Saigon church hassled by police

Name withheld by request

SAIGON, Vietnam (BNc) — A missionary in Asia recounts a recent Sunday when the church in the capital of Vietnam was hassled by police.

The Lord’s church had been given legal recognition one year ago, but when we entered the small meeting place in downtown Saigon, Oct. 31, a uniformed policeman and court recorder were interrogating one of our brothers.

A teenage boy met us and said, “Everything is OK, just go upstairs.” But when we got inside others told us the police had been showing up every Sunday for the last month trying to extract bribes from the church and scare people away from the meetings.

Although we were less than half the usual number, we sang  for most of an hour until the one being questioned came into the room and said, “The police are gone. We can proceed.”

The Lord’s supper was served, and prayers were said, asking for courage.

Then the one who had been with the police delivered a lesson I shall never forget.

Proverbs 3:5-6 was his text: “Trust in the  Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all  your ways acknowledge him, and he will make  your paths straight.”

He followed that with Psalm 91:2, “I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.'”

After speaking of Gideon and David he closed with John 14:4, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.”

Some, he said, were not there because they feared man more  than God. Some were not there because they feared they might lose their jobs and lacked faith that God would  provide. “But you are here, and God will keep us safe and bless us if we follow Him.”

We left quietly, grateful to have been in the presence of a spiritual hero that day.