Protestants in Vietnam
Encyclopedia
Protestants in Vietnam
are a small religious minority constituting from 0.5 to 2 % of the population or around one million people (or 1%) as the newest government census (2006). However, it is the country's fastest-growing religion, growing at a rate of 600% in the last decade.
by a Canadian missionary
named Dr. R.A. Jaffray. As part of the Christian and Missionary Alliance
, over 100 missionaries were sent to Vietnam, assisting the faith's growth in the country. The first Protestant organization recognized by the government was the Evangelical Church
of Vietnam: North in 1963.
By 1967 information, Protestant communities were represented mainly within South Vietnam. Those communities included the French Reformed Church, Anglican–Episcopalian
, Christian and Missionary Alliance
, Baptists, Churches of Christ, Worldwide Evangelization Crusade
, and Seventh-day Adventist
s. Other Protestant associations were also represented in some social services and welfare agencies. In 1967 there were 150,000 Protestant adherents in South Vietnam, representing about 1% of the total population.
Several Protestant church properties were confiscated during the communist takeover of South Vietnam in 1975, including the seminaries in Nha Trang
and Hanoi
. Hundreds of Protestant churches were also destroyed in this period.
All Protestant denominations in Vietnam were gathered by local communist government into a single organization called the Evangelical Church of Vietnam in 1975, which had around 500,000 official members in 1997. However, in 1988, a house church
movement began when some active pastors were expelled from the official churches. One of the most prominent from those pastors was Tran Dinh Ai, whose movement reached 16,000 members and 165 churches (by 1997).
made several Bible translations in 1926 and 1991, and translated separate books of Old Testament
and New Testament
into Vietnamese.
The organized work of United Bible Societies
in Vietnam began in 1890. In 1966 the Vietnamese Bible Society was established. The Bible societies distributed 53,170 Bible
examples and 120,170 New Testament
examples in Vietnamese within the country in 2005. Two years earlier, in 2003, 60,000 copies of Bible and 50,000 copies of New Testament (all in Vietnamese) were printed in Vietnam with the permission of local authorities. Same year, 10,000 copies of the Chinese
language Bible were printed in Vietnam for the local Chinese community. 7,555 copies of them were sold in a few months.
es. Growth of the faith has been most dramatic among ethnic minority peoples (Montagnards) such as the Mnong
, E De
, Jarai
, and Bahnar
. Pressure was reportedly put on Protestants in several northwestern villages to recant their faith in 2005, though there are fewer reports than in years past. Unsanctioned church meetings are routinely broken up and its members detained and harassed. In April 2001, the government gave official recognition to the Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam. In 2005, hundreds of house churches that had been ordered to shut down in 2001, were quietly allowed to reopen. Over 100 refugees fled to Cambodia
in the wake of a crackdown over large protests against land confiscation and a lack of religious freedom. In 2001, a historic Protestant church built in 1936 which was being petitioned for return to the local Christian community, was demolished. At least 54 people remain imprisoned due to their faith, including some Protestants. The New Life Fellowship, which has been seeking official recognition for eight years, was denied access in 2005 from meeting in Ho Chi Minh City
. A Protestant pastor was forced to spend 12 months in psychiatric hospital on the disputed reason that he is delusional. In March, 2007, a member of the main Hanoi congregation of the legally-recognized Evangelical Church of Vietnam (North) Nguyen Van Dai was arrested for accusations relating to his defense of religious freedom, including disseminating alleged "infractions" of religious liberty.
Baptist
and Mennonite
movements were officially recognized by Hanoi in October, 2007, which was estimated as some improvement of religious freedom in the country. By words of the Baptist
Church Pastor Nguyen Thong, since 1989 his Church has attracted more than 18,400 followers with 500 ministers, practising in 135 congregations in 23 cities and provinces around the country.
Meanwhile, a film was made in 2007 about the Vietnamese underground churches and their continuing persecution from local authorities.
By the 2008 estimates of Release International
, many Christians from Vietnam's tribal highlands are still regarded as enemies and targeted as "agents of America" because of their legacy during the Vietnam War. They are reportedly beaten, tortured and starved behind bars, despite the official claims and guarantees of freedom of religion
.
