I experienced severe pain and torture because of my faith in Christ, but I knew that God was training me to become a brave soldier for Him. I was just 14 years old.

“I am a student at [an underground] Bible college in Vietnam. In 2005 the police came to my family’s house. They arrested me and took me to their office to interrogate me. They hit me on my head and slapped me across my face. As they were asking me questions they repeatedly struck my legs with a rubber water pipe. When their interrogation had finished, they put me in prison for 14 days.

“On one occasion, I was told to stand with my feet together and my arms outstretched. While I was standing in this position they forced me to raise myself on my tip-toes and they placed some nails under my heels. They made me stand in this position for half-an-hour until I could bear it no longer and collapsed from the pain.

“I remembered what my Lord had endured on the cross and I learnt that God was training me to become a brave soldier for Him.

“I am now 18 and have returned to Bible college to study God’s Word, but almost every week, the authorities come and disrupt classes and try to send the students away. Despite their threats, we have made up our minds to stay. I thank the Lord that He has given me the privilege to share in His sufferings.”

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