By J.A. Dunn

TAMPA — Sabrina Lai Tu will never forget the promise she made to God as her family journeyed on a boat from Vietnam to America in 1977.

As her very existence was being threatened by severe dehydration, Tu’s mother prayed and begged her daughter to ask God to save her life.

Eight-year-old Tu did ask God to save her life, and she promised that if he did she would serve him for the rest of her life.

Tu is making good on her promise by reaching out to the unchurched Vietnamese population in Tampa through the church she started, Vietnamese Fellowship, in 1995.

The church that began with eight members became Vietnamese Fellowship United Methodist Church in 1998. Now, the church has 80 members and is steadily increasing through intense outreach efforts.

The church meets at Tampa’s Oak Grove United Methodist Church and offers Sunday School and worship each Sunday morning. Bible studies are every Wednesday and Friday evening.

"I want to reach the Vietnamese people," said Tu, who is a first-year student at Asbury Theological Seminary’s Orlando campus. "We have a good mix of people, but I especially want to reach out to the young people. Most of the older people are Buddhist, and the younger people are more open-minded."

Tu is reaching out to people by testifying door-to-door in the community and through monthly evangelistic events at the church.

The Rev. Albert Bloomquist, Tampa District superintendent, said the collaboration between the two churches is working out well.

Bloomquist described Tu as having "contagious evangelism."

"They don’t rely on marketing or anything. They are truly reaching out to the community," Bloomquist said. "They find people; people come to them."

The district is rich with Haitians, Hispanics, Koreans and now Vietnamese, Bloomquist said. "There is good diversity here. They are adding something to Tampa."

Tu said the work of adding missing pieces to broken lives is fulfilling.