Evangelical Christianity

Evangelical Christianity in the North

After 1954, when Vietnam was partitioned, the Northern Evangelical Church of Vietnam was separated from its sister Southern Church. Until the 1980’s, the former Church was the only body with official legal standing. The latter Church, which had taken their roots in the Christian Evangelical Church and Missionary Alliance in the North before the Indochina War, was regarded by the regime the close allies with the American missionaries. Except for the Hanoi-based and State-sanctioned Evangelical Church, other Evangelical denominations in the North suffered as much intolerance as their fellow believers in the South before and after the communist takeover of South Vietnam in April 1975.

In the 1980’s, conversions to Evangelical Christianity in the Northwestern provinces surfaced and rapidly developed into a movement. Sources said that such unprecedented events spread in a quasi spontaneous manner in the ethnic minority communes Owing to radio emissions diffused in various local languages in Southeast Asia in the Philippines, conversions to Christianity as well as Catholicism grew remarkably. The H'mong and other ethnic minorities of the mountainous regions of Lai Chau, Lao Kay, and Dien Bien were among the first converts. Since then, mass conversions to Christianity has never ceased to grow. A report on the situation of Christianity in Vietnam that consecrates several pages to the H'mong Christians of Evangelical conversions estimates the Christian population in this mountainous region at 250,000. It even adds that, since the birth of the movement, the new converts have never ceased to face with tragic repression acted on them by the Vietnamese authorities in their attempts to stop, break, and muzzle entirely the development.

From the outset, H’mong Christians have ever suffered violent persecution. Hundreds of Christian chiefs were imprisoned without a cause. Towards the mid-1990, the Vietnamese Communist Party executed the policy of enmity against the H'mong Christians. These new converts were forced to renounce Christianity and ordered to go back with the practices of their traditional worship of "ma" --ghosts worship, which is practically superstitious. On the other hand, non-Christian H'mong were encouraged to engage in the fight for defense of traditional beliefs, deterring the development of Christianity. This religious "internal treatment" operated on a great scale along with systematic campaigns of propaganda against the H'mong Christians, particularly in the provinces of Lai Chau, Lao Kay and Dien Bien. The purpose was to stop if not reverse the growth of the Christian movement. Meetings and ceremonies during which the participants were forced to sign the document of abjuration. They drank a mixture of animal blood and rice wine in the gatherings organized for a whole region. Brochures and other materials for propaganda were prepared under the supervision of the cadres in charge. and were distributed to the public.

The emissions from a Christian radio in the H'mong language also had reports about a movement of conversion to Evangelical Christianity in the 1980's. According to the source, at least 150,000 H'mong professed themselves to be Christians. Certain H'mong believed that the figure must be, at least, the double. The government showed particular concerns over regards this religious evolution. Conversion to Evangelical Christianity in the not created social, economic, and political problem with it. Measure were first taken to prevent claims for religious freedom and independence from this strong ethnic minority. Persecution against protesters was later carried on without respite. Beginning in 1977. this action pushed some 15,000 H'mong to leave their ancestral homes and lands to seek refuge in the Central Highlands. A great number of these H'mong attested they had truly suffered the deceitful threat of violence and had abandoned their homeland to travel as far as Dak Lak in the South, more than 1,200 kilometers away. Some could only sell at a loss some possessions for their long journey. They were exploited on the route as well as at their arrival.

Evangelical Christianity in the South

After the partition of the country in 1954, the Evangelical Church of Vietnam in the North was the only official Church operating under the direction of the Father Front. The Evangelical Church of the South, which had legal recognition before 1975, was outlawed soon after the Communist takeover of Saigon. The dissolution of the Church presented problems and difficulties in the religious normalization to both the administration and the Church as well. The Church’ s population was estimated at a little more than 170,000 whereas the Evangelical Church‘s faithful in the North became increasingly obsolete, with the total of some 10,000 followers and five aged pastors serving their faith in Hanoi (1975-76).

In the South, the Christian Evangelical Church operated independently as a religion from the state authorities. Religious institutions operated under the aegis of the tenets of the religion and in accordance with the constitution of the Church. There was separation of powers between the religion and the state. Religious congregations were independent from state authority. In 1975, before the fall of Saigon, there were 500 Evangelical congregations to which was added a hundred of smaller others. All these congregations belonged to the Churches created by various missionary organizations that arrived after 1960. In all, the Christian community in 1975 was estimateded at a little more than 150,000 followers .

Confiscation of Properties

As a result of the southern pastors’ refusal to come to terms with the new regime, not only churches were closed down and religious services prohibited but religious establishments and facilities were confiscated. Sev. Almost all religious institutions and social and educational establishments of the Church in Saigon were dispossessed. In the smaller cities, townships, and provinces, the administration closed down houses for prayers and transformed them into storage houses, offices, or the headquarters for the Communist Youth groups.

