time in 10 days, Protestant history was made in Vietnam Sunday when 12,000
people gathered for a Christmas rally in Hanoi.
The event, which took place
in the large square in front of the entrance to My Dinh National Stadium in the
heart of Hanoi, was said to be 10 times larger than any prior Protestant
gathering in history in northern Vietnam. On Dec. 11 in southern Vietnam, an
estimated 40,000 people attended a Christmas celebration in Ho Chi Minh City
(see “Unprecedented Christmas Gathering Held in
Vietnam”).
Local sources said
long-requested written permission for the event, titled “Praise Jesus
Together,” never came in spite of several reminders. But four days before the
event was to take place, Hanoi authorities and police told organizers – in words
as close as they would get to granting permission – that they would “not
interfere.”
“One can hardly
overestimate the importance of such an event in the lives of northern house
church Christians,” said one long-time Compass source. “For many, this will have
been the first time to join in a large crowd with other Christians, to feel the
growing power of their movement, to hear, see and participate in the high
quality, and deeply spiritual mass worship.”
The day before the
event, Christians gathered near the stadium for final prayer and to help with
preparations. Witnesses said the huge public square at the entrance to the
stadium was arrayed with thousands of stools rather than chairs – plastic,
backless, and bright blue and red. In 10-foot tall letters, “JESUS’ was
emblazoned on the backdrop to the stage.
Invitations had been
sent through house church networks even as official permission for the event was
still pending. When church leaders decided to move ahead only days before,
Christians were asked to send out mass invitations by text-message, leading some
to speculate whether this may have been the largest ever such messaging for a
Christian event.
Nearby Christians as
well as those bussed from more distant areas began to fill the venue hours
before the event. They were not dissuaded by a Hanoi cool spell of 12 Celsius
(56 Fahrenheit) with a chill wind. Bundled in thick jackets, their heads wrapped
in scarves, they waited expectantly without complaint.
They were not
disappointed. Witnesses said the throng deeply appreciated a program of
outstanding music and dance, a powerful personal narrative followed by a gospel
message and an extended time for prayer for the nation. As at the previous event
in Ho Chi Minh City on Dec. 11 that house church Christians had long worked and
prayed for, the program featured music from Jackson Family Ministries of the
United States.
In a world of
globalized gospel and praise choruses, songs included hymns such as “How Great
Thou Art” as well as classic praise songs such as “Sing Hallelujah to the Lord.”
Witnesses said the music was accompanied by tasteful, emotionally engaging
dance. Top Vietnamese artists performed, including news songs by Vietnamese
songwriters, and a Vietnamese choir of 80 sang, as did a Korean choir.
A young man in his 30s
who now pastors two house churches told the crowd how an encounter with Jesus
proved more powerful than the grip of drug addiction. His story, simply and
humbly told, proved an effective bridge to a Christmas evangelistic message by
Pastor Pham Tuan Nhuong of the Word of Life house church. Then the winsome
Pastor Pham Dinh Nhan, a top southern house church leader, gave a disarming but
strong invitation to follow Jesus, witnesses said.
Organizers said
approximately 2,000 people then poured forward in response, packing the large
area in front of the stage.
The final portion of
the program included a time of intense prayer for the nation, with pastors
confessing and praying for righteousness for Vietnam’s leaders, as well as for
God’s protection and blessing on their land. In their prayers they claimed
Vietnam for Christ, witnesses said.
A high point for the
throng was the superimposing of a large white cross on a yellow map of Vietnam
on the backdrop. As the Korean choir sang a spirited revival hymn, the crowd
raised thousands of hands and exploded in sound.
“The sound of crying,
of praise, of prayer were blended as one, beseeching Almighty God for spiritual
revival in Vietnam,” said one participant.
The event was streamed
live at www.hoithanh.com for Vietnamese
and others around the world to see.
Until recently – and
still in some places – most Vietnamese meet in small groups in homes knowing at
any time there could be a hostile knock on the door, a source said.
“None of these groups
is registered or recognized by the government,” the source said of the crowd at
yesterday’s event. “What you see is Christians standing up!”
In addition to this
event and the Dec. 11 event in Ho Chi Minh City, a large public Christmas rally
was held by the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (North) at the Hoang Nhi church in
Nam Dinh Province on Saturday. Some 2,500 people gathered in the
church’s large courtyard, with sources saying 200 responded to an invitation to
follow Christ.
In Tuy Hoa, on the
coast of central Vietnam, a Christmas program is planned for Dec. 26
in a 4,000-seat theater. Many smaller events are also planned in other areas,
part of an unprecedented public display by Vietnam’s Protestants.
At the same time, the
freedom for Christians tolerated in large cities has not reached some more
remote parts of the country, where ethnic minority Christians live. In Dien Bien
Dong district of Dien Bien Province, authorities on Tuesday (Dec. 15)
orchestrated immense ethnic social pressure on a new Christian couple to recant.
The couple told Compass that police added their own pressure.
“The police said they
would beat me to death, and take away all my possessions, leaving my wife a
widow, and my children orphans with no place to live,” the husband told Compass.
“I folded. I signed promising that I would no longer follow God. I really want
to, but it is very, very hard to be a believer where we live, as the officials
will not allow us.”
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