Taste of Missions

WELS has been providing seminary level training to pastors in the Hmong Fellowship Church (HFC) since 2018. Since that training began, the HFC has grown from 55,000 to more than 145,000 members. The first group of 55 students graduated and became the first fully trained pastors in their church in July 2023. The second group of 60 students began their pastoral studies in 2022, and the third group of 60 pastoral students started in July 2023.

In addition to the seminary training being provided, a new rural training program developed by WELS missionaries Bounkeo Lor and Joel Nitz is training 700 rural church leaders in the basic truths of the Bible, with 700 more church leaders targeted for future training. Twelve of the new HFC graduates were commissioned to serve as instructors in the program, including Rev. Chong Chee Yang, who shared his experience in the December edition of Forward in Christ magazine.

There are 12 Hmong pastors in Vietnam that are responsible for providing theological training for rural church leaders. Up to nine motorcycles are needed at $2,000/motorcycle (three are already funded) to help them travel from village to village and provide this crucial training.

Gifts given above and beyond $18,000 towards this project will support general operating expenses of the rural training program in Vietnam.