For almost three decades, AOG World Relief Vietnam has worked to equip and empower communities in Vietnam to lead their own development. In doing so, the team has shown what it looks like to be the hands and feet of Jesus in a tightly controlled communist nation.  

Central to AOG WR’s story are two couples who have shaped its reach and impact: first Paul and Deb Hilton, who took the helm in 1998, and current leaders Kelvin and Bek Windsor who have led since 2020. Like most great leadership stories, none of AOG WR’s success has been by accident. It has been orchestrated by God from day one and carried out by people who continue to live with open hands and willing hearts. 

From Tasmania to Da Nang 

When Paul and Deb, and their family, moved to Vietnam in 1998 for their first posting as full-time Field Workers it was with the view of being assistants. But God had other ideas. The previous leaders had to leave suddenly and these “accidental leaders” were tasked with leading the organisation. Their goals were to rebuild relationships with government partners, who viewed the organisation with suspicion, while creating credibility for the AOG so that it could one day be registered in Vietnam.  

“Everything within us would have loved to be doing something more evangelistic,” Deb admits. “But we knew we needed to stick to the plan and know that God can work outside of the box. The thing we kept at the forefront was: This is not about us. This is about what God wants to build here.” 

What followed was an incredible season of growth within the organisation and strengthened relationships with partners, helping to support the eventual registration of the AOG in Vietnam in 2007. Importantly, Paul and Deb also saw God expand their capacity and grow them as leaders. “God puts tools in your life that you don’t know what they’re for until the outworking of it,” Deb reflects.  

Enter the next generation 

In early 2007, after meeting Paul and Deb the previous year, Bek joined team AOG WR, knowing instantly it was where God had called her to be. “I’ve felt a call to missions since I was a preschooler and always knew Asia was on my heart,” Bek says. “I was full-time on staff at my original sending church when they started talking about how they were going to support this couple in Vietnam doing community development work. I literally dropped my lunch…” 

After almost two years of working with Paul, Deb and their national team, Bek was certain her future was set. But she knew she needed to head back to Australia to complete her ministry credentials. She also needed to spend time with Kelvin – a Melbourne-based pastor who’d visited Vietnam on a short-term trip – who she’d been dating through Skype calls! Heading back to Melbourne in early 2009, Bek recalls wondering how everything was going to work, with her and Kelvin both seemingly living in their ministry callings. But she distinctively remembers God telling her this: “‘You both love me. You both know you’re called to serve me full time. Can you trust me with the details?’” 

Amazingly, a couple of days before she left for Melbourne, God shared His plans with her and the Hiltons. “Just before Bek left, Paul and I laid our hands on her and began to pray,” Deb says. “God spoke very clearly to both of us and said, ‘One day, you will transition this leadership to Kelvin and Bek’. It was so clear that we both opened our eyes at the same time and looked at each other. We ended up telling Bek but asked her to ‘put it on the shelf’. And in her wisdom, she did.”    

The mantle shifts 

When Kelvin and Bek arrived back in Vietnam in 2011, the Hiltons invited them to shadow them in their work. “We’ve all got different skill sets,” Paul says. “We could see they could do some things better than us already, so it was a natural transition where it happened fairly quickly.” As Deb adds: “We knew that we had this mantle that was initially ours and then it became theirs. And you really need to know when that shift is coming, so you don’t hang onto things.” During this time, the Hiltons also asked former ACCI General Manager Chad Irons to come and create a five-year transition plan, so they’d all be clear on the details.  

For Kelvin, who was quickly learning the language and adapting to life in a new culture, the ‘aha’ moment came during a short period of incarceration. “Paul and I were detained for about three hours one night and also the next day,” he explains. “God spoke to me, while we were there, and said, ‘You know, if I don’t want you to be here, there’s nothing you can do to stay. If I want you to be here, there’s nothing they can do to kick you out.’ For me, that really sealed the call that God had on our lives.” 

In 2020, Kelvin and Bek officially became the country directors of AOG WR, with Paul and Deb following a new call to mentor and support ACCI Field Workers globally. Deb says this was yet another moment in their lives where God showed the importance of being in tune with His perfect timing. “Only God opens the doors for things that are meant to be open and shuts those that aren’t. It’s important to let Him shut them because how can there be a ‘yes’ if we don’t choose the ‘no’?” 

A life of building up and investing in others 

Today, both couples continue to invest in others – whether that’s building up other Field Workers so their own ministries will flourish, investing in their national team, or helping interns and first-time Field Workers get a realistic view of what a life called to missions looks like.  

Here’s what God has taught these four incredible leaders about investing in others. 

Paul: “One of my favourite scriptures is John 10:10. In the Passion translation, it says, ‘I have come to give you a life of abundance – more than you expect, until you overflow’. We know we can’t contain the overflow; the overflow is always for someone else. We’ve got to be a conduit for the blessing of God and whatever He has taught us.” 

Deb: “I’m reminded of Joshua. He didn’t do everything the way that Moses did, but the same call was upon their lives, and it was just outworked differently. We should always be looking out for our Joshuas and understanding that maybe the next Joshua will not do it the same as we have done.” 

Kelvin: “Investing in others is going to be sacrificial in the sense that you can’t expect anything in return because the return’s got to be for the Kingdom of God. It God calls them somewhere else, or wants them to go in another direction, that’s up to God. All I need to do is be faithful with the calling that God has placed on my life – just to sow.” 

Bek: “We know that it’s not our ministry; it’s God’s. Having that mindset makes it so much easier to be secure. As leaders, we are constantly trying to replace ourselves through others. It’s a Kingdom-math thing that doesn’t make sense naturally – ‘How can you be secure in surrender?’ But it’s the best way to be.”