Story number 2 for 22 Nov 2002

(Vietnam)–Next, there’s good news and bad news coming out of Vietnam. Jerry Kitchel, of Open Doors with Brother Andrew just returned from that communist nation. Kitchel says the bad news is persecution is increasing against Christians. “Pastors have been beaten, property has been confiscated, and in recent weeks, there have been over 350 churches in the Central Highlands that have been closed…which means 128,000 believers are without a church.” Kitchel says the good news is Christians are steadfast in their faith and are hungry for God’s word. He says believers exercise their faith with caution. “They have to be more on guard. (They have to be) by far, more discrete in their communication and their contacts. We need to be upholding them in prayer and just praying that the Lord will just break the strongholds of Satan and that the church will again be able to multiply their numbers without paying tremendous hardship for their faith.”