Ralph and Gladys Burcham

Vietnam-triumphs and Tragedies Ralph and Gladys Burcham

God used Maurice and Marie Hall to cast a vision in the hearts of Ralph and Gladys Burcham for the lost in war-torn Vietnam. This couple with their two children, Roger and Kathy, arrived in Vietnam in 1966 as the war escalated. With a team of 32 and American servicemen, their successful work included an orphanage, an international school, and the conversion of many Vietnamese and servicemen. They had to leave during the Tet offensive of 1968. Their mission work continued in 1969 and in 1973 with two students from Oklahoma Christian. Plans for returning in 1975 were aborted as the northern provinces of Vietnam began falling to the communists. Therefore the Vietnamese asked the Burchams to try to help them escape. Described in vivid word pictures is the trauma of the fall of Vietnam. The Burchams' congregation became a refugee center and helped scores of Vietnamese resettle in the U. S. All their lives Ralph and Gladys Burcham served as educators with their longest tenure at Oklahoma Christian University in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. While in graduate studies at UCLA, he had a teaching assistantship. The Burchams received much recognition at Oklahoma Christian including the honorees at a spring dinner and a Resolution of Appreciation by the Board of the University. Also at OC, Burcham received the Faculty Leadership Award and The Gaylord Chair of Distinguished Teaching. They had a connection with missions in Vietnam from 1966 until the Fall in 1975. At OC, he sponsored Outreach, a mission club, and helped plan four World Mission Workshops. They sponsored nine student campaigns to Europe and one to Hong Kong; they took the first OC overseas study program to Vienna, Austria. They are members of the Memorial Road Church of Christ in Oklahoma City, where he serves as an elder.