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
are a small religious minority constituting from 0.5 to 2 % of the population or around one million people (or 1%) as the newest government census (2006). However, it is the country's fastest-growing religion, growing at a rate of 600% in the last decade.
Origin
Protestantism was introduced in 1911 at Da NangDa Nang
Đà Nẵng , occasionally Danang, is a major port city in the South Central Coast of Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea at the mouth of the Han River. It is the commercial and educational center of Central Vietnam; its well-sheltered, easily accessible port and its location on the path of...
by a Canadian missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
named Dr. R.A. Jaffray. As part of the Christian and Missionary Alliance
Christian and Missionary Alliance
The Christian and Missionary Alliance is an evangelical Protestant denomination within Christianity.Founded by Rev. Albert Benjamin Simpson in 1887, the Christian & Missionary Alliance did not start off as a denomination, but rather began as two distinct parachurch organizations: The Christian...
, over 100 missionaries were sent to Vietnam, assisting the faith's growth in the country. The first Protestant organization recognized by the government was the Evangelical Church
Evangelical Church
The term Evangelical Church may refer specifically to:* Slovak Evangelical Church* Armenian Evangelical Church* Assyrian Evangelical Church* Christian Evangelical Church of Romania* Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus...
of Vietnam: North in 1963.
By 1967 information, Protestant communities were represented mainly within South Vietnam. Those communities included the French Reformed Church, Anglican–Episcopalian
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
, Christian and Missionary Alliance
Christian and Missionary Alliance
The Christian and Missionary Alliance is an evangelical Protestant denomination within Christianity.Founded by Rev. Albert Benjamin Simpson in 1887, the Christian & Missionary Alliance did not start off as a denomination, but rather began as two distinct parachurch organizations: The Christian...
, Baptists, Churches of Christ, Worldwide Evangelization Crusade
WEC International
WEC International is a mission agency which focuses on church planting, and emphasises the importance of shared life in a local church as a vital expression of Christian life...
, and Seventh-day Adventist
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
s. Other Protestant associations were also represented in some social services and welfare agencies. In 1967 there were 150,000 Protestant adherents in South Vietnam, representing about 1% of the total population.
Several Protestant church properties were confiscated during the communist takeover of South Vietnam in 1975, including the seminaries in Nha Trang
Nha Trang
Nha Trang is a coastal city and capital of Khanh Hoa province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the North by Ninh Hoà district, on the East by the South China Sea, on the South by Cam Ranh town and on the West by Diên Khánh district...
and Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
. Hundreds of Protestant churches were also destroyed in this period.
All Protestant denominations in Vietnam were gathered by local communist government into a single organization called the Evangelical Church of Vietnam in 1975, which had around 500,000 official members in 1997. However, in 1988, a house church
House church
House church, or "home church", is used to describe an independent assembly of Christians who gather in a home. Sometimes this occurs because the group is small, and a home is the most appropriate place to gather, as in the beginning phase of the British New Church Movement...
movement began when some active pastors were expelled from the official churches. One of the most prominent from those pastors was Tran Dinh Ai, whose movement reached 16,000 members and 165 churches (by 1997).
Bible societies in Vietnam
ProtestantsProtestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
made several Bible translations in 1926 and 1991, and translated separate books of Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
and New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
into Vietnamese.
The organized work of United Bible Societies
United Bible Societies
The United Bible Societies is a worldwide association of Bible societies. In 1946 delegates from 13 countries formed the UBS, as an effort to coordinate the activities of the bible societies. The first headquarters were London and in Geneva...
in Vietnam began in 1890. In 1966 the Vietnamese Bible Society was established. The Bible societies distributed 53,170 Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
examples and 120,170 New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
examples in Vietnamese within the country in 2005. Two years earlier, in 2003, 60,000 copies of Bible and 50,000 copies of New Testament (all in Vietnamese) were printed in Vietnam with the permission of local authorities. Same year, 10,000 copies of the Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
language Bible were printed in Vietnam for the local Chinese community. 7,555 copies of them were sold in a few months.
Present time
Currently, more than half of the Protestants are part of evangelical house churchHouse church
House church, or "home church", is used to describe an independent assembly of Christians who gather in a home. Sometimes this occurs because the group is small, and a home is the most appropriate place to gather, as in the beginning phase of the British New Church Movement...
es. Growth of the faith has been most dramatic among ethnic minority peoples (Montagnards) such as the Mnong
Mnong
The Mnong or M'nong are an ethnic group from Vietnam . They can be subdivided into three groups:...
