NorthWood Church, pastored by IGE Board Chair Bob Roberts, hosted a delegation of Vietnamese officials from 21-25 July. During that time, NorthWood arranged for meetings with businesses, ministries, and NGOs to discuss how they could better help Vietnam reach its economic development goals.

NorthWood Church has been working in Vietnam for over 10 years, and the NGO it founded, Glocal Ventures serves numerous people in Hanoi and Northwest Vietnam. Glocal Ventures is a key partner in implementing IGE’s signed agreement with Vietnam to promote sustainable religious freedom in a holistic manner.

IGE’s Hien Vu participated in the delegation visit, which she said conveyed “how much the Vietnamese government cares and wants to help the poor in Vietnam, especially those in the remote mountainous areas so they can have a better living quality…I believe my presence at this event reflected the commitment of IGE towards a holistic development for Vietnam which includes religious freedom. It also demonstrated that IGE works in an open-minded way, trying to better understand the Vietnamese government and Vietnamese people so that we can help create a better environment for a sustainable development of Vietnam.”

This remarkable event was covered by the Dallas Morning News in a 26 July article, and audio is available of Bob Roberts’ interview with the delegation leader, Mr.
Nguyen Van Kien.