Central Church in Hanoi
40+
Churches and groups in Hanoi
18
Full-time pastors
27
Evangelist in the churches
1.500+
Faithful believers
Early period in Dong Anh
It can be said that the Word of Life Church started from a few small groups of believers in Gia Lam (Mr. Binh's house - Ms. Nga's house) and Dong Anh. In 2004, the Word of Life Church was officially declared established in Dong Anh town (Ms. Huong's house) on the outskirts of Hanoi. This became the official meeting point and the place where the first Bible training course took place. At the end of 2005, the Church moved the main meeting point to Thach Ban (Ms. Duc's house - Mr. Khai's house) and then the Bible training course was also moved here. The Church grew more and more crowded, and there was a need to open new meeting points.
2007 marked a new milestone, after the Church in Hanoi faced a huge attack and some people left. God began to call some brothers from different places, starting with the Catholic brothers in Kim Lan commune (Gia Lam, Hanoi) to merge with the Word of Life Church... with the initial "veteran" members such as Mr. Hoang - Ms. Phuong and some other families.
Thanh Xuan Church and brothers from Malaysia
Next is Thanh Xuan Church: this is a church born from a man with heart for God returning from the Federal Republic of Germany - Mr. Nguyen Huu Bao. Because of his enthusiasm for saving many people, since 2000, a difficult time for the Gospel, he opened the door for believers to gather and worship God at his house at 533 Nguyen Trai - Thanh Xuan - Hanoi. While preaching and caring, the number of believers increased and a number of groups were opened. In 2009, God moved the hearts of the leaders, so Thanh Xuan Church merged into the Word of Life Church, which is also a strong force in many ministries such as evangelism and finance.
In 2008, God brought believers from Malaysia back and merged them into the Word of Life Church. Most of them are core staff in many local churches and 9 people have become members of the pastoral team. With a spirit of daring, not afraid of difficulties, hardships, and an attitude of obedience, the brothers and sisters from Malaysia are truly the army that God has sent to take care of the Father's work. Also since 2007, God has brought more personnel from the Soviet Union such as the family of Mr. Hung - Ms. Tuyet (now a pastor), the family of Mr. Dung - Ms. Dung (now a pastor) and many other personnel.
2009 - The Year of Miracles
2009 was a year that witnessed many miracles. First of all, in the Dong Anh area, many new meeting points were opened, not only in Dong Anh but also in Da Hoi, Bac Ninh. Also in this year, the Church had a change when it opened an official meeting point in the inner city of Hanoi at the Le Van Thiem facility of a family of God's servants of another Church (commonly known as the "Ga 36" meeting point because it is close to this branded restaurant). Bible training courses were also moved here, making it convenient for many children of God, students and servants to travel.
This was also the year that the Word of Life Church in Hanoi began to collaborate and combine more closely with other Churches in the city. The result of that unity and collaboration was the Christmas event at My Dinh Stadium Square on Christmas 2009. 2009 was also the first year the Church celebrated its 5th birthday on a large scale at the Women's Union with hundreds of attendees. This year the Church also began to clearly see its vision of reaching out to all 63 provinces and cities.
2010-2011: Many pastors confirmed
The year 2010 also witnessed the internal strength of the Church beginning to emerge to respond to the work that God opened everywhere. Indeed, God raised up many shepherds such as Pastor Nguyen Dinh Hung, Pham Ngoc Anh, Nguyen Huy Hoang, Khong Vu Dung...
In 2011, many other brothers from many different countries returned to Vietnam such as Phong's family from Korea returning to Nghe An (Ms. Thuy, Phong's wife had returned before)... then Mr. Xuan, Mr. Hoa, Ms. Quyen... (now they are all pastors) and other staff. In the United States, Pastor Hong, Pastor Lee... collaborated with the Word of Life family. The Church considered this a grace from God and joyfully accepted and collaborated with them. From Hanoi, a number of groups were established in the provinces (for example, Hung Yen, Hai Phong) and many churches, because of the vision, came to merge with the Word of Life Church to become an increasingly large army to complete God's vision.
In 2011, during the annual camp on September 2, God continued to raise up new pastors such as Nguyen Huu Bao (Thanh Xuan Church), Hoang Thanh Hai (formerly doing God's work in Ho Chi Minh City, now serving in Australia), Nguyen Van Nghia (returned from Malaysia, pastor of the church in Vinh Phuc)...