, E De
E De people
The E De are an ethnic group of southern Vietnam .-Language:The E De language is a member of the Chamic group of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family...
, Jarai
Jarai
The Jarai is an ethnic group based primarily in Vietnam's Central Highlands. The Jarai language is a member of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family...
, and Bahnar
Bahnar people
The Bahnar are an ethnic group of Vietnam living primarily in the Central Highland provinces of Gia Lai and Kon Tum, as well as the coastal provinces of Bình Định and Phú Yên...
. Pressure was reportedly put on Protestants in several northwestern villages to recant their faith in 2005, though there are fewer reports than in years past. Unsanctioned church meetings are routinely broken up and its members detained and harassed. In April 2001, the government gave official recognition to the Southern Evangelical Church of Vietnam. In 2005, hundreds of house churches that had been ordered to shut down in 2001, were quietly allowed to reopen. Over 100 refugees fled to Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
in the wake of a crackdown over large protests against land confiscation and a lack of religious freedom. In 2001, a historic Protestant church built in 1936 which was being petitioned for return to the local Christian community, was demolished. At least 54 people remain imprisoned due to their faith, including some Protestants. The New Life Fellowship, which has been seeking official recognition for eight years, was denied access in 2005 from meeting in Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City , formerly named Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam...
. A Protestant pastor was forced to spend 12 months in psychiatric hospital on the disputed reason that he is delusional. In March, 2007, a member of the main Hanoi congregation of the legally-recognized Evangelical Church of Vietnam (North) Nguyen Van Dai was arrested for accusations relating to his defense of religious freedom, including disseminating alleged "infractions" of religious liberty.
Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
and Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
movements were officially recognized by Hanoi in October, 2007, which was estimated as some improvement of religious freedom in the country. By words of the Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
Church Pastor Nguyen Thong, since 1989 his Church has attracted more than 18,400 followers with 500 ministers, practising in 135 congregations in 23 cities and provinces around the country.
Meanwhile, a film was made in 2007 about the Vietnamese underground churches and their continuing persecution from local authorities.
By the 2008 estimates of Release International
Release International
Release International is an international organization for monitoring and reporting persecution of Christians around the world and helping the victims of that persecution...
, many Christians from Vietnam's tribal highlands are still regarded as enemies and targeted as "agents of America" because of their legacy during the Vietnam War. They are reportedly beaten, tortured and starved behind bars, despite the official claims and guarantees of freedom of religion
Freedom of religion
Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any...
.
See also
- Christianity in VietnamChristianity in VietnamChristianity was first introduced to Vietnam in the 16th century and established a solid position in Vietnamese society since the 19th century. Roman Catholics and Protestants today constitute 7% and 1% of the country’s population accordingly; the newest government census shows that is 8% ....
- Mennonite Church in VietnamMennonite Church in VietnamThe Mennonite Church in Vietnam is a Protestant denomination of Christianity in Vietnam. It has about 10,000 members. Substantial part of the Mennonite house church members are montagnards living in Central and Southern Highlands of Vietnam....
- Assemblies of God in VietnamAssemblies of God in VietnamThe Assemblies of God in Vietnam is a Pentecostal Christian denomination in Vietnam affiliated with the World Assemblies of God Fellowship. In 2009, there were an estimated 40,000 adherents...
- DegarDegarThe Degar are the indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The term Montagnard means "mountain people" in French and is a carryover from the French colonial period in Vietnam. In Vietnamese, they are known by the term thượng - this term can also be applied to other minority ethnic...
External links
- Information on persecuted countries by International Christian ConcernInternational Christian ConcernInternational Christian Concern is a non-denominational, non-governmental, Christian watchdog group, located in Washington, DC, whose concern is the human rights of Christians...
- Vietnamese Christian Broadcast
- Vietnamese Christian Broadcast from Australia
- VietChristian
- Bible in Vietnamese
- Vietnamese Evangelical Church in Australia
- A New Day in Vietnam, Christianity Today Magazine
- The New Vietnamese Bible