Assemblies of God in Vietnam
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Assemblies of God in Vietnam is a Pentecostal Christian denomination in Vietnam affiliated with the World Assemblies of God Fellowship.[1] In 2009, it was in the process of receiving official recognition from the Vietnamese government.
History
The Vietnam house church movement began in 1988, when some pastors were expelled from the official churches for reported charismatic gifts and healing. The most uncompromising from them was Tran Dinh Ai, whose movement in 1997 reached 16,000 members in 165 churches. The movement proclaimed itself the Assemblies of God in Vietnam, followed the AG rules and was recognized by the AG worldwide. [2] Tran Dinh Ai later left Vietnam for the United States and was considered to be "a modern day apostle".
The AG remained an officially illegal movement when a 1994 registration attempt failed, and members reported widespread human rights violations.[1] In August 1997, three Vietnamese Christians, belonