I’m currently sitting in a country that is closed against the message I came to share. The only reason my team is able to be here is because of the friendship of our host and the local police official. We have to be careful on what we say and do, so that we don’t put his job on the line.
Being a believer here is hard. The people here are told they have freedom of religion, but that really only applies if they practice Buddism or ancestor worship. If you are a believer, you can’t hold any decent jobs. Many jobs, especially those in government or the police force, require three generations of your family to be unbelievers in order to hold a position. The friend of our host wants to be a believer, but he doesn’t want to lose his job.
This morning we went to visit some elderly women in the community who are believers. One of them that came to the faith more recently wouldn’t see us out of fear that someone would see and the government would deny her any financial assistance. The other woman, she gave us a true picture of what being a believer is like here.
During the war, she lived closer to the city. Every Sunday, she saw people gathering together. This was a typical thing for people to do, so she followed along and joined them. For years, she went to church, but didn’t believe the message that they preached. With time, she began to be interested and have questions about what they were sharing.
She came back to her village after the war praying for God to bring someone to teach her about the Word. God provided a pastor that would meet with her and answer her questions. She would have to take a back way through the woods in order to avoid the police. They found her on one of her journeys, and brought her in to interrogate her about the pastor. In these days, the women weren’t taught to speak Vietnamese, but spoke their tribal language. She was praying through out the interrogation, but they were not satisfied.
Because she was a believer, they put her in a work camp for 30 days. Without food, they forced her to walk miles to the field at gunpoint hoping that she would die along the way. Through it all, she continued to believe. Now, she laughs because she is still alive while her captors have all passed away. She is still unable to receive government benefits for food because of her faith. However, she is still thriving.
Persecution is real here in Vietnam. That is why we are teaching them English while we are here. English opens up more doors in this country. Doors that could be better job opportunities or doors to share our faith with those that don’t know about it yet.
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Thank you to all my supporters, whether financial or prayer warriors. Being here on your behalf is such a blessing to me. I’m still in need of $2782 in order to be fully funded by our April 30th deadline. If you are looking for a place to invest in the kingdom of God with your tax return dollars, please consider me. Thanks again!!
