About Us
For nearly 3 decades Mission Vietnam has worked with the government of Vietnam to offer humanitarian assistance to the people of Vietnam. We believe now is the time to bring not only compassion but conversion to the people of Vietnam. Given our long relationship with the government we are now allowed to build churches, support a Christian orphanage, distribute the Bible and hold evangelistic events. Join us in developing this government relationship to spread the Gospel to Vietnam.
It’s not unusual for hundreds of local citizens to attend Christmas or Easter outreach services.
Our Mission
The purpose of Mission Vietnam is to bring the people of Vietnam to the saving knowledge of their savior and Lord Jesus Christ. Rom 10:14 How will they believe in him of whom they have not heard.
Our Vision
Taking the Gospel message of Jesus Christ to the people of Vietnam.
Born of a vision to provide humanitarian assistance and ultimately reach the people of Vietnam with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Mission Vietnam believes that compassion leads to conversion. Mission Vietnam is an interdenominational organization.
All monies designated for Vietnam projects are used on the ground in Vietnam.
Board of Directors
Dave Roever
Founder
Dave Roever is founder of Mission Vietnam.
Committed to operate within the laws of the land and with the blessing of local and national governments, Dave established an NGO (Non-Government Organization) known as Mission Vietnam. Under the banner of Mission Vietnam, Roever & Associates has been involved in many compassionate activities throughout Vietnam.
Dr. Wayne Wright
President and Executive Director
Dr. Wayne Wright has served as our President of Mission Vietnam since 1996.
Dr. Wright has a long and distinguished record of private, non-profit, and civic service that has distinguished him as a highly capable leader and uniquely qualified to lead our organization. After graduating from Oregon Health Sciences University medical school in 1970, Dr. Wright served in the U.S. Military from 1971 to 1975 as a physician achieving the rank of Major. He went on to complete his Internal Medicine residency and Cardiology Fellowship at the University of New Mexico Medical School – 1974-1976. He then entered private practice in the field of Cardiology with Southern Idaho Cardiology Associates, 1976-2004; presently retired.
Currently, under his leadership for more than a decade, Mission Vietnam has grown from a small ministry whose primary focus was on ministry to Vietnam veterans with works of benevolence to the people of Vietnam to one of the largest missionary works of its kind. Since 1996 Mission Vietnam has assisted the poorest of Vietnam’s people by providing cardiac services, sight-restoring eye surgeries, and continuing general medical care. In addition to supporting established orphanages and paying for hundreds of Vietnamese children to receive a better education that would otherwise be beyond their reach, Dr. Wright has led Mission Vietnam in building schools for communities, homes for families in severe poverty, and churches for newly formed congregations. The government has even allowed Mission Vietnam the privilege of purchasing property and funding for the first and only church on Phu Quoc Island, the establishing of Mission Vietnam’s own orphanage in the Khe Sanh area of the Central Highlands and sponsoring public crusades where thousands have been brought to Jesus Christ. In 2000 Dr. Wright, as Executive Director of Mission Vietnam, was given the “Gold Medal Award” by the Vietnamese government in recognition of outstanding contributions for the protection and care of children in Vietnam.
Dr. Wright’s previous civic duties and awards include the following:
• President, Magic Valley Memorial Hospital Staff 1981
• President, Idaho Affiliate American Heart Association 1981-1982
• Co-Chairman, Twin Falls Bill Glass Crusade 1983-1985
• President, Idaho Family Forum (statewide family policy committee) 1993-1995
• Member, National Assemblies of God Foreign Missions Board, Springfield, MO 1992-1995
• Member, Blue Cross of Idaho Board of Directors 1992-2001
• Idaho State Planning Grant, Steering Committee 2002-2004
• Member, Board of Directors, Northwest College Foundation, Everett, Washington 1998-2005
• Member, Board of Directors, Twin Falls Salvation Army 1990-2006
• Idaho Honoree for Achievements in Cardiology, American Heart Association 2007
• Member, Board of Directors, Roever Evangelistic Association, Fort Worth, Texas 1988-2016
• Executive Director and Chairman, Mission Vietnam 1996-Present
• Commissioner, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, 2004-2012
• Chairman, Idaho Department of Fish and Game Commission, 2009-2011
• Member, Board of Directors, Lighthouse Christian Fellowship, 2009-2011
Current civic duties include the following:
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Executive Director and President, Mission Vietnam 1996-Present
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Member, Board of Directors, Full Life Family Church, 2015-Present
Currently Dr. Wright and his wife Joanne reside in Twin Falls, Idaho. They have been married since 1968 and have 3 children, 7 grandchildren and 4 step-grandchildren.
