese service called KALEO
at Garden Grove Friends Church in Garden Grove, Calif., Lee Nguyen is
leading a prayer ministry in one of the area’s darkest places, the Asian
Garden Mall, where thousands of people worldwide come to worship at the
Buddhist temple inside the Mall. Nguyen is hoping to plant a church in
the same mall. KALEO, he says, is committed to training leaders to know
the gospel and make disciples in every context such as the church,
cities, campuses and other countries. Below, Nguyen shares his story of
how he and his church planting team are pushing back the darkness
through prayer and are seeing God work in ways “beyond imagination!”
A Hybrid of Buddhism and Animism
The Asian Garden Mall is the largest Vietnamese-owned and operated mall in America today. It opened in 1988 and is a famous site located in the heart of the Little Saigon Business district in Garden Grove, California (in Orange County). Little Saigon is the “Mecca” for Vietnamese immigrants and refugees all over the world.
Outside of Vietnam, Orange County is the county with the world’s largest Vietnamese population. This city is a landing pad for immigrant families, especially Vietnamese and Hispanic families. They chase the American dream in a land of opportunity. But in reality, most end up in despair when their households are destroyed by divorce, debt, failure and the parent-child gap caused by generational and cultural differences.
The Asian Garden Mall is highly regarded by the city’s Vietnamese population. Young and old, local and global, make great efforts to visit this mall. For cultural and spiritual reasons, people jam into it daily. They come with their parents, children and relatives to experience Vietnam and be reminded of their cultural roots. Families flock to the Buddhist temple, located in the main area on the second floor, to pray for their country, family and business. Parents come to teach children about their beliefs and ethnic background.
The temple area in the mall is owned by a local Buddhist temple
network and operated by a Buddhist monk named Son. However, the main
religion is not Buddhism, but rather a version of it. The belief system
is a hybrid of Buddhism and Animism. People consider themselves Buddhist
due to their practices (chanting, meditation, temple worship), but they
worship ancient kings and/or family ancestors. The statue in the temple
is not Buddha, but instead a famous third-century Chinese military
general and warlord known as Guan Yu, considered a deity. The shrines to
Guan Yu typically depict him with a red face, long beard and holding a
pole sword. Thus, the people faithfully worship and pray at the temple,
believing that the spirit of these kings or family members continue to
live in another world. They pray, seeking help from these spirits and to
build good karma.
Praying to See the Kingdom of God
Since late March 2013, our church plant team has been coming to the mall twice a week. Each Thursday, we come to prayer walk and pray for people from 9:30 am to 12 noon. Typically, three to five leaders from surrounding churches will join us. We walk around the mall praying to see the kingdom of God, holding on to the promises of the kingdom, and listening to the Holy Spirit. Then we spend time with the “persons of peace” God has allowed us to meet and pray for them. Some are store owners in the mall or frequent visitors to the mall with whom we have developed relationships. On Saturdays, about three to five members from our church plant team come to engage in evangelism from 10:30 am to 2 pm. We meet at the church to pray and then go to the mall to share openly about Christ.
Praying With Son the Buddhist Monk
Recently on June 20, the 70-year-old monk who oversees the temple area was healed through prayer. Son is battling prostate cancer. People come to Son to have their fortunes read and their prayers interpreted. At one point, we asked Son to give us a fortune. After he shared some words, we asked if we could pray for him. After the prayer, his back was healed and he gratefully exclaimed, “Thank you God, Thank you Jesus!” The faces of all the people waiting in line to see him were priceless as they heard him praise God. God is amazing!
Over the last month, I have had the privilege of becoming friends with Son. He has even shared about his healing with other people in the mall. As a result, random people come to thank us and buy us coffee for helping the monk. Since then, Son has invited us to come to the temple at any time to pray, alone or with groups of Christians, or to pray for the people there. He and I talk weekly and talk much about God. On July 18, Son actually introduced me to two out-of-state visitors and asked me to pray for them.
In another instance, a mother came to the temple with her 34-year-old daughter to pray and seek good fortune for her. After they offered incense and cast lots, they went to Son for him to interpret their lot. He walked these women over to me and asked if I could pray for them instead of receiving a fortune. One of the women accepted Christ right there. After the women left, Son suggested that I come more often to pray for people and also bring little crosses. He also suggested that I teach people how to pray to Jesus for help and give them a little cross to take with them as a reminder to pray.That is crazy! Son the monk believes in the power of prayer!
Serving Little Saigon
Since July, some church youth groups or teams have started volunteering to go to Little Saigon for their short-term missions. When we host teams, we have them prayer walk and evangelize with us on Thursdays and Saturdays. In addition, we serve the people in the area and local businesses by doing what we call “love projects.” We give each volunteer group resources and encourage them to use their creativity to show love. Some groups have passed out free water or helped businesses set up, while others have collected food for the hungry and taken the poor out to eat. Before we do these projects inside the Asian Garden Mall, we always have a time of worship right in front of it singing praises to God before we serve.
Praying for More Prayer Partners
I’m blessed to be able to witness what God is doing in this place and share about His kingdom work in Little Saigon. We have been praying (and fasting and weeping) for more intercessors and more prayer partners. The opportunity to share our story with the Exponential church planting community is an answer to prayer.
God is great and works in ways beyond our imagination!
Exponential West will be highlighting the Asian-American church and city-centric church planting in several tracks and workshops. To learn more about the conference, click here.
