From Intercessors Network:VIETNAM’S TRIBAL CHRISTIANS CONTINUE TO FACE PERSECUTION Reports continue to emerge from native missionaries in Vietnam regarding the government’s oppression of Christians, especially in tribal jungle areas. Intimidation, beatings and arrests also plague missionaries. ”The authorities are always on my track,” wrote one tribal Christian who has been arrested twice and warned to stop ”illegal evangelization.” Native gospel workers are regularly summoned to police offices to be interrogated. Those found guilty of spreading Christianity may be arrested and sentenced to years of hard labor or, in the case of one missionary, house imprisonment. Believers are often denied services that the communist government provides such as food rations, medicine and seeds for farming. They are not allowed to travel from village to village and must cautiously skirt authorities on missionary journeys. Recently 17 Christians from the Hmong tribe were arrested and tortured until they signed documents claiming they renounced their faith. Government officials also threaten to punish those who convert. As a result, missionaries say people are often afraid to make a decision for Christ. In some cases the persecution has backfired, only peaking people’s curiosity about Christianity.
