The Reverend Lui Tran was born in South Vietnam. With his parents he immigrated to Switzerland as a young child. He grew up, was baptized in the Swiss Evangelical-Reformed Church and schooled in the German-speaking part of this alpine country. While serving in the Swiss army as infantry officer, Lui studied law at the University of Bern. Upon graduating from university, he worked for Amnesty International and the Swiss Federal Department of Justice as a lawyer. Pastor Lui came to the United States in 1994 where he attended Harvard Law School. After completing his studies at Harvard, he moved to Montreal, Canada to pursue a teaching career, enrolling in the doctoral program at McGill University. After receiving his Ph.D. in international law in 1999, Lui answered God's call and left his legal career to become a missionary with Wycliffe Bible Translators, serving in Africa and Southern California. In 2001, after completing his assignment with Wycliffe, Lui enrolled in the Master of Divinity program at the Claremont School of Theology. While in seminary, he served with Indochinese youth and young adults in leadership training programs and camps, and helped to develop the English-speaking ministry at the Anaheim Vietnamese United Methodist Church. Pastor Lui completed his seminary training, was commissioned as a provisional elder in the California-Pacific Annual Conference in 2005. Since July 1, 2008 Rev. Tran serves as senior pastor of Downey United Methodist Church. Prior to that, Pastor Lui served at Knollwood UMC in Granada Hills. Lui is married to Traci. They have a son, Benjamin. Lui loves non-fiction books, ice cream, good food, traveling, playing rock guitar, and spending time with his family. His life’s mission is to know Christ and to make Him known.
Pastor David Achon
Sept. 19, 2002
Interview with Pastor David Achon.
Pastor Achon’s call to Discipleship begins with his family in Cuba.His family had a strong belief in God and participated in the Presbyterian Church.As a youth, his church participation presented him with the opportunity to go to summer camp.At the camp he recalls a rally led by and ex-catholic priest.At the age of 13, in this rally he felt his call to be stronger church participation.He had an uncle that was a pastor.His uncle was a strong preacher and active in church affairs. David went to Madras, India to attend the World Council of Churches.David stayed with his uncle in the summer.He feels that his uncles’ strong abilities as a preacher and his Christian life were strong influences on him.His uncle was a role model and inspired people with his experiences.In 1942, at a church camp, David felt the call to go to seminary.The new seminary was lead by Pastor Rodriguez, which David respected a lot.His teachers at the seminary were good roll models and were encouraging.David was not a focused student in some ways.He did not like the intellectual emphasis of some courses.He was ordained in 1958 in Cuba.
Edel Williams, Music Ministry
Jeramy Guilian, Organist
Millie Barbosa, Office Manager
Chris Westmoreland, Custodian
Downey United Methodist Church Telephone 562 861-9777 FAX 562 861-1749 Address: 10801 Downey Ave. Downey, CA 90241
