What impact has the Rev. Dr. Nguyen Cuong had on your life? What would you be doing if Dr. Cuong had not influenced you? How has he made a difference in the way you serve God today? I expect that most of you have a story to tell. Here is some of my story, which helps to explain why I now serve on the UUC Board. It is summarized by five outstanding qualities of Pastor Cuong.

INVITING

Dr. Cuong invited me to get to know the Vietnamese Theological College in 2004. I was serving as the Director of World Mission Initiative at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. One of my primary roles was to get students engaged in what God was doing throughout the world. In 2003 I took the first group of PTS students to Vietnam as we discerned the possibility of adopting an Unreached People Group. As we sought to deepen this commitment by attending the first meeting of the Presbyterian Church USA Vietnam Mission Network, we met Pastor Cuong and Rev. Ron Oglesbee at the gathering in Orange County. Dr. Cuong invited the three students and me to “come and see” VTC and meet some of the students. It was the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship.

NETWORKING

Of course, Dr. Cuong was at that first network meeting of 15-20 people. He was probably one of the individuals that organized and planned it. Pastor Cuong was always connecting individuals with others who had similar interests and concerns. As pastor of the largest Vietnamese-language congregation in the PC(USA), it is no wonder that he was president of the National Vietnamese Presbyterian Council. Certainly, that is why he was asked by the PCUSA to be the part-time liaison for all Vietnamese Presbyterian churches. He strengthened these congregations by supporting them as a tiny minority within the denomination. He recruited pastors and sowed the seeds for new Vietnamese churches.

REACHING OUT

Dr. Cuong reached out to me as he did to many of you. For over two decades he kept in touch and was ready to help. After being involved in Vietnam for a couple of years, I began to wonder about Vietnamese Christians in Pittsburgh and whether there was a church. Naturally, I contacted Pastor Cuong who put me in touch with some individuals who had been part of a Vietnamese church, which was no longer functioning because the pastor had resigned due to poor health. That was the beginning of what today is the Pittsburgh Vietnamese Presbyterian Church led by Lam Nguyen from Akron, OH (who is about to graduate from UUC). That church would never have started, except for the vast connections and initiative of Dr. Cuong.

PASSIONATE and TENACIOUS

Though distinct, these last two qualities belong together. Pastor Cuong cares passionately about Jesus and the Vietnamese people and yearns for all Vietnamese to know and trust Jesus as Savior and Lord. He has devoted his life to leading his people to Jesus and discipling them. Dr. Cuong is tenacious in his pursuit of this passion in the very best way. Although I do not know many details about his life and ministry in Vietnam, I have heard from others:

• About his flourishing ministry in Ho Chi Minh City,
• About his faithful witness to Jesus while in prison,
• About his steadfast service to the Lord and the Vietnamese community in Orange County,
• About his persistent efforts to equip believers for ministry in and through VTC and UUC.

I love Dr. Nguyen Cuong because he is an example for me of how to live as a servant of the Lord, and because he has helped to introduce me to UUC. The best tribute we can give to Dr. Cuong in his retirement is to carry on his legacy and keep working for that which has been so important to him – that the Vietnamese people might be known for their love of Jesus. We honor Pastor Cuong by working to strengthen and grow the ministry of UUC…to serve not just the Vietnamese of Orange County and the US, but also the Vietnamese diaspora throughout the world.