The day Brother Clendennen went home to be with the Lord, he uttered, “Fruit, fruit, fruit everywhere.”
Looking back over the School of Christ we just finished, we can testify that his utterance was even more prophetic than we could have imagined for Vietnam. The nation of Vietnam was very special to Brother
Clendennen. Years before the Vietnam War, the Lord spoke to him in a prayer meeting in Eagle Lake, Texas, just one word—Saigon. He went to a map to find out where it was located. In 1968 he and his wife, Janice, traveled to minister in Saigon, Vietnam for the first time.
The first School of Christ was taught in 2008 by Brother Ken Geisendorfer in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Other Schools followed, not only in Ho Chi Minh, but also in the Northern part of Vietnam.
At the request of the Inter-Evangelistic Movement, we returned to teach the School to their senior pastors and leaders. They were so hungry for the Word of God. Right from the beginning of this School, you could feel the seriousness and attentiveness of the class. Students were greatly touched during the morning and evening prayer meetings. The interpreter was so on fire for God, and was so devoted, that when he received our offering to him, he gave it back to the SOC. His only focus is Jesus and the Kingdom of God.
After prayer one morning I was asked if some of the students could give the testimony about the revival in Ca Mau, Vietnam. They reported to us that the revival spread so quickly in Ca Mau that believers that had only been saved for six months were placed over as sixty new converts. Others that had been saved as little as eight months, have been placed over one hundred new converts. Over the last three years, three thousand people have received Christ, and one thousand are faithfully attending church. Because many lived too far away to attend the church, they have created approximately one hundred cell churches. Many of the cell churches are running up to one hundred people. There is a great need in this area for leadership training.
During a SOC lunchbreak, I asked the Ca Mau students approximately how many people were receiving Christ each day in that area. They told me that as many as thirty to forty people were coming to Christ during healing services; and during personal witnessing as many as two or three per day.
The students from Ca Mau that were attending the School testified that this revival was brought about by prayer that the SOC taught. When they first started to pray, they knew they had to go out and witness. Only a few received Christ; but they began to pray 24/7, and now people are drawn to the church by the Spirit to get saved.
Several days into the School, the pastor of the church where the revival started came. He was a graduate from the 2008 class taught by Brother Geisendorfer. The pastor testified to the SOC students the importance of prayer and its effect on the ongoing revival. The pastor said that at first, getting up at 6:00 am was very difficult. After a while it became a way of life and he could not wait to get to prayer each morning. He testified how important the Blood Series is, due to the multitude of deliverances that they have been challenged with.
He told how the neighbors that lived next door to the church became very angry with them because of the commotion, and would throw rocks at the people. After a while they moved and the church now has the house, and they are using it to house people that have come for prayer. People are coming to the church that need healing and deliverance, and they come to stay until their needs have been met. Their greatest desire is that we return to have a special School for the Ca Mau leaders who desperately need the training.
The people that God used to bring this revival were totally illiterate. They could not read or write their own Vietnamese language. They have now led businessmen, doctors, lawyers, dentists, and all other professionals, along with the everyday worker to the Lord.
The pastor of the Ca Mau church expressed his gratitude to Brother Clendennen for leaving the Vietnamese this gift, to the SOC for continuing in the work, to Brother Ken Geisendorfer for coming and teaching, and to us who are continuing to bring the School of Christ to Vietnam. Please keep this work in your prayers.