“I don’t think about religion,” says Trang. “But when my family goes to the Buddhist temple, they pray to have a good life, good business, and good health.”
Today’s Ho Chi Minh City came together in part as the two metropolitan areas of Saigon and Cholon were combined and given its current name commemorating the late leader of Vietnam. Cholon historically has been the “Chinatown” of this area. Upwards of 800,000 ethnic Chinese live within Ho Chi Minh City, most congregated within the Cholon district. Strong elements of Chinese culture remain among these diaspora though there is also much assimilation with Vietnamese culture and values.
Trang is a typical second generation Chinese living in Ho Chi Minh City. He operates a small stall selling clothes in one of the large markets of Cholon. Together in their home his family still communicates with their heart language of a southern Chinese dialect though he is also fluent in both Vietnamese and Mandarin Chinese.
Pray with us for the Chinese of this city:
—Please pray for God to call out laborers to evangelize and start churches among the Chinese population of our city.
—Pray for effective communication of the Gospel to the Chinese of Ho Chi Minh City who tend to have a strong adherence to traditional Chinese religious and spiritual belief.
—Pray that as new Chinese Believers come to Christ they will in turn impact all of the peoples of Vietnam with the Gospel as they have broad access throughout the country through their business dealings.
Each day from October 1 to October 10 we will be publishing one of the 10 Faces of Ho Chi Minh City with prompts to pray as we lead up to our 10/10 Day of Prayer for the city.
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