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IFL Vietnam Home Page
Welcome
to IFL Vietnam, the online
home of the
Vietnamese fellowship of Immanuel First Lutheran Church, under the
leadership of associate pastor An Binh Thai. This section includes
information in English and Vietnamese about our services, Pastor Thai's
biography, and media clips from previous services.
Click on the following links to jump to:
Mimosa
Nguyen, Pastor An Thai's daughter, provided Vietnamese translation for
Pastor Carl Nelson's sermon at Immanuel First's 50th Anniversary
Celebration Service on November 14, 2004. The sermon highlights the
church's faithfulness to Christ and His Gospel over the first 50 years
and teaches about Christ's fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy
concerning Himself.
A video clip of our Vietnamese worship band performing at the annual
Circuit 11 Reformation Service held at our church on October 26, 2008.
The demographics of West Covina and the San Gabriel
Valley have
changed dramatically since the 1980's, as a growing number of
Asian-American and Asian immigrant families move eastward from the city
of Los Angeles to this area to raise their families and grow their
businesses. Today, Chinese residents are the majority ethnic group in
the historically Caucasian and Hispanic communities of Hacienda
Heights, Rowland Heights and Walnut, as well as in the cities of
Diamond Bar, San Gabriel and Arcadia.
West Covina's 111,400 residents are among the most
ethnically
diverse of any comparably sized city, as evidenced in its
neighborhoods, businesses and civic events.
- The city's south side is the epicenter of Southern
California's
Filipino community, complete with cultural events, the arts and the
Little Manila shopping district at the corner of Azusa Avenue and Amar
Road. West Covina was among the first American locations for Jollibee,
the Phillipines' largest fast-food chain, and its sister company Red
Ribbon Bakery.
- A growing Japanese-American business community serves
the downtown
area and South Hills Plaza on Azusa Avenue and Aroma Drive, anchored by
the Marukai supermarket. The San Gabriel Valley Japanese American
Cultural Center on Puente Avenue hosts an annual Cherry Blossom
Festival at the West Covina Civic Center every spring.
- Hong Kong Plaza at Glendora and Vine Avenues is the
hub of the city's Chinese business community.
- Local churches and houses of worship conduct services
in several
Asian languages: Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Korean, Tagalog, Thai,
and Vietnamese.
- The city's African-American community co-hosts an
annual Martin
Luther King Jr. celebration every January at The Lakes Entertainment
Center.
- All of the above join the Caucasian, Korean,
Vietnamese and Latino
communities in making West Covina a true snapshot of the nation's
ethnic and cultural diversity.
As the area has changed and diversified, Immanuel First
took a bold
step in sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ by establishing a mission
to the growing Vietnamese community of the San Gabriel Valley. Since
its inception in the fall of 2000, Immanuel's Vietnamese Church has
grown into a thriving congregation of fifty members, teaching English
as a Second Language classes, holding special bilingual services with
the main congregation, and becoming a recognized Christian organization
in Southern California's Vietnamese community.
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