Communism, deep spiritual allegiance and persecution are all challenges that Christians in Vietnam face. It is a mainly Buddhist country (52.48%), with a population of over 90 million people. Vietnam is ranked #18 on the Open Doors World Watch List, which is three spots up from its ranking in 2013. Though these challenges are difficult for Christians in this country, they are also opportunities for us to join together and pray for these believers.
Jesus had a heart for listening to and learning about the problems that each person he encountered was facing. In Mark 10:51, Jesus asks the blind man, “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus obviously knew that the man was blind, yet just like He does today, he waited for the man himself to declare his need to Jesus.Through this example, we know that we must learn to pray for specific needs on behalf of the persecuted, so that our prayers will rise like incense to God, and we will see change in the world.
Here are two stories from Vietnam that we can pray for.
Last January, local authorities refused to grant believers in South Vietnam a permit to hold Sunday worship. Their pastor, Hoan*, had been renting a house for their weekly fellowship for the past eight months. The officers claimed that there was no “red paper”-indicating it was for lease-attached to the said house.