Open new churches and build first facility
Following the development model of "taproot - cluster roots", starting in 2012 in the Hanoi area, the Word of Life Church began to open new meeting points in families such as Bach Khoa, Nui Truc, Tu Liem, Thanh Tri... The work of God is increasingly developing and expanding in Hanoi. At the end of 2014, the Word of Life Church rented an additional facility in the European Vietnamese Village, Mo Lao, Hanoi. The church began to build departments in a more systematic way, including an office block, a media room... Women's common prayer sessions also took place here. This year, the church celebrated the 10th birthday of Ho Tien Sa, marking a journey of continuous growth, especially for the youth.
Along with the growth in numbers, the Word of Life Church needed its own facility without having to rent. The church established a prayer committee and sought to purchase the facility. Through many difficulties, but with the spirit of dedication to God, many brothers and sisters have donated together, and God has performed a miracle so that the Church has purchased the first building, a villa in Bao Son. Starting from 2015, Bao Son facility has been used as a place for prayer, training, organizing seminars, and Bible courses.
Central church at Detech and office at 48 To Huu
But God had a prophecy for the Church to have a larger facility, and He did it in 2017. As an arrangement of God, the Word of Life Church was given a facility on the 17th floor of the Detech building, a beautiful location with modern facilities, and this place has become the representative meeting point of the Church until now. It was also at this facility that the Word of Life Church began to collaborate more in common events with the Protestant community, with the highlight being the Love Hanoi Festival.
Also during this time, the Word of Life Church acquired a piece of land of more than 1,000m2 and built the next facility in Hoa Lac (completed in 2017). Through the donation of money, labor, and the help of God, the Church has a large facility, both a meeting point and an event center with a scale of 200-300 people. From this point on, daytime Bible courses, general events for women, and seminars are often held here.
At the end of 2018, the church purchased another facility on the 21st floor of the Viwaseen building at 48 To Huu. This place became the representative office of the Vietnam Word of Life Church. Every week, the church's watchtower prayer sessions take place here. On Saturday evenings, there are regular general meetings for the Hanoi area's youth, and evening courses on the word of God.
15th Birthday and Flexible Adaptation in Covid Times
In 2019, the church celebrated its 15th anniversary at ForeverMark restaurant and invited city authorities to attend. God began to give the church friends in “high places” as prophesied. Also this year, in the first pastoral meeting of the year, the Word of Life Church clearly defined its goals for the next 5-10 years. Some ministries of the church were also officially established this year such as Jewish Ministry, Prayer Watchtower, Love Your Neighbor Ministry... Some new meeting points in Hanoi were also formed on the basis of splitting into clusters such as Detech, Bao Son, Tay Ho - Minh Khai, Bach Khoa, Royal City... Ethnic and missionary work to Laos began to be implemented through missionary and care trips.
2020 was a memorable year when the Covid epidemic occurred. It was a very difficult year for the whole society, but for the Word of Life Church, this was a strong transition with flexible adaptation. Prayer sessions, meetings and Bible courses switched to a combination of online and on-site, while the Church continued to open more small groups and family cell groups. It was through this period that the Prayer Watchtower began to take place regularly throughout the week from Monday to Saturday. In 2020 and 2021, the Love Your Neighbor ministry strongly reached out to the community with many activities: giving relief gifts to poor families, giving protective clothing and antiseptic water to hospitals, giving wheelchairs to the disabled, donating blood, supporting money to build charity houses for the poor... The Word of Life Church has been recognized by authorities at all levels and the community with many certificates and thanks.
Drive the stakes in firmly and Look up
2022 is a very difficult year financially due to the impact of post-Covid, but it is the year that God gives the Church facilities in different places, including a large facility in Hanoi... The Church also participates more deeply in the common work of the community through the Peaceful Christmas event with Reid Saunders organization at Yen So park. This is an event that takes place consecutively for 3 years 2022 - 2023 - 2024 in which the Word of Life Church is one of the units playing an important role. The year 2023 with the theme "Driving the stake firmly" is the year that the Word of Life Church focuses on building the organizational structure of the departments so that in 2024 it can reach out in the spirit of "Looking up".
Up to now, after 20 years, the Church in Hanoi has become the central Church of the Word of Life with more than 40 meeting points, about 2,000 believers, 15 pastors, along with strong human and financial resources, shouldering the common work of the entire flow of the Word of Life in Vietnam. Also from here, the work of God spread to different provinces from North to South, just as the Lord's prophecies said.