In Saigon, the Military Administration Council confiscated the properties belonging to an American Church. It dispossessed the Office Building of the French "Reformists" administered by the Reverend Motu at 2 Bis Thong Nhat Boulevad and the Church’s Building at 7 Tran Cao Van administered by the Reverend Ho Hieu, and the social facilities of the American Assembly of God at 3 Nguyen Van Thoai Street. In Gia Dinh Province, the local authorities dispossessed the Church’s buildings at the cemetery in Cau Hang, Go Vap District. Later, to carry out the Communist Party’s "lines of revolution," the authorities of Saigon stepped up campaigns of "uprooting anti-revolutionary elements." Chapels and houses of worships in the local precincts and districts were closed down. In 1983, they confiscated the Church’s chapel in An Dong where the Reverend Nguyen Huu Cuong was in charge of the Church’s religious services. In December of the same year, they arrested the Reverend Ho Hieu Ha and his assistant, Nguyen Van Tuoi, on charges of "preaching against the Revolution" and confiscated their chapel on Tran Cao Van Street.

Chapels and worship places in the provinces were either dispossessed or closed down. Local authorities confiscated the Institute for Theology in Nha Trang. The cathedral at Thanh My in Lam Dong Province was erased by bulldozer in December 1977. In all, during the period of 1975-1989, the Communist administration confiscated at least 100 buildings belonging to the Christian congregations. To this day, many of these properties are still held by the regime. Churches, chapels, and worship places face tight control with limitations to or restrictions on their use, repair, or extension.

 
Arrests and Imprisonment

After the takeover of Saigon, Christian chaplains, pastors, ministers, and prestigious members of the Church became the target for repression. They were arrested and sent to the reeducation camps. The new administration executed harsh measures against the clergy. Many pastors and ministers were arrested and imprisoned without a charge. Terrorism intensified. It harbored prejudices against the Christians whom they condemned as the American henchmen. The faith itself was projected as the American religion, and, thus the Evangelical Christians were liable to "do something for the CIA."

Persecution against the Churches of Evangelical Christianity persisted in the South after the failures of the first five-year economic development plan. The local authorities executed harsh measures to put various Evangelical denominations under the control of the State. Pastors especially those who were trained by American missionaries were targeted with distrust. Evangelicals were identified with "the American imperialists." During the first years after the fall of the Republic of Vietnam, Church leaders in the provinces of Thuan Hai, Phan Rang, Song Be, and Saigon were subject to strict control and arrest. They were commonly labeled as the "lackeys of imperialism" on unfounded charges of "illegal religions or subversive activities." The Reverend Dang Van Sung, who served as a missionary with the Stieng tribal minority, has reportedly been detained since 1975 in the Phuoc Long District. No news of him has been received since that time. The Reverend Vo Xuan, the Reverend Nguyen Ngoc Anh, the Reverend Nguyen Huu Cuong, the Reverend Le Thuong Dong, the Reverend Ho Hieu Ha, the Reverend Tran The Thien Phuoc, and Nguyen Van Tuoi were arrested on unfounded charges. The Reverend Nguyen Ngoc Anh., the Reverend Nguyen Huu Cuong and the Reverend Le Thien Dong were arrested on charges of "subversive activities."

The House Church Movement

Regardless of harsh repression, groups of Christians assembled for prayers in private residences. House Church assembly operated in hiding and grew fast. To stop its growth, the security police launched raids to repress assemblies and rallies for prayers. In the mid- and late eighties of the twentieth century, the house church movement gained momentum in the plains of the South. It spread so rapidly that it constituted a serious threat to the Communist regime. To hold it down, the regime sought to oust the founders of the movement from the State-affiliated Evangelical Church. Arrests and proceedings for detention of the leaders of the movement began to take place.

In the Central Highlands. re-known personalities were arrested and imprisoned. The pastors Tran Xuan Tu, Nguyen Chu, Vo Minh Hong, Tran The Thien Phuoc, Ya Tiem, Ha Wan, Ha Hak, R’Man Boi, and Vo Xuan were arrested on charges of "illegal" preaching, conducting "illegal" religious activities, or using religion as a cover to oppose the government’s religious policy. House church movement leaders in the various areas in the provinces and Saigon were also arrested. Among them were the pastors Tran Mai, Dinh Thien Tu, Tran Dinh Ai, R’Ma Luan, Phan Quang Thieu, Le Quang Trung, Vu Minh Xuan, Hong Van Phung, Bui Tuan Se, Vo Van Lac, and Phan Vu Anh.

Discontent was felt in all congregations. To prevent popular opposition after and appease dissent of members of all faiths as a consequence of the economic failures of the second five-year economic development plan, Hanoi promised that it would gradually carry out a new religions policy. No sooner had the promise been pronounced than it was broken. Hanoi stepped up harsh measures to stop the house church movement. House church leaders, on the other side of the fence, did not anticipate this a good omen. Rather, it would be a problem. A suffocating atmosphere fanned throughout the South and Central Vietnam. The authorities’ decisions still fluctuated between periods of police harassment and raids here and there. Gatherings and assemblies for Bible readings and assemblies and rallies for prayers were plagued with instances of terror and repression. In Saigon, the Reverend Nguyen Huu Cuong and the Reverend the Le Thien Dong were arrested on charges of "subversive activities" in 1983. The authorities confiscated the Church’s chapel in An Dong where the Reverend Nguyen Huu Cuong performed religious services. In December of the same year, they arrested Reverend Ho Hieu Ha and his assistant, Nguyen Van Tuoi, on charges of "preaching against the Revolution" and confiscated their chapel on Tran Cao Van Street.

