Vietnam (MNN) — The Gospel reached Vietnam over a century ago. Yet Christians still don’t have a prominent presence in the Communist country.
“Historically, Vietnam has gone through waves of church growth and waning times,” A3’s Joe Handley says.
Typically, most Vietnamese believers keep to themselves for fear of persecution. More about that here.
However, fear turned to compassion during the pandemic. “The Church started reaching out, meeting people’s needs physically, and that gave [them an] opportunity to share the love and truth of Christ,” Handley says.
Believers received unexpected favor as a result. “The government started noticing how the Church was reaching out to the communities, and that created a positive vibe,” Handley says.
“Instead of seeing churches in an antagonistic light, they saw them as cooperative amid the COVID reality.”
Then, favor turned to Gospel opportunity. “The Vietnamese government endorsed and gave permission for the Billy Graham Association to hold a couple of festivals in the country,” Handley says.
“The most recent one had phenomenal success; they had 4,500 people accept Christ in a crowd of around 25,000 people.”
Pray for endurance as Vietnamese Christians disciple new believers. “Right now, they’re doing the follow-up with those 4,500 people across the country,” Handley says.
“It is an amazing season in Vietnam right now; the spiritual hunger is very high post-pandemic.”
Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Katherine McCormack/Unsplash.
