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HANOI, Vietnam — A gang of men attacked leaders of a house church network near Hanoi on Nov. 13, leaving one pastor unconscious and seriously injuring several others, including women and teenage children.
Leaders of the Agape Baptist Church were participating in a spiritual renewal meeting at the home of pastor Nguyen Danh Chau in Lai Tao village, Bot Xuyen commune, My Duc district, when they were attacked, sources said. The gang began beating people and smashing property, seriously injuring more than a dozen people. The gang warned Pastor Danh Chau that they would kill him if he continued gathering Christians, the sources in Vietnam said.
The attackers then tried to blamed the pastors for the violence.
Pastor Danh Chau was one of the more seriously wounded. He was unconscious for hours and, as of midnight Nov. 15, he was still suffering severe chest, stomach and head pain.
Nguyen Thi Lan, a pastor’s wife, was still unable to walk and function normally at press time after she was struck in the stomach and groin. Others still remained weak.
Ironically, the attack was on the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, observed worldwide by thousands of churches.
The attackers also vandalized the house church and stole valuable parts from the motorcycles belonging to the pastors before smashing the remainder of the vehicles. The motorbikes are a huge loss for the church leaders.
The family’s kitchen, garden and fruit trees were also damaged during the violent attack sources said.
The Agape Baptist Church is an unregistered house church organization of some 2,200 members who worship regularly in 38 congregations. It was established in 2007. Many of the congregations are located in or near Hanoi and nearby provinces.
Agape Baptist Church head Nguyen Cong Thanh said in a statement Nov. 15 that he had met with the injured.
“All they could do was weep, and I also could not prevent my tears from flowing,” Thanh said. “Why do they gratuitously beat servants of the Lord like this – what crime have they committed, what enemies have they made? All we want to do is gather people to worship and serve God and our fellowman.”
In the past few years, official policy toward religion in Vietnam is ostensibly more tolerant than it was previously, so it has become a pattern for police and higher authorities to employ gangs for such anti-Christian attacks, according to Christian leaders in Vietnam. The gang members are rarely identified and never prosecuted.
Vietnam’s ranking among countries with persecution of Christians slipped slightly on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2011 World Watch List. Vietnam’s place on the list deteriorated from number 21 to number 18 last year.
Compass Direct and Christian Examiner staff report
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