News from Jim in Vietnam...for the month of October!

Forward “After last training, very excited! Many, many new!”  In Vietnam last Thursday, I was having dinner with pastor Neil and his wife Christy, after a week of training.  They had a happy glow. It came from gaining new ideas and skills and vision. Pastor Neil had been with me for two other trainings this year. His wife had asked if she could come this time too, because he was so motivated by what he had learned. They had traveled with two others on a 10 hour bus ride from their province. The majority of the two dozen participants had traveled 4-10 hours, some by bus, some by car.  Those who lived closer came by motorbike. Three quarters were pastors, some were lay leaders. This was the third training we have done together this year. I asked Christy what the role of the pastor’s wife was in the church. "All the women come to me for counseling,"  she answered. She has no training for this.  She has taken online Bible training, but she has not found any counseling training in Vietnam. She asked me if I could arrange some counseling training. She would love to bring together pastors’ wives for the training.  Anybody able and willing to join me next year and lead a training like that? Training Topic: Teamwork and Listening The month of October has me back in Vietnam again. Two CRM Asia colleagues joined me on this trip. We are training in teamwork, and the coaching skills of listening and asking questions. Leaders too often rely on one way communication: talking. We often miss the opportunity to develop our people and develop greater trust with them. Being a better listener is an important skill for a good leader. One pastor / 48,000 people! In Pastor Neil’s province, there are 42 churches and 25 pastors among a population of 1.2 million people. This means one pastor for every 48,000 people. Pastor Neil pastors two churcheswith a combined 7,300 people. He alternates weeks preaching in these churches. Another participant this week is Pastor Moe. He and three other pastors came from a province with 200 churches and 50,000 Christians, but only 67 pastors.  Pastor Moe rotates between three churches, going to one each week. These dear brothers and sisters love the training opportunity. They show us tremendous affection and appreciation for what we bring to help equip them for leading a growing church! This week I received so many invitations to visit various provinces and speak in churches. One invited me to travel to Cambodia. They want me to meet with denominational leaders of Vietnamese churches in Cambodia. They also want training for youth ministry leadership. Another invitation was to start a new mentoring group for mid-career pastors in Vietnam. Current denominational leaders believe these pastors may be the nation's key Christian leaders in the next 5-10 years. Please pray for continued growing relationships and wisdom in bringing training. Also pray for the Lord to give me strength and discernment in which opportunities to pursue. I will be here until the end of October.  And please pray for Kimberly while I am away, and for our parents in Orange County. Thank you and may God bless you for investing in the true hope of the world: The Gospel of Jesus Christ! Jim & Kimberly Creasman If you would like to donate to our ministry, please click here: https://give.crmleaders.org/staff All of our salary and benefits (like medical insurance), as well as our ministry expenses (like my plane tickets), comes from donations, and 85% of the donations come from individuals like you. Without your support, we could not be serving to develop churches and leaders in Asia as we have been for these past 20 years. Church Resource Ministries: 1240 Lakeview Ave, Ste. 120, Anaheim, CA 92807 USA. You may sign up for EFT, or designate on a check: "preferenced for Creasman-acct 5651" (800) 777-6658 ext. 122 Kimberly has always been a cheerleader. She's encouraging, connecting people, writing & mobilizing. Not for sports, but for outreach & ministry. She's blogging at charminfullbloom and helping theriverhopes. She's missing all THREE of her men in October! Jim and Cameron recently met up in Tennessee to attend a UCLA football game. Hosted in the parents section for the Memphis Tigers. Football player Zane was one of Cameron's teammates in High School Football at King's Academy. K's mom the retired PE teacher and Women's Ministry director still loves watching sports and reading the Word of God! Dad Chuck took a trip to visit family in GA, so Kim and Sue had 5 days alone together!