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By Heather Hahn*

1:00 P.M. EST May 14, 2010 | FORT SMITH, Ark. (UMNS)

Ethan Phan uses a computer to orchestrate images used during worship at the Vietnamese United Methodist Church in Fort Smith. A UMNS photo by Heather Hahn.
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When Saigon fell on April 30, 1975, Tommy Ho — a Green Beret with the South Vietnamese Army — faced execution if captured by the advancing North Vietnamese forces.

He escaped the only way he knew how — by jumping into the Pacific Ocean and trying to swim to safety.

A local fisherman pulled him from the brine. But his deliverance came when he spotted a U.S. Naval vessel on the horizon. Within two weeks, the ship had transported Ho to the United States, and he became one of the more than 50,000 Vietnamese refugees processed at Fort Chaffee.

He had nothing but his Army pants and a T-shirt — and his Christian faith.

Thirty-five years later, Ho has raised a family and built a career in the Arkansas River Valley region, and he remains just as committed to his faith. He is among the founding members of the Vietnamese United Methodist Church in Fort Smith, or Hoi Thanh Giam-Ly Vietnam.

Finding a home in Methodism

The United Methodist Church is a relatively recent arrival to Vietnam. The Board of Global Ministries first sent a team to the country in 1998 after Vietnam and the United States formally normalized diplomatic relations.

Over the past decade, the denomination has started more than 160 congregations with nearly 11,000 members. On April 17, Vietnamese United Methodists and Bishop Bruce R. Ough of West Ohio, president of the Board of Global Ministries, dedicated the denomination’s first headquarters in the country — a United Methodist center in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon.

“Their faith is so real. It’s a community that really cares for each other.” --The Rev. Terry Gallamore

Most of the parishioners of the Fort Smith congregation had not heard of Methodism until they arrived in the United States.

Ho was baptized by a Baptist preacher in Saigon in 1968. When he first arrived in western Arkansas, Ho — who already knew English fairly well — worked with the Baptist chaplain at Fort Chaffee to invite recent arrivals to services.

“I brought them to the church to listen to gospel music and learn about the Bible,” Ho said. “Many of them learned English from the Bible.”

The Fort Smith congregation began holding Christian worship in a member’s home decades ago. About nine years ago, members approached St. Paul United Methodist Church in Fort Smith about using its space.

The parishioners soon decided they felt at home within the United Methodist family.

Church member Kiet To said what he and others really like about being part of The United Methodist Church is the denomination’s commitment to the serving those in need. He was thrilled to have joined other churches in Arkansas’ West District last fall in building a Habitat for Humanity house for a mother and her children.

Tommy Ho

“That’s why we like being Methodists,” he said. “We really help people.”

First of its kind

The denomination’s South Central Jurisdiction, which encompasses eight states, has about a dozen Vietnamese United Methodist missions. The Fort Smith congregation last August became the first predominantly Vietnamese fellowship in the jurisdiction to receive a charter as an independent church. 

The congregation, which has a weekly attendance of about 50 people, has been worshipping inside St. Paul UMC’s choir room.

The multi-generational congregation includes immigrants and their U.S.-born children and grandchildren. Parishioners worship in both Vietnamese and English.

On Easter Sunday, the congregation dedicated land for a new church building.

The Rev. Terry Gallamore, the church’s pastor, said because of the traumas so many of his congregants have experienced, they strongly value their country and their Christianity. 

“One of the things that excites me as a United Methodist is the strength of this congregation’s faith,” he said. “Their faith is so real. It’s a community that really cares for each other. It’s a community that ministers to their pastor.”

Ho agreed.

“We are a group here who really loves God.”

*Hahn is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service.
News media contact: Heather Hahn, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.