Since moving to Vietnam, we have been working to complete two book manuscripts. We have also spent significant time with Vietnamese pastors in Evangelical Protestant churches. One of those pastors is Le Minh Dat. Pastor Dat was a Fulbright Scholar in his youth and developed a deep passion for understanding and teaching the scripture. He pastored for many years in Hanoi after his theological education. A bout with leukemia brought him to Ho Chi Minh for treatment, after which he began teaching at the Bible College created by the Tin Lanh Church in Vietnam.

Vietnam is the first place where Clear & Simple Media books found a readership. The English version of Simple Truths for the New Believer was created in 2006 and immediately translated into Vietnamese. Over the next 5 years, the book became the core curriculum for training underground church leaders in Vietnam, in association with a project initiated by the Canadian Baptist Seminary. Because several indigenous people from Vietnam began attending these courses, the book was subsequently translated into Hré, Bahnar, Hmong, Steing, and Koho (K’Ho), printed and distributed through those courses into multiple communities.

Two of the English books that Vietnamese pastors have shown interest in are Simple Stories and The Jesus Story. Both books are narrative-based, and Vietnamese culture is narrative. However, to this point, we had not found translators who we knew would follow our process. Enter Pastor Dat. After reading the books and reviewing them with a few Vietnamese ministry friends, he volunteered to translate both books.

As of Saturday, January 3, 2026, both translations were completed.

Printing these books for legal distribution in Vietnam is another matter. While the government has streamlined the process over the past decade, it is still a process. The next few weeks will require forms, signatures, and fees, but Pastor Dat is confident that in the early months of 2026, we will have the Vietnamese translations of Simple Stories and The Jesus Story available for wide distribution throughout Vietnam.

Thank you to those of you who support Clear & Simple Media and pray for us regularly. You will know that one of our repeated prayers is that God will bring us partners who can make our work more effective. Pastor Le Minh Dat is another answer to those prayers.