LONGWOOD, FL-When Ralph and Gladys Burcham arrived in Vietnam in 1966, they converted many Vietnamese and servicemen to Christianity, started an orphanage, and taught at an international school. But when the war came to Saigon during the Tet Offensive of 1968, the Burchams were forced to leave. Plans for returning were aborted as the northern provinces of Vietnam fell to the communists; many Vietnamese asked the Burchams to help them escape. Told in vivid detail, Vietnam-Triumphs and Tragedies-Our Mission Story (paperback, 978-1-60266-586-6) is an amazing exodus story of how a congregation opened its heart by becoming a refugee center and helping scores of Vietnamese refugees resettle in the United States.
"Through all the triumphs and struggles of taking the gospel to Vietnam, God provided resources and protection" say the Burchams. "The gospel continues to be broadcast daily to the Vietnamese through a short-wave radio program."
With only a team of 32, the husband-wife duo was able to share the gospel successfully with a foreign culture. As the students of Oklahoma Christian University proclaimed about the Burchams, their "refusal to allow Christianity to exist simply as a doctrine without making it a life has pointed the way for students and challenged them to a greater commitment to Christ."
Ralph and Gladys Burcham served as educators, with their longest tenure at Oklahoma Christian University in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They are members of Memorial Road Church of Christ.
Xulon Press, a part of Salem Communications Corporation, is the world's largest Christian publisher, with more than 3,900 titles published to date. Retailers may order Vietnam-Triumphs and Tragedies-Our Mission Story through Ingram Book Company and/or Spring Arbor Book Distributors. Salem Communications is the country's leading Christian communications company with interests in radio, Internet, and magazine publishing.
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2007