In The Faith - A Chronicle of the Christian Faith

The persecuted: “A lot of people don’t understand, so they say he who believes in Jesus Christ is a follower of America and foreigners…”

Amid the graceful pagodas, temples and French Colonial architecture, the Protestant church in Hanoi is a very ordinary building. The Vietnamese congregation sings enthusiastically, maybe unaware a government official is watching them.

The pastor sits at the back of the church. “I don’t have government permission to give an interview,” he said, sweat running down his face even though it was a rare cold day in Hanoi. Foreign journalists are accompanied everywhere by government minders and it is danger- ous for Vietnamese to criticise the government, especially during a visit to one of just 300 legal churches that service Vietnam’s two million Protestants.

Outside, a young woman led the way to a group of men in the courtyard. “They will only talk if I translate,” she said. The men were from the Xao tribe from Lai Chau and Caobang in the far north. They had been converted to Christianity by the neighbouring H’Mong, another ethnic minority who had been Christianised when they fought alongside Americans during the war.

p. [ Full Story @ Independent ]

p(small). Source: Independent © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd

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Filed under: Persecution