Repression of Vietnam Mennonite Church continues

A sixth leader in the Vietnam Mennonite Church was arrested June 30. Ms. Le Thi Hong Lien is a deaconess, children’s Bible teacher, social worker and trainer of Saigon Christian scouts.

Her arrest follows that of the church’s vice-president and general secretary, pastor Nguyen Hong Quang, on June 8 and the earlier arrest of four of Quang’s associates in March.

Compass Direct, which tracks persecution of Christians around the world, reported that pastor Quang was allowed his first visitors seven weeks after his arrest. His wife wrote a letter to Vietnamese officials seeking permission to see her husband. A university student and mother of three small children, Mrs. Quang explained that the confiscation of the family’s money in the police raid has placed her in very difficult straits.

Citing a Vietnamese law that mandates family visitation within the first month of detention, Mrs. Quang appealed to the “humanitarian hearts” of the officials. She is especially concerned because her husband had been suffering from arthritis prior to his arrest.

Surprise exchange

The following day Mrs. Quang and Mennonite evangelist Nguyen Thanh Tam were summoned to the police station for interrogation and, to their surprise, taken to Quang’s cell where they were allowed a brief exchange. They said the jailed pastor looked thin and sickly and had an “ill colour.” Private conversation was not possible, however, because of the presence of the officials.

Sources in Vietnam say authorities are trying to build a legal case against Quang for possessing and distributing materials harmful to the state, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years prison. They have conducted a media campaign to discredit his reputation.

The Mennonite church, along with other Christian leaders, rejects the allegations as attempts to divert attention from the government’s main concern: Quang’s systematic reporting of police harassment of religious groups.

The four Mennonite evangelists arrested March 2 have not been allowed visitors in five months of detention. Mennonite Christians in several areas of Vietnam remain under great pressure, says Compass Direct. As a result of a campaign that began in December 2003 to expel ethnic minorities from the highlands of Kontum Province, the number of highlanders identifying as Mennonite Christians has fallen from 11,386 to 3,116.

Church life continues, however. A two-day conference of 80 leaders from five districts in mid-July focussed on prayer and spiritual renewal, as well as choosing interim leaders until pastor Quang’s release. Two leaders from other house churches gave spiritual teaching.

Unusual ordination

Meanwhile, in an unusual move, the Vietnamese Mennonite Church of Philadelphia, Pa., ordained the first two Mennonite pastors of the reorganized Vietnam Mennonite Church (VMC), one of them the imprisoned Nguyen Hong Quang in absentia. L. Keith Weaver, moderator of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference, was initially reluctant to ordain a minister in absentia. But he, along with other conference leaders, gave careful attention to this request, to Quang’s writings, to the testimony of those who know personally his character and firm commitment to the Christian faith as well as the Mennonite Confession of Faith.

Mennonite World Conference has met with officials of the United Nations and other international organizations about the arrests. The Mennonite Church of Vietnam is calling on Mennonite churches in all countries to pray for them during this “calamity facing His church.”

—from reports by Mennonite World Conference and Compass Direct