On 15 September 2011, local authorities cut down crosses on three church buildings in Kon Tum province, Vietnam.

Vietnamese authorities cut the cross of a churc building in Kon Tum province, Vietnam.

Rachel, a Bible college student supported by Thirteen Three, was a member of one of the churches.

I am very sad about what has happened to my church. Please pray for us that we will have faith in this difficult situation and that one day the Gospel will be free to spread in Vietnam.

The cross lies on the ground after being cut down from the church building.

When Rachel was 14 years old, she was arrested by the police, interrogated, beaten and forced to stand on nails in an attempt to get her to deny her faith.

Read more of Rachel’s story here.

Persecution in Vietnam Today

One of the main tactics used by the Vietnamese authorities to persecute Christians is intimidation.

They want Christians to stop serving the Lord. They want pastors to live in fear and submit to the authority of the state. Cutting down the crosses was one way for the authorities to show the Christians who is really in control.

But just like when Peter and the apostles were brought before the Sanhedrin and ordered not to teach about Jesus (Acts 5:17-42), Vietnamese Christians declare, “We must obey God rather than men!”

Voice of the Martyrs contacts report that other intimidation tactics used by Vietnamese authorities include:

• monitoring of Christian activity
• raiding church meetings
• taking pastors and Christian leaders to the police station for questioning and interrogation
• beating house church pastors

There have been increases in religious freedom in Vietnam over the last decade. But situations like this show that, while the government says there is freedom of religion in Vietnam, the situation on the ground for Christians is very different.

Please pray for our Christian brothers and sisters serving the Lord in Vietnam under persecution.

Prayer Points

• Pray for members of Rachel’s church, that they would be steadfast in their faith and that God would sustain them through persecution.
• Pray that Vietnamese Christians will be bold in their witness of Jesus, particularly to the authorities.
• Pray for the Bible college students Thirteen Three is supporting, that their training will prepare them for a lifetime of frontline ministry.