What is God Doing in Vietnam?

Vietnam          

Population: 84 million

Capital:    Hanoi

People Groups:  139

Main Religion:  Buddhism 54%

All Christians:   8% (mostly Catholics)

Missionary radio is having an impact on church growth in Northern Vietnam. Trans World Radio programs have been well received by listeners in that region. A pastor from that area contacted TWR staff in Southeast Asia and requested that they supply him with teaching materials and radios for his congregation. His church was planted in 1992 with only 27 people. Today the number has increased to nearly 200. The pastor told TWR staff that with radio, he and his congregation are able to listen privately to the radio broadcasts and learn about God's Word each morning. It's illegal in Northern Vietnam for people to gather openly to worship God. The TWR-Southeast Asia staff also was encouraged to learn that two Vietnamese boys, sons of a military colonel, heard TWR's programs and received Christ. As a result, the colonel also has become curious and now listens to TWR's broadcasts.  Mission Network News, April 2004

Reports from believers in Vietnam today indicate that native missionaries are still boldly preaching the gospel and unbelievers are still coming to Christ. One in Phu Yen province says that he "gives thanks to God for the zeal He has given me to witness for Christ."  Another church planter in the same province says, "Thanks be to the Lord: regardless of trials, our brethren still keep on witnessing and do not tremble with fear of persecution. Under the pressure of the situation, we have to divide our church into many cell groups for Bible study and mutual intercessory prayer." He reports that "the local government has declared that all Protestants should be killed, or else be put in prison, and have drugs injected into their bodies so as to erase their consciousness."  Injections are not a new practice, as Missions Insider reported on February 26, 2003 regarding Y-Su Nie who received an injection which resulted in his death the following day.  Christians are closely watched by local governing authorities, who often go from house to house "to incite our brethren to forsake the Lord and to stop gathering in large crowds."  A Christian worker in another province "thanks God for giving me occasions to go out witnessing to many people.  He also allows me to study the Bible with other believers.  Through those Bible studies, believers grow stronger in faith and in the love of the Lord."  This worker reports also, "The authorities have gone to every Christian house saying that Protestants intend mischief against our country and sow division among our relatives and in the community. They say that Protestantism is not good for Vietnam because it is a traitor's religion. This deters many people from believing Christ."  This same worker reports how he was gang-beaten at the hands of the district police so badly that he was not able to eat for three days.  Subsequently, he was ordered to report to the commune office, where he was told "If we have to call you in again, we will kill you!" This missionary asks for your prayers on his behalf. Despite the persecution, an indigenous missionary in the Gialai province reports on his progress planting a church in that area. "This locality had been a communist base for many years and the local tribal people had been filled with communist propaganda. Many people have now heard the gospel and have responded in faith." After this worker began to organize church meetings for the new believers, local authorities began to call him an "evil person" and threatened to prevent Christian children from attending school, and denying believers access to state-run services such as water or electricity. The missionary was ordered to "call for Christians to deny Christ." Now he has divided his congregation into small cell groups for worship and Bible study.  He thanks God for Christians in America who are supporting and praying for him.  Christian Aid, Missions Insider, April 2004

A missionary reports, "Thank God, the number of believers in our new church has reached 85. Because of persecution from local authorities, the congregation has to split into 4 cell groups to facilitate Bible study and mutual intercessory prayer. On the first Sunday of each month, those 4 groups meet together to take the Lord's Supper. We have found cell groups to be of great help in keeping Christians strong in their faith, and very few fall away. Many local people want to believe Christ to be saved and to escape from a dark life of demon worship and of costly sacrifices offered to idols, but few dare to confess their faith for fear of persecution by the government. The authorities often publicly declare that evangelical Christianity is in opposition to their way of life. Christians receive none of the government sponsored benefits that other citizens enjoy. When going out on my missionary trips, I have to go stealthily and must hide each time I meet the police or local authorities. So I prefer to go by night on foot, or else I do my witnessing while working at the fields. Though difficulties still remain ahead, thanks for your prayers. Our church continues to grow day by day as more and more people come to know Christ."

A missionary who has an effective and growing work among the Hmong tribals was called in by local authorities recently. Fearing the worse, he had his son ride with him on his motorbike so their only transportation could be returned home and not lost. Before leaving home, he said to his wife and children: "If we cannot meet again on earth, we will meet in heaven. Make sure to be faithful to God." Just as he suspected, when he reported in to the authorities, he was immediately arrested and put in prison. His son recalls, "When I was waiting outside, I heard a loud cry but did not know if this was caused by officials striking my father." The missionary's wife and children have tried to visit him but have been turned away each time by police. His condition and status is unknown. Please pray for him and for his family to stand firm in their walk with Christ. Last year, a missionary planted a church in a village near the Cambodian border. It has grown to 41 believers. Since the village is near the border, there are many guards in the area. When local authorities discovered the church, the missionary was told to call a gathering of the believers and persuade them to deny Christ. The missionary was told that Christianity was a "traitor's religion with nothing good in it," but he refused to do as he was instructed.

