Vietnam: Extreme Mixed Messages

(Recognizing Progress with Precaution)

"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves." Matthew 10:16

EVENT: Open Worship, Unity & Evangelism

Praise God for a recent, large gathering of worshippers in Vietnam!  Approximately 17,000 people attended even though the Vietnamese government granted permission just hours before the gathering in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) .

The purpose of this event was to proclaim Christ and display Christian unity on a huge public scale (by Vietnam standards). -The gathering was especially welcomed by house church members accustomed to meeting in small groups.  Reports numbering those who said "Yes!" to Jesus' varied from 830 to 1,100.

While permission had been requested several months ago, the Vietnam Evangelical Fellowship was granted the permit just over 3 hours before the event.

Please pray for more events like this one to be held in Vietnam especially if this unprecedented permission to gather openly was not a ploy to coax house church believers into the open.
 

ONGOING: Persecution in the Central Highlands Continues. 

The Vietnamese government continues to kill *Montagnard (Degar)" people and steal land from them.  Following are a few excerpts from the Montagnard Foundation's statements about this ongoing persecution:

They (the Vietnamese government) have murdered many men, women, and children without any fear of retribution from the international community.  They kill for our land.  They kill because we are different.  They kill for the fun of it.

In the midst of all our turmoil and pain we continue to stand firm on the word of God.  We do not lose hope for Our Lord Jesus said in the book of John 14:1-3 Do not let your heart be troubled, trust in God; trust also in Me.  In my Fathers house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.

Therefore with all my heart, I would like to advise my native Degar people that we all should remember to let go all of our worldly possessions for Jesus Christ has promised Eternal Life with Him in Heaven.  So let us trust him with all the things that befall us for our hope is in Him who died for us.  Maybe this is the time that our Lord Jesus wants to take us back to Himself.  So, let us embrace his will and be prepared to endure whatever it takes.