Pastor Lee Nguyen is married to Haily Bui, who is caring, fun loving, generous, and can talk all night with him about following Jesus. Lee has a BS degree in Engineering (2001) from the University of Colorado and a Masters of Divinity from Talbot Seminary (2008). He has served in campus ministry 11 years, in pastoral ministry for nine years and four years in overseas missions. His mission field now is evangelizing to the lost and equipping leaders in Garden Grove, California.
by Lee Nguyen
As pastor of the Vietnamese service called KALEO
at Garden Grove Friends Church in Garden Grove, Calif., Lee Nguyen is
leading a prayer ministry in one of the area’s darkest places, the Asian
Garden Mall, where thousands of people worldwide come to worship at the
Buddhist temple inside the Mall. Nguyen is hoping to plant a church in
the same mall. KALEO, he says, is committed to training leaders to know
the gospel and make disciples in every context such as the church,
cities, campuses and other countries. Below, Nguyen shares his story of
how he and his church planting team are pushing back the darkness
through prayer and are seeing God work in ways “beyond imagination!”
Asian Garden Temple in Little Saigon
The Asian Garden Mall is the largest Vietnamese-owned and operated mall in America today. It opened in 1988 and is a famous site located in the heart of the Little Saigon Business district in Garden Grove, California (in Orange County). Little Saigon is the “Mecca” for Vietnamese immigrants and refugees all over the world.
Outside of Vietnam, Orange County is the county with the world’s largest Vietnamese population. This city is a landing pad for immigrant families, especially Vietnamese and Hispanic families. They chase the American dream in a land of opportunity. But in reality, most end up in despair when their households are destroyed by divorce, debt, failure and the parent-child gap caused by generational and cultural differences.
The Asian Garden Mall is highly regarded by the city’s Vietnamese population. Young and old, local and global, make great efforts to visit this mall. For cultural and spiritual reasons, people jam into it daily. They come with their parents, children and relatives to experience Vietnam and be reminded of their cultural roots. Families flock to the Buddhist temple, located in the main area on the second floor, to pray for their country, family and business. Parents come to teach children about their beliefs and ethnic background.
Temple area in Asian Garden Mall
Praying to See the Kingdom of God
Since late March 2013, our church plant team has been coming to the mall twice a week. Each Thursday, we come to prayer walk and pray for people from 9:30 am to 12 noon. Typically, three to five leaders from surrounding churches will join us. We walk around the mall praying to see the kingdom of God, holding on to the promises of the kingdom, and listening to the Holy Spirit. Then we spend time with the “persons of peace” God has allowed us to meet and pray for them. Some are store owners in the mall or frequent visitors to the mall with whom we have developed relationships. On Saturdays, about three to five members from our church plant team come to engage in evangelism from 10:30 am to 2 pm. We meet at the church to pray and then go to the mall to share openly about Christ.
Almost all of the hundreds of people we have encountered so far have never heard of the gospel or even received a Bible tract before. But at the same time, many have questions about God because of miracles in their lives or reoccurring dreams they cannot explain.
Lee Nguyen with the Buddhist monk, Son
Recently on June 20, the 70-year-old monk who oversees the temple area was healed through prayer. Son is battling prostate cancer. People come to Son to have their fortunes read and their prayers interpreted. At one point, we asked Son to give us a fortune. After he shared some words, we asked if we could pray for him. After the prayer, his back was healed and he gratefully exclaimed, “Thank you God, Thank you Jesus!” The faces of all the people waiting in line to see him were priceless as they heard him praise God. God is amazing!
Over the last month, I have had the privilege of becoming friends with Son. He has even shared about his healing with other people in the mall. As a result, random people come to thank us and buy us coffee for helping the monk. Since then, Son has invited us to come to the temple at any time to pray, alone or with groups of Christians, or to pray for the people there. He and I talk weekly and talk much about God. On July 18, Son actually introduced me to two out-of-state visitors and asked me to pray for them.
In another instance, a mother came to the temple with her 34-year-old daughter to pray and seek good fortune for her. After they offered incense and cast lots, they went to Son for him to interpret their lot. He walked these women over to me and asked if I could pray for them instead of receiving a fortune. One of the women accepted Christ right there. After the women left, Son suggested that I come more often to pray for people and also bring little crosses. He also suggested that I teach people how to pray to Jesus for help and give them a little cross to take with them as a reminder to pray.That is crazy! Son the monk believes in the power of prayer!
Serving Little Saigon via “love projects”
Since July, some church youth groups or teams have started volunteering to go to Little Saigon for their short-term missions. When we host teams, we have them prayer walk and evangelize with us on Thursdays and Saturdays. In addition, we serve the people in the area and local businesses by doing what we call “love projects.” We give each volunteer group resources and encourage them to use their creativity to show love. Some groups have passed out free water or helped businesses set up, while others have collected food for the hungry and taken the poor out to eat. Before we do these projects inside the Asian Garden Mall, we always have a time of worship right in front of it singing praises to God before we serve.
Praying for More Prayer Partners
I’m blessed to be able to witness what God is doing in this place and share about His kingdom work in Little Saigon. We have been praying (and fasting and weeping) for more intercessors and more prayer partners. The opportunity to share our story with the Exponential church planting community is an answer to prayer.
I am excited to see what God has in store for us as the Exponential community comes out to the West Coast in October.The passion of my life is being a disciple and making disciples. I am addicted to seeing people fall in love with the gospel and wholeheartedly follow Jesus. Thus, I am committed to training disciples with a mission to boldly share the gospel and make disciples wherever God calls them.
God is great and works in ways beyond our imagination!
Exponential West will be highlighting the Asian-American church and city-centric church planting in several tracks and workshops. To learn more about the conference, click here.
Pastor Lee Nguyen is married to Haily Bui, who is caring, fun loving, generous, and can talk all night with him about following Jesus. Lee has a BS degree in Engineering (2001) from the University of Colorado and a Masters of Divinity from Talbot Seminary (2008). He has served in campus ministry 11 years, in pastoral ministry for nine years and four years in overseas missions. His mission field now is evangelizing to the lost and equipping leaders in Garden Grove, California.
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