DALLAS — Minh Ha Nguyen was among the 2 million mostly nameless and faceless Vietnamese “boat people” who between 1975 and 1992 made their way from a war-ravaged country to new life in America and elsewhere.

Nguyen, son of a Vietnamese church planter, stands out. He had a name and a face to many — see this video — because before he died last summer, he had left a legacy. He gave his life to Jesus crossing the South China Sea when he was 12. He was 57 and had worked in technical roles at the International Mission Board (IMB) for 24 years at the time he died, but his passion was research on ethnics in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).

“Minh Ha was an incredibly gifted colleague who served for 24 years in key roles with the IMB to support our work and workers around the world,” IMB President Paul Chitwood told Baptist Press in an article posted last July. “He helped shape our stewardship strategies and our efforts to evangelize the largest cities in the world, but also served our SBC family in ethnic ministry in the U.S.”

Nguyen developed the baptistresearch.com website in 2022 to track the development of ethnic ministry across the SBC. The following year he founded the SBC’s Ethnic Research Network (ERN). Baptist Press last June reported on that group’s — Nguyen’s, mostly — findings to date: Almost 23% of Southern Baptist churches are non-Anglo; 60% of all church plants in the last five years worship in a non-Anglo cultural context; and nearly 100 languages are heard in Southern Baptist churches across the nation every Sunday.

The research specialist had gathered a few people to the group, those who had an interest in research, but mostly ERN reflected Nguyen’s work.

“The Ethnic Research Network (ERN) suffered a devastating loss with the sudden passing of Dr. Minh Ha Nguyen July 2024, our founder, primary researcher, and visionary leader,” Acting President Carter Tan told Baptist Press in mid-April. “Minh Ha was the heart and soul of our mission, providing crucial insights that shaped ethnic representation across SBC life.

“His work was foundational, building platforms like baptistresearch.com that made ethnic data transparent and actionable for church leaders, churches, local Baptist associations, state conventions and SBC entities,” Tan continued. “He was also critical in providing data and visualization for the SBC Book of Reports related to ethnic data. He had a unique gift to tell the story of SBC diversity.”

Tan spoke of the last 10 months as “deeply challenging. Accessing Minh Ha’s accounts, data and systems has been slow and difficult, but even in the chaos, the hand of God has been evident.

“The response from SBC leaders and entities has been extraordinary. People didn’t wait to be asked, they offered,” Tan continued. “Charles Grant from the SBC Executive Committee and Scott McConnell from Lifeway Research have been critical partners, guiding us, offering resources and helping carry Minh Ha’s vision forward. Leaders from SBC Asian Collective, IMB, (North American Mission Board) NAMB, GuideStone and (Ethics and Religious Liberty Committee) ERLC have also leaned in to help continue our shared mission.”

The ERN no longer is a one-person operation; it’s now a shared effort across multiple SBC entities.

“We’ve moved from isolation to collaboration: strengthening partnerships, sharing data and planning together for the 2025 Book of Reports and beyond,” the acting president said.

“Scott McConnell from Lifeway Research is actively helping us recreate missing data visualizations and statistical reporting. What began as a network has now become a community of collaborators,” Tan said. “The loss was great, but so is the resolve to continue. We’ve been overwhelmed by the offers from others to assist with expanding our team — analysts, strategists, academic contributors — and building infrastructure for the future: website, data access, funding strategies.”

Ethnic research isn’t about numbers, Tan explained. “It’s about people, visibility and honoring the image of God in every culture and community in the SBC. Accurate data helps decision-makers, encourages belonging and ensures that the SBC reflects the diversity of God’s kingdom.

“This work validates ethnic churches and ministries across the country and brings needed clarity to our progress and challenges in the SBC.”

The SBC umbrella provides a sense of belonging to at least 10 Asian fellowships, plus Hispanic, Brazilian, Haitian, Ghanan, Slavic (Russian and Ukrainian), African-American, Native American and several more are organizing. Attesting to the sense of belonging, translation is to be provided at the SBC annual meeting main sessions this year in five languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Cantonese and Mandarin.

Nguyen was nearing completion, he told Baptist Press last summer, on a book recounting the stories of some of the earliest Asian ethnic leaders in the U.S., most of whom are now in their 70s, 80s and 90s. “They sacrificed their lives in commitment to God’s call,” Nguyen said at the SBC annual meeting in Indianapolis. From his time as one of the “boat people,” he knew firsthand something of their struggles to reach America so they could tell other Vietnamese of God’s unconditional love.

The ERN will not have a separate meeting at this year’s annual meeting, Tan said, but will participate in meetings of the Asian Collective, NextGen Pastor’s Network and Asian fellowship gatherings.

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Karen L. Willoughby is a national correspondent for Baptist Press.)