Thắp Sáng Thế Gian

 It wasn’t exactly the splash of the “Ice Bucket Challenge,” but the first foray of an “official” church entry into the prevalent social media world of Vietnamese culture did reach remarkably large audiences and demonstrated the value that social media could add to missionary efforts and to public esteem for the Church. It started when the mission was given approval  (thank you Hong Kong Public Affairs) to launch a group or page under the above title during the Christmas public affairs efforts of 2017. The page would be the landing page for the daily videos released by the church in the campaign. Elders Michael Williams and Kevin Huy Phan were charged to build a plan to bring meaningful messages and traffic to the page to help spread the message of #LightTheWorld for Vietnamese saints and their friends. They produced a few video clips in Vietnamese illustrating how they were following the theme of the campaign, and then they challenged a few people to do likewise, and again share their efforts and challenge more of their friends to engage in the social media sweep. Perhaps because the demographics of their friends was that of a highly social media conscious young adult group, the results and engagement from members in both the North and the South, was remarkable.

The success of this effort in building a community and an audience interested in using social media to share gospel concepts was significant for individuals and the church. President Hoang Van Tung of the District Presidency, and Chairman of the legal entity charged with representing the church to the government, had been regularly sharing images and messages about the church, ranging from pictures of temples, to inspirational messages from Church leaders, intent on raising the standing and awareness of the Church and its value to Vietnamese society. I felt that the value of the community created could be enhanced by extending the concept of a social media campaign into the traditional season of celebrations in Vietnamese (and East Asian) culture surrounding the lunar new year, Tết Nguyên Dân. So with some help from the Communications Committee and other members, we identified gospel truths that were embodied in traditional practices associated with that holiday. Then each of these were developed into short posts with traditional photos of the practice. The campaign was headed under the hashtag #lẽthâttrongtruyềnthống, or #TruthsinTraditions. The posts were popular and often got a significant (for the church population size) number of shares and likes, with an estimated reach of several thousand viewers. One such was this about the tradition of giving "lucky money" or Ly Xi at the new year.

#lẽthậttrongtruyềnthống
Chuẩn bị cho hoặc nhận được lì xì:

Truyền thống tuyệt vời này là một cách thức để các người cha mẹ có thể ban phước cho các con cái, để các ông bà có thể bày tỏ những cảm giác và ước mong cho các thế hệ về sau, và nói chung để những người lớn tuổi có thể trình bày các ước mong đó một cách hữu hình cho năm mới. Thông thường tiền này được cho trong một phong bì nhỏ màu đỏ, để nhấn mạnh màu sắc đỏ mang sự may mắn đến xã hội này. Nó được cho một cách vô điều kiện, một biểu tượng về một tình yêu thương vô điều kiển nên phải là gì. Phúc âm của Chúa Giê Su Ky Tô dạy chúng ta rằng “chúng ta yêu mến Ngài, vì Ngài yêu mền chúng ta trước” hay để nói một cách khác, lòng yêu mến của Thượng Đế mà được biểu tượng một cách hữu hình bởi máu cứu chuộc của Dấng Cứu Rỗi, đã được ban cho chúng ta mặc dù chúng ta đã không được hưởng. “Thương Đế yêu thương thế giới [chúng ta] đến nỗi Ngài đã gửi Con Trai Độc Sinh của Ngài.”

Prior to the 2017 Christmas media effort, Vietnamese had still been a minor language, so efforts to employ the graphics, video materials and other campaign items arrived late, or were not translated at all. In 2016, the first season following creation of the mission, the plan had been to utilize materials translated for the 2015 campaign, since they could be available from the beginning of the month. This worked to some degree, but the phase delay made it a bit confusing for bilingual members, or to English-speakers living in the Vietnamese branches. As 2017 approached we felt confident in that approach given that the hashtag theme had not changed, and people would likely not remember or the number who would would be small compared to the new eyes we hoped would see the campaign. But in the interim, translation had sped up and the videos were simplified so that translation was feasible in the short time frame.

As I observe the subsequent similar media campaigns, it is evident that the decision to retain the #LightTheWorld hashtag has been helpful in gaining "brand status" for the holiday among members and their friends. And seeing ever increasing numbers of members respond to the encouragement to share and document their celebration of the season in the public eye of social media is encouraging. In Hanoi in 2019, members were included in a public singing performance at a high visibility venue. In 2020, with COVID mostly excluded from the country, Hanoi members were involved with a charity booth during a special event highlighting giving held at the JW Marriott Hotel in Hanoi. At that site, the Thắp  Sáng Thế Gian theme was highly visible, and the personal engagement by members was meaningful. The Church is emerging from obscurity, and indeed becoming a light to the world.

It is evident that the early experience with using social media in 2017 and early 2018 was helpful so that when missionary work moved to a more virtual environment in 2020 with the onset of the pandemic, there was a base of experience, and a population of supportive church members. When a church executive responsible for media visited Hanoi in early 2018 and interviewed missionaries and members, his report to me was that it was clear that a great deal of potential existed in Vietnam in that realm, but that many more materials were needed than then available. Much more is available now than when the first purchase of Times Square space was made for the holiday campaigns years ago, but with a populace that is young and highly engaged on social media, and primarily on a single platform (Facebook), I believe the Light has the potential to spread very quickly. The curve is shifting.

Self-Reliance, Self-less Service and Cultural Values

While driving with a team of humanitarian-oriented veterans on an NGO mission in the late 1980s thru the more remote "grey roads" or non-roads of Dong Nai province, we stopped to allow some service to the vehicles. One of these was a classic black Citroen limo vintage about 1939. When new it probably would have been fit to ferry a queen, as this restored version is reputed to have done. But our version was closer overall to the pre-restoration version!

That the vehicle ran at all was remarkable, but I was perhaps most surprised when on opening the hood, I saw a Coke can prominently attached to a critical part of the engine. On further investigation it became clear that rather than importing auto parts from Coke, the mechanics had improvised using the bottom half of a Coke can to make a new distributor cap for a vehicle that was long since relegated to the junk yard in most other countries. This was to me the quintessential evidence of initiative and resilience. 

Of late, I have become aware of yet further examples of this cultural narrative among members of the Church. Since Vietnamese is still a minor language for Church translation purposes, the range of materials available is still relatively limited when compared with say Japanese or even Swedish. So in typical "can-do" manner, members have stepped forward to translate materials they desire to use in their own units or callings. One example was the excellent Self-Reliance materials which were largely translated into Vietnamese and formatted almost exactly as the English version, for use in one of the branches in Ho Chi Minh City soon after they appeared in English. When later, the Area Self-Reliance coordinator asked about whether Vietnam should be moved into the mainstream of that program, he was pleasantly shocked to discover the level of "readiness" of the people and the materials. No irony here!

But in the sequence of initiative, self-reliance and translation, I am most impressed by the self-less service epitomized in a current project spearheaded by Kim Hoa Duncan, and ably assisted to completion by Sisters Mai Anh, and Bao Ngoc. A project which will not benefit them personally in much of a significant way is the creation of an audio version of the Doctrine and Covenants, a volume of scripture to Latter-day Saints, which will be the focus of Come Follow Me gospel study in 2021. Although perhaps not of the quality (or sanction) that will link it to the official Gospel Library, it will nevertheless open a useful resource to many members whose reading skills or visual acuity are below those that would allow them to access the scriptures in other media. Look for a link to the audiofiles to be released via branch Facebook pages by mid-December 2020. And I have good reason to believe that it will be better than the Coke can in filling its function and helping others to Come Unto Christ. These noble volunteers have epitomized the meaning of #LightTheWorld through service beyond self.