For Majors Vong and Ting Luangkhamdeng and their three children, ministry is a way of living that has built strong, loving bonds within their family and enabled each to experience God’s love through a common desire to serve Him.
“Serving together helps to bring our family closer to each other, and it helps to prioritize our tasks and gives us a clear focus toward what God calls us to do,” said Major Vong.
From the time their children were small, the majors have included them in daily ministry, instilling in them the importance of using their unique gifts and talents to share His love with others. Joshua 24:15 (NIV),
“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” is their family verse.
“Our goal is to train our children in such a way that they too love to see God’s Kingdom expand. We like them to be a part of God’s work,” said Major Vong. “Having them be a part and involved, they see God working in mom and dad’s life and see the changes in others as we minister.”
Now young adults, the Luangkhamdeng’s children have become integral in ministry at the Madison, Wis., Corps, where their parents currently are stationed. Emmanuel, 23, is using his college degree to manage the corps’ media, including Sunday livestream and video editing. He also teaches the teen Sunday school class and leads the children’s moment during Sunday worship. Esther, 18, sings in the praise team and helps teach children’s church. Ephraim, 20, steps in to assist with whatever is needed when he is home from college.
plate at a corps pot luck.
“We all focus on serving the Lord together,” said Major Vong. “We talk all the time, in the car, at the table. We let the kids know we appreciate them. The way we talk as a family makes us bond together.”
“It’s a blessing that we serve the Lord as a family and we can bless other people,” added Major Ting. “That other people can see that we love one another and help each other.”
The diverse congregation in Madison provides a unique opportunity for the majors to share Christ both in their native language, Laotian, and in English, enjoying the melding of cultures as they worship, share fellowship over meals, and learn to love and grow together as a body of believers. They credit God for the work He is doing in and through their family and corps.
“It is all about God. He is the One that works in us to be like Him,” concluded Major Vong. “We try to be salt and light for our community, talking with people, listening and trying to understand, praying with them, and through that letting them know how much we love them and God loves them.”
