News / Thoughts

Vietnam: Six year old Phouc beaten…

Persecution looks different in different places. But, it’s common for followers of Jesus to bet physically attacked. What’s not so common is for children to suffer abuse because of their family’s faith. We just heard about six-year old Phouc*, who is recovering after being attacked because her parents had converted to Christianity. Read on, and please pray for her!

In a coma for a month

The track was pretty brutal. Phouc was in a coma for a month, after she was beaten. She was rushed to hospital, where she fell unconcious. When she eventually awoke, she was unable to recognise her parents.

So why did this happen? Simply because her parents had recently become Christians and worshipping their ancestors, like the rest of the village. This angered the local authorities, who whipped up the whole village against them. Phouc’s parents were also tied up and badly beaten.

Forced to leave

The angry villagers shouted at them to deny their faith, but they refused. After being violently attacked Phouc’s parents were told to leave. Members of their church took them to a nearby hospital, where they were treated for three days.

The family’s pastor spoke with local authorities, asking that they be allowed to return to their homes. Permission was granted, but villagers continued to threaten and curse them because of their new-found faith. The family describe each day as ‘a torture’. God’s grace and love sustains them, but their lives are extremely hard. Phouc is too young to understand why this happened to her, and her injuries mean that she doesn’t even remember the attack.

What’s it like for Christians in Vietnam?

Vietnam is number 20 on the Open Doors 2019 World Watch List. The Communist government monitors Christian activity and exercises a high level of pressure on all Christians. Tribal leaders will often exclude Christians and new converts from the community, seeing them as traitors of their culture and identity.

Thanks to your prayers and gifts, Open Doors is able to support the church in Vietnam through providing Bibles and other Christian literature, training, socio-economic development, advocacy and relief aid to tribal believers.

Pray now…

• For health, protection and peace for Phouc and her family
• That their attackers will encounter God and turn to Jesus
• That Open Doors church partners in Vietnam will be the light of Christ in their communities.

Join the Blackout for Christians like Phouc!

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*Name changed for security reasons