Greg and Glenda Bostock
Board Member
Greg and Glenda Bostock have been involved in ministry together for 36 years writing and producing music that touches the heart of God and ministers and encourages people of all ages. As evangelist, they are currently traveling America singing and sharing about the saving hope in Jesus Christ. They are also missionaries to Vietnam.
They are now traveling using their gift of music and media in churches and home concerts throughout the nation full-time with their home base located in Shreveport, Louisiana. Also gifted in videography, they are capturing God’s amazing creation as they travel and producing videos with beautiful scenes set to peaceful, relaxing music.
Greg and Glenda have written and produced well over 100 praise and worship songs, many of them used throughout the nation in the local church. The Lord has placed such an anointing on them to reach into the hearts of God’s people and the lost to come to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Wade Franks
Board Member
Wade Franks is a decorated Vietnam Veteran who travels the country as an inspirational speaker and evangelist. Wade resides with his wife of 47 years, Gail, in Huntsville, Alabama, and is father of one daughter and grandfather to three grandchildren.
As a soldier in Vietnam for eighteen months, from January 1969 to September 1970,
Wade served primarily in the A Shau Valley, with the 2nd 501st 101st Airborne Division infantryunit and later with the 47th Infantry Platoon Scout Dog (47th IPSD). Wade has been awarded two Purple Hearts for wounds suffered in battle and three Bronze Stars as well as the Air Medal and various other campaign medals.
While serving in combat in the A Shau Valley, Wade fought in the battle known as
“Hamburger Hill”. This battle would later be known as one of the longest and bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War. In the battle he saw many of his friends killed or wounded before he incurred one of the wounds for which he received a Purple Heart. Later while serving with the Scout Dog Platoon, wade’s dog a German Shepard trained to walk Point with Wade and seek out the enemy while on patrol, was credited with saving the lives of two squads of American soldiers before being killed in an ambush.
Like many Vietnam Veterans, Wade returned home to find a country in turmoil, and a life filled with stresses with which he was not prepared to cope. For the next four years he would hitchhike around the United States living in Salvation Army shelters, flop houses and even sleeping on the road side and under highway bridges-all while addicted to drugs and alcohol.
On a return trip to his hometown of Huntsville, Alabama, shoeless and penniless and
having been high on drugs or intoxicated for almost four years, Wade was reunited with the girl he loved from high school. Later in 1974 he and Gail would be married and not long after their marriage they would give their lives to Jesus Christ and begin the Journey that would lead to a long-awaited healing and ministry of sharing the gospel.
In 1998 after meeting Dave Roever and hearing of his ministry, Wade was given the
opportunity to travel back to Vietnam as a part of Dave Roever’s Journey back team. Since that time Wade has been involved in the Mission Vietnam Ministry for the past 24 years until present.
Wade has now 20 trips to Vietnam and is Vice Chairman for Mission Vietnam.
Wade’s story is one of survival and hope through faith in Jesus Christ. In light of the past events and trauma of Wade’s life, his mission is to make his life count in honor of his fallen friends who never made it home and to devote his life to the work of sharing the hope and healing found in Jesus Christ.
Joanne Wright
Secretary / Treasurer
Life has been exciting for Joanne since she believed in Jesus in the early 80s. She has taught ladies Bibles studies, was president of Twin Falls Women’s Aglow, been director of Women’s Ministries, and assisted her husband, Wayne, in local crusades and outreaches. Since 2004 Joanne has been a board member and secretary/treasurer of Mission Vietnam. During that time she has coordinated several trips for veterans and veteran’s families to Vietnam. Her loves in Vietnam are children’s ministries that teach young Vietnamese children about Jesus and the orphans. We pray they will all grow up to be young “Billy Grahams.” Joanne is also excited that Mission Vietnam can be part of the church building program for churches in rural and ethnic areas.
Dean Moore
Board Member
Dean was born in New Market, AL. After graduating high school he was employed by the City of Huntsville for 25 years. After retiring he returned to full-time farming, growing cotton, soybeans, corn and cattle.
Duane Parrish
Board Member
Minister for 57 years, Duane Parrish went into the full time ministry at the age of 16. While setting at the feet of great men, and taking courses from the Berean School of the Bible, he was granted his license with the Assemblies of God in 1961 and then ordained in 1973.
He has been both an Evangelist and a Pastor. Duane served on the Youth Senate for the Oregon District of the Assemblies of God, and he has been the speaker at youth camps, camp meetings, district retreats, minister and missionary retreats.
