Pray for: Vietnam

Suffering and persecution has characterized the story of Christianity in Vietnam, as well as great faith and perseverance. The situation since 2005 has seen some marked improvement, yet government harassment, duplicity, discrimination and outright persecution continues to affect Catholics and Protestants today. Praise God that, through it all, the Church has persevered and grown. Pray for:

• Those in prison for their faith. There are still hundreds of Christians, almost all Montagnards and including some Christian leaders, in prison. They were convicted in sham trials for anti-government activity. Most have endured imprisonment in grim conditions. Pray for them – many prisoners have come to faith through such witness. Pray also for the families of those imprisoned, that all their needs might be met.
• Registration of churches. Beyond the two EVCN groups, seven additional denominations have been granted official registration – a governmental requirement for operation in Vietnam – yet most remain unregistered. Registration remains a difficult and divisive issue for the Church. Registered churches battle government pressure to compromise and conform to strict regulations. Unregistered churches are harassed by the police, with meetings sometimes still broken up and leaders detained and questioned. There are tensions among church leaders in both groups. Open evangelism and itinerant ministry is forbidden and contact with foreign Christians restricted. Yet the courage and tenacity of these believers under pressure rarely fails, and growth continues. Pray for a solution to this issue that best unifies and builds the Church of Vietnam.
• Meeting places. Appropriate locations for church meetings are difficult to find. Even registered churches find permits to build difficult to acquire. Unregistered churches likewise struggle to find venues for large celebration meetings. In the past, the government seized many church properties. The EVCN(S) is still contesting the confiscation of more than 250 properties.
• The ethnic minority churches, including the Hmong and the Montagnard Ede, Jarai, Koho, Mnong, Stieng and others. They have suffered particularly savage persecution, especially in the past – churches razed, congregations scattered, Christians killed. Yet people movements to Christ are still reported. Maintaining adequate fellowship is hard where meetings are illegal and few of their languages have Scriptures. This lack has led to schisms and false teaching in some areas.

Leaders’ development and theological training are the most urgent needs of the Vietnamese church. As numbers increase, so does the potential for false teaching and error. Opportunities for training are still highly restricted and piecemeal. The Catholics have reopened several seminaries, all monitored by the government. The only legal Protestant training institute is run exclusively for the ECVN(S). Some other registered churches are allowed to train their pastors on a case by case basis. There are informal study programmes and unofficial Bible schools in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Danang and elsewhere, but a standardized curriculum would be a boon. Expatriates often quietly enter the country to do leadership seminars and modular training, but their low profile limits the impact. Beyond theology, training in other leadership skills such as management, finance, accounting and vocational training is crucial. Many pastors are already responsible for multiple congregations and have no time or money for full-time training. Pray for creative, sustainable and effective means of developing a new generation of Christian leaders.