MWC executive reflects on Vietnam visit

Larry Miller

Larry Miller, Mennonite World Conference executive secretary, and his wife Eleanor visited Vietnam Nov. 20–26 after attending the Asia Mennonite Conference in India Nov. 10–14. In the following interview, Miller reflects on that visit.

MWC: Why did you go to Vietnam?

LM: Consultation with those closest to the Vietnam Mennonite Church and the situation on the ground indicated that it was time for a Mennonite World Conference representative to visit, not only to send letters. The purpose of the visit was twofold: (1) to express visibly the support of the worldwide community to the Vietnam Mennonite Church; and (2) to communicate directly with Vietnamese officials to hear their positions and to express to them international Mennonite positions on issues related to the repression of some Vietnamese Mennonite churches and the imprisonment of some Vietnamese Mennonite leaders.

MWC: You travelled first to Hanoi, rather than Ho Chi Minh City. Why?

LM: In order to converse with authorities and seek authorization to visit Mennonite church leaders, both those in prison and those not, it was necessary to go first to Hanoi. Also, together with Mennonite Central Committee representatives in Vietnam, I had received an invitation to a special workshop in Hanoi, convened under the title “Vietnam–USA: Promotion of Understanding Towards the Future.” Participants included important Vietnamese authorities as well as knowledgeable Americans with longstanding relations to Vietnam. The workshop provided opportunity for formal and informal conversations on a variety of subjects that matter to us.

MWC: What was discussed at the workshop?

LM: One of five major themes was human rights and religious freedom. What impressed me most in the exchanges on this subject was how highly politically charged the issue is at this very moment, especially in connection with the situation in the sensitive central highlands of Vietnam.

Evangelical Christianity is growing dramatically there among ethnic minorities. Adding intensity is the recent declaration by the United States State Department that Vietnam is one of very few “Countries of Particular Concern” in the world, alleging human rights and religious liberty abuses.

MWC: Who did you hope to see during your visit?

LM: We hoped to see the leaders of the Vietnam Mennonite Church, including pastor Nguyen Quang Trung, the president, and pastor Nguyen Hong Quang, imprisoned vice-president and general secretary. We hoped to visit Mrs. Le Thi Phu Dung (Mrs. Quang) and her young children, as well some of the local Mennonite churches, including the one in Ho Chi Minh City District 2. And we hoped to converse with several significant government officials.

MWC: Did you get permission to make the visits you wished to make? If not, why not?

LM: Word came shortly before our arrival in Vietnam that the Ho Chi Minh City Bureau of Religious Affairs had already arranged our visit to Pastor Trung. But we were told at the same time that we could not visit Pastor Quang, officially because his three-year prison sentence, handed down only a few days earlier, was under appeal. When we arrived in Hanoi, November 20, all other requests to visit authorities in Hanoi and Mennonites in Ho Chi Minh City were, as far as I knew, still pending.

Two days later, however, I was informed that we could not visit Ho Chi Minh City or any Vietnamese Mennonites. I could continue to attend the workshop on Vietnam–USA relations and would likely be able to meet leading officials at the national Bureau of Religious Affairs in Hanoi before leaving the country.

The MCC country co-representative, Lowell Jantzi, and I were received Wednesday morning, November 24 by the vice-chairman of the Bureau of Religious Affairs. Our discussion was lengthy and, in the end, quite straightforward, with considerable verbal give and take on both sides.

MWC: What was your reaction to being denied the other visits?

LM: Naturally I was very disappointed, both for Mennonites and for Vietnam. While I entertain no illusions about the potential importance of our visit, I believe that it could have been useful for all concerned, for Vietnamese authorities as well as for those of us around the world who care deeply about Vietnam and the Mennonites who live there.

MWC: What do you think was the value of your somewhat aborted trip to Vietnam?

LM: God knows better than I. Throughout the days in Hanoi, we were in indirect conversation with Mennonites in Ho Chi Minh City and elsewhere. And we were able to send to them, via a personal emissary, several gifts intended to communicate the love, support and admiration of the worldwide family of faith. Some Vietnamese Mennonites say they were encouraged by the attempted visit. I can only hope so. I hope also that Vietnamese officials have gained fuller understanding both of worldwide Mennonite friendship for the people of Vietnam and of our resolve to continue to oppose unjust repression of Mennonite churches and leaders.

—Ferne Burkhardt, Mennonite World Conference