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• Two pastors of the "open" churches, who have led their congregations' churches for 15 and 17 years, may be forced to leave them because their residence papers are said to be out of order.
• In the last 22 years, authorities have permitted only one class of 13 students to take a pastoral training course. Other than that small exception, no theological schools have been permitted. No ordinations are permitted. Any training of church leaders must be done in ways not visible to the public and the authorities.
• In northern Vietnam, leaders of the only church body in Vietnam with legal recognition, the Hanoi-based 20-congregation Evangelical Church of Vietnam, are being visited by representatives of the Bureau of Religious Affairs and the police. The church leaders have been asked about their thoughts on the need of holding another church conference (the last one permitted was nine years ago) and about who should be the next leader to succeed the Reverend Bui Hoanh Thu, the long-time and pliable leader who died last year.

Similarly, in southern Vietnam, authorities are trying to recruit a leader for the Evangelical Church of Vietnam to replace the seriously ailing 98-year-old Reverend Ong van Huyen. Eight preconditions are presented to candidates. One person who has seen the conditions says that they clearly require compromises unacceptable to evangelical believers. If a leader cannot be found, there is little hope the authorities will allow the organization to resume normal operations or hold annual conferences to choose leaders.

These are all reasons to pray—and to advocate appropriately—for religious freedom for the church in Vietnam. The story of the church in Vietnam is one of growth in spite of suffering. Anyone who has visited the church in person comes away humbled by the courageous faith of Christians in the midst of hardship. Theirs is a story to challenge and inspire all believers.

This report was first given on World Evangelical Fellowship's Religious Liberty E-mail Conference. The author, a long-time missionary to Vietnam, wishes to remain anonymous.

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November 16 1998, Vol. 42, No. 13