Popular dissidence was on the rise as a consequence of the failures of the second five-year economic development plan. The Communist administration, again, sought to impose stricter control on all religions. The Evangelicals were of a primary target as conversions to Christianity grew steadily at a remarkably speed. It carried out, this time, the political strategy of "divide to govern," granting legal recognition to some Evangelical Churches while dissolving those Churches that would not submit themselves to the arbitrary supervision of atheism. The. latter congregations, which had long operated on their original Constitution, resiliently preserved their legitimacy and resisted union with in the Northern Evangelical Church. The non-cooperation of these independent Churches presented a potential threat to the regime. In addition, the house church movement spread rapidly in various regions in the South.

Unable to disband the various Evangelical denominations in the South, the new regime sought to integrate them into one organization under the leadership of the Communist Party. Due to distinct schisms, the Christians in the South resisted State repression and united all Christians under a single organization, partly. Taking advantage of the services of Bui Hoanh Thu, a longtime "protege" the Vietnamese Communist Party, the Hanoi rule eased pressure on independent denominations, nominating docile leaders to an executive board, facilitating access to some church facilities for religious services, and wooing them into working in union with the State-sanctioned Evangelical Church. Hanoi nevertheless failed to reconcile the Northern and Southern Churches. Most denominations remained loyal to their religious principles and operated independently regardless of oppression and repression.

The Christian clergy and laity became the target of successive instances of suppression. Recognized among the victims persecuted for their faith during this period were:

1. The Reverend Ho Hieu Ha and the two pastors lost their appeals against prison sentences that had been imposed by the People's Court in 1987. They were held at Chi Hoa prison, Ho Chi Minh City; 2. The Reverend Ho Hieu Ha and the two pastors lost their appeals against prison sentences that had been imposed by the People's Court in 1987. They were to be held at Chi Hoa prison in Ho Chi Minh City; 3. Pastor Phan Tu of Binh Tuy was arrested in January 1987, for allegedly holding assembly in his home, and detained in Binh Tuy; 4. Pastor R’mah Boi, house church leader, accused of serving his faith with the Jerai tribe, in the districts of Chu Pa, Gia Lai, and Kontum, Central Highlands. Arrested in August 1989, for allegedly holding an assembly of 200 tribesmen, detained without trial at Camp A20, Dong Xuan, Phu Yen Province, and released on December 8, 1992; 5. Pastor Tran The Thien Phuoc, house church leader in Saigon, arrested in December 1989 on his way to an assembly, detained without trial at Tong Le Chan Camp, Song Be Province, and released on December 1,1991; 6. Nguyen Van Tuoi, arrested in 1983 on charge of propaganda against the "Revolution," sentenced to four years in prison, and released in April 1990; 7. Le Thien Dung, arrested in 1983, brought to stand trial on August 27, 1987 on charge of propagandizing against the "Revolution," sentenced to four years in prison, and released in April 1990; .8. H’ Lap, member of the Koho tribe, arrested in December 1989, on charge of propagandizing against the "Revolution," sentenced to five years in prison, and detained at Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Khanh Province; 9. Em, member of the Koho tribe, arrested in December 1989, on charge of having contacts with "illegal" religious groups, sentenced to three years in prison, and detained at Camp A20, Xuan Phuoc, Phu Khanh Province; 10. Nguye Ngoc Anh, a resident in Dak Lak, Quang Duc Province, arrested in December 1989 and released in 1990. 11. The Reverend Vo Minh Hung is a minister from Pleiku. He had been arrested for the third time in December 1989 during a church assembly in his home. He had never been tried. He was detained in Camp A20, Dong Xuan, Phu Yen Province. He was released on January 16, 1993, 12. Pastor Ha Wan, a house church pastor, Koho tribe. was arrested some time during 1989-1990. He was possibly tried along with Pastors Ya Tiem and Ha Hak. He was sentenced to three years in prison on charge of illegal preaching and pursuing religious practices without permission, and detained in Da Kat, Lam Dong Province. He was released on July 2, 1993, upon completion of his sentence; 13. Two members of the Jorai tribe, Y De and Y Thang, who had been arrested and maltreated, were re-arrested in December 1980, was put under detention; 14. The Reverend R'mah Boi and two Christians of the Jorai Christendom of Chu Pa were imprisoned in October 1989. Two lay Christians were sentenced without a trial to forced labor --to reap an immense rice-field-- for having sheltered the Christians for prayers in their homes at the suggestion of the Reverend Boi. The arrest was termed as an "administrative measure," which is, in fact, an unlawful sentence and is apparently contrary to the Penal Code of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.