Duane was the Pastor of his last church for 15 years, during which time he underwent a major brain operation. After a miraculous healing, he resigned the pastorate to begin his current ministry, “Destined to Overcome.” Duane now travels the world speaking and sharing what the Lord has done for him. He is also is a member of the board of Mission Vietnam where he raises money to help the children who have congenital cataracts.
Aron Tibbetts
Board Member
Aaron Tibbetts has been active with Mission Vietnam since 2005 and became a board member in 2015. Aaron was born and raised in Maine and is a graduate of the University of Maine. His professional career as a nuclear project controls manager and consultant has allowed him to work in many areas of the United States and countries abroad. He and his wife Terri reside in Chapin, South Carolina and they have two sons, Gabriel and Reagan who both attend the University of South Carolina. They attend Gateway Baptist Church in Irmo, South Carolina where they are involved with several local charitable groups and organizations.
Aaron has a desire to honor his father and a commitment to carry his torch. In 1969 his father Army Private First Class Bruce Harold Tibbetts gave the ultimate sacrifice to his country on a mountain in Vietnam. Aaron was only three weeks old at the time and never had the opportunity to meet his father. For most of his life Aaron held animosity and bitterness towards Vietnam and the Vietnamese people. Aaron traveled to Vietnam in 2005 with Mission Vietnam and it changed his life. That trip helped heal many years of pain and sorrow for him, his mother and grandparents. He has since traveled back to Vietnam many times and brought his wife and sons on several trips. During a recent trip he and the mission team were able to climb the mountain where his father gave the ultimate sacrifice. Mission Vietnam has also funded the construction of a church in that area!
Aaron will remind us to never forget our fallen heroes and the sacrifices they made for our freedoms and this remarkable story reminds us that there can be triumph from tragedy. The entire journey has resulted in many amazing outcomes which Aaron outlines when he speaks on this experience. He often says, “I expected to go to Vietnam and bring my father home and instead my Father brought me home.”
Jeremy Vines
Board Member
Jeremy and his wife Naomi are the lead Pastors at Full Life Family Church in Twin Falls ID.
Naomi and I met in our youth group and in 1993 our first date was her senior high school prom. We married in 1995 and now have 3 wonderful boys, Jarrett, Aidan and Cole. Naomi and I have always felt a strong calling to the ministry and the ministry has been a key part of our lives. Over the last 30 years have had the privilege of serving the church in a number of different roles.
From children’s and youth ministry to general administration, in fact between the two of us we have managed and overseen virtually every department you would expect to find in most churches. We love people and we love the church. We are passionately committed to the great commission of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I first went to Vietnam in 2015 and I feel that there is an incredible opportunity for Mission Vietnam. It is not easy to safe for missionaries to just go this nation and attempt to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This makes traditional evangelism difficult to nearly impossible. But with God all things are possible. Due to the years of compassion and the millions of dollars that have been pour out to the people for Vietnam in love though Mission Vietnam there is now a great opportunity to share Jesus by equipping the pastors and church that are in Vietnam.
Every dollar that you give to this great ministry is literally fulfilling the Ephesians 4 mandate.
Ephesians 4:12 (NLT)
Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.
Stephen Nghien
Board Member
Coming to the U.S. in the late 1970s, Stephen was one of hundreds of thousands of boat people who escaped from South Vietnam after the war.
In the U.S., Stephen has worked as a janitor, a machine assembler, a lab assistant, an operator, a working-lead person, an acting supervisor, and a process engineer. He was a lay pastor of the Covenant Church and is currently a lead pastor of the Vietnamese Christian Community Church in Portland, Oregon. Stephen was a bi-vocational pastor for eight years, then finally in 2006, he resigned from his Process Engineering position at Siltronic Corporation to serve as a full-time minister. He was ordained by the General Council of the Assemblies of God.
Stephen met his wife, Nguyet, at their church in 1993, they married in 1994 and have two children: Christine, 21, and Christian, 17. Nguyet is currently working at Portland Adventist Medical Center as a registered nurse.
Stephen is a graduate of Saigon University with a Bachelor degree in Economic Laws. He completed the program of studies in Ministerial Studies at Berean School of the Bible; he also has a Master of Divinity degree from Union University of California.
Besides being a lead pastor, Stephen has been serving as a coordinator of the Vietnamese Christian Northwest Conference since 1995. He is also a second-degree blackbelt in Taekwondo.
Stephen joined Mission Vietnam in 2008 to go back to Vietnam; it was his first time in 30 years since leaving his homeland. Stephen and his congregation have been supporting the orphanages that are connected with Mission Vietnam.