During the next three months, the missionary continued to evangelize the people of the village, and divided the church into two cell groups for Bible study. Then he was called into police headquarters, where he was beaten and compelled to sign a paper promising not to be involved in "illegal" evangelism. Upon returning home, he continued his evangelistic efforts and work with his church. Over the next couple of months, he was called in several times. Each time he would be beaten and instructed to stop his evangelistic efforts. More than once, he was brought to the hospital for treatment of his injuries at the hands of the police.   Missions Insider, March 2004

Mr. Dien suffered a serious illness, and was near death. His wife laid him on a 'cyclo' - a delivery bicycle - and rode through the village, so that he could say goodbye to the people. They came to a house where Christians lived. They told him that he did not have to die, and promised his wife that they would pray for him. Three days later, he was healed. Mr. Dien has been serving God for five years now, pastoring several churches.    Globe Europe, February 2004

The government of Vietnam has given a Christian organization permission to print 20,000 New Testaments and distribute them to churches across the country. The group's leader said this is a significant milestone because of the Communist government's very restrictive policies on Bible printing and distribution. The Bibles will be a new translation that uses contemporary Vietnamese language, so it is expected to be very suitable for new believers and those who are hearing the gospel for the first time. Glorify God for delivering this victory in spite of Vietnam's general hostility to evangelical Christianity. Ask him to build on this breakthrough to give more opportunities for Kingdom advancement through Vietnam's official channels. Pray that these New Testaments will result in multitudes of new disciples.   Advance, November 2003

Vietnam: pillar of fire in the sky introduces new evangelisation thrust Eight percent of the 74 million Vietnamese are members of a tribe. In 1988, following terrible persecution of Christians, it was possible for the tribes to re-open some of their churches for the first time in 13 years. "One night, seven of us met for prayer. Then we suddenly saw a pillar of fire outside the village... we now believe that we were visited by the Holy Spirit" says a pastor of the S'tieng tribe. It was the start of re-evangelisation for this tribe; the number of  S'tieng Christians in Song Be province has risen from a few hundred in 1988 to over 20,000 today. In addition to that, around 50,000 members of the Hmong tribe have been saved since 1989, and each of the 3,000 inhabitants of a Koho village have also become Christians. Christian Solidarity International, October 1995

When a travelling evangelist went to the Vietnamese village Giabac (in Dilinh), all hundred inhabitants were saved, according to Open Doors. That was a shock for the government, because the village was known for its faithfulness to the Communist Party. In an attempt to win the villagers back, officials called them together, slaughtered a goat and mixed its blood with wine. The ex-Communists were supposed to drink it and deny their Christianity, but nobody was persuaded: "The more the Communists persecute us, the more God blesses us and the faster the church grows," said one of the Vietnamese Christians. During evangelisation training, according to Open Doors, a class went out to practice and could win 913 people for the house church movement in a short time. One group of house churches gained 16,000 members last year alone.   Open Doors, August 1996

A young man from the Vietnamese "Tai Dang" tribe was sent to jail for no reason, according to pastor Ai, who was in jail at the same time because of his faith. After seeing that many of the other prisoners were saved after speaking with pastor Ai, the young man also decided to become a Christian. He was released from jail two months after pastor Ai, and immediately went to visit him in Ho-Chi-Minh City. Ai sent him to a local Bible School, at which the training is divided into 4 grades. The first is "Caleb-grade": after a month of training, the students must win 5 others for Christ "to demonstrate that their calling is real." After a 3-month-long "Joshua" phase, they are expected to bring another 15 people to Christ and to lead a Christian house group. In the final "Andrew" and "Moses" phases, they are trained to be pastors. After a month in action, the young man called pastor Ai, asking him to send a trained pastor to baptise the new converts. Astonished, Ai asked why he should send a pastor to baptise 5 converts. The reply: "Pastor Ai, I have not won 5 people but 5 villages - 753 people." The pastor who was immediately sent performed the baptisms and started a seminar to teach the new Christians.    DAWN Friday Fax, July 1995

 

Tran Mai, a pastor among North Vietnam's Black Tai people, was not afraid of being incarcerated. He said, "I am ready to go to prison. If the Lord allows me to continue, I will preach all over the city, and if I go to prison, I will preach all over the prison!" Tran Mai and other pastors did just what they had promised. Dozens of hardened criminals and even some of the guards found Christ through their testimonies. One of these new Christians was a young man from the Black Tai tribe who had formerly been deeply depressed. After being freed from prison, he immediately went home to share the Lord with his family and friends. Later the pastors were also released. Pastor Mai received a phone call. It was from this Black Tai man; who was now very excited, saying "Please come, Pastor! God has moved and 753 people have become believers!" The Black Tai had been so surprised at the change in this ex-criminal's life that they had become Christians themselves. Christians now number between 10,000 and 20,000 believers; fewer than 4% of the 600,000 Black Tai. They have only portions of Scripture in their language. More than half have never heard the Gospel. Among them was Chang. He paced up and down in his bamboo home pleading with his great grandfather (who had died 20 years earlier) "What did I do wrong? Why have all these calamities come upon this family? Didn't I carefully follow every ritual to appease the spirits? Are you still offended?" Like 95 percent of the Black Tai people, Chang practices his ethnic religion, a mixture of Theravada Buddhism and fold animism. They believe there are spirits within every object and person, and that they can receive help by praying to the spirits of their dead ancestors. To avoid curses and receive blessings, one must appease these spirits. When something goes wrong, they wonder if the spirits want more offerings. They are unusually polite, respectful, and hospitable. A very independent and self-reliant people, they generally live in harmony with one another. They are primarily rice farmers; their name, Black Tai, comes from the color of clothes they wear. Vietnamese authorities continue to arrest and imprison Christian believers. Praise the Lord for His Grace among the Black Tai people. Pray that His Spirit will continue to build a strong, evangelizing church.   Global Prayer Digest, October 1998

Vietnamese church leaders visited a group of 200 "secret believers" in a remote village in Vietnam. No one knew about the believers until they contacted a religious broadcaster asking for a visit. Christian leaders traveled five days through a jungle to reach the village. It seems the villagers all meet together for worship, tuning into Christian radio programs. "The response to the daily and Sabbath broadcasts have been far beyond anything originally expected," one church leader said. "There are congregations worshipping in parts of the country where the Church has never had members before."  Religion Today, August 1998