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“Stop! Stop the meeting!” Ho Chi Minh City police yelled to Hai, the leader of a house church network in Vietnam.

“Sirs, we are not doing anything bad,” he told them. “We are only praying, and people are getting healed. If you have someone sick, bring them and we will pray for them, too.”

Christians were clapping and shouting for joy because a paralyzed woman had stood up and began walking. A woman blind in one eye could now see. And a deaf person received her hearing.

But the officers were nervous. Vietnam hails Ho Chi Minh City, formerly called Saigon, as its showcase of progress to the world. If the police cracked down on the gathering, word could get out to the international media, tarnishing that image.

The officers insisted. “We must talk with you now,” one said. But Hai told them, “You must wait until after the meeting.” So they waited—for two hours. Afterward, the officers asked how those people could walk, hear and see again. And Hai had an open door to share the gospel with them.

This picture would have been very different had it happened in rural Vietnam where Christians are harshly persecuted, particularly in unregistered and ethnic minority churches. The government controls all religious movements, even Buddhism, the majority religion. Although Christians number less than one percent of the population, the government feels threatened by them. State leaders believe the fall of communism in Eastern Europe was somehow linked to Christianity. While Vietnam has opened to capitalism, its leaders want to keep themselves in power—as well as the system that empowers them.

South Vietnam fell to the communist North in 1975. Years of persecution followed in which it shut down churches, murdered Christians, and sent many believers to its infamous “re-education” camps. Vietnam remains one of the worst persecutors of Christians, but with communism in retreat since the 1990s, and a desire by the regime to open the nation to the benefits of international trade, in 2000 the government finally registered one official church denomination—the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (ECVN).

“They did this to show to the world the government’s ‘generous’ attitude toward Christianity,” said Partners International’s area director, whose name cannot be published. “But at the same time they were able to gain more control over the church’s activities. A registered church is a more easily controlled church.”

The ECVN must follow strict regulations. Meetings are only permitted in approved church buildings, most of which have been closed or destroyed. Open evangelism and itinerant ministry is forbidden and contact with foreign Christians restricted. The government allowed the ECVN to open a Bible school in Ho Chi Minh City last spring, but it only permits a maximum of 50 students and even the teachers need approval.

The recognition of an official church puts pressure on house churches—after all, with one legal denomination, why do Christians need to meet outside of it? But at least 20 networks of house churches exist in Vietnam, according to Partners International.

Government-instigated persecution has intensified as the house churches grow. “Last year, the worst wave of persecution in 28 years hit ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands especially hard,” said Partners International’s area director. Facing arrest, beatings, torture and even death at the hands of the security forces, thousands escaped as refugees into Cambodia. The U.S. International Commission for Religious Freedom reports that the increased repression of religious freedom purportedly has been sanctioned at the highest levels of the Vietnamese government.

The government televised “Ceremonies of Voluntarily Renouncing Christianity” that included Christians supposedly handing over their Bibles and songbooks to be burned. By the end of last year, the government had closed almost all of the more than 500 churches in one province in the Central Highlands. They remain closed today.

In spite of the harassment and persecution, many people are turning to the Lord through the house church movement. Recently, a 75-year-old pastor was beaten by an anti-Christian mob. He is still recovering from his wounds. The good news: two weeks after the incident, six of the mob returned to apologize, and he led them to faith in Christ.

The country’s second largest house church network contains about 235 churches with 16,000 members, according to Partners International’s area director. More than half of this group is among the persecuted ethnic minority. House church leaders reported that 4,000 people accepted Christ last year and 15 new churches were planted in six provinces.

As the church grows, so does the need for trained leadership. Most Christians have little education and even fewer have knowledge of the Bible. Some house churches train church leaders in underground classes by invitation only. Between 20 to 80 men and women fill each course.

Government propaganda labels Christianity as foreign, and anything it deems foreign is a tacit command to avoid. But church-administered aid projects help families economically and break down suspicions among the people. The Vietnamese have thus become curious about this religion of compassion. For example, Partners International supplies itinerant church workers with medical kits for treating common illnesses such as diarrhea. Many villages, usually in remote regions that can only be reached via dirt roads and mountain paths, have no medical facilities. Each kit contains basic supplies for 1,000 people, roughly the size of a small village. These kits open doors for the church workers to visit the sick at home and pray with them, while helping to meet their physical needs.

“We used to be afraid of the government,” said Su, the wife of a house church pastor in Ho Chi Minh City. “My father-in-law spent six years in prison for his faith, and my husband spent one year in a hard-labor camp. But then we began to believe 1 John 4:18 that says, ‘Perfect love casts out fear.’ We began telling the officers, ‘We love you,’ and you know what? They told us, ‘We love you, too.’ We were amazed.”

Su remains hopeful: “As Christians we have to love our government and pray for the leaders because Christ died for them and they really need God. Many are seeing that communism does not fill their deepest needs and are turning to Jesus. We believe revival is coming because many have been praying for the people and the government for so long.”

Lynda Johnson is writer and editor at Partners International, Spokane, Wa. Pseudonyms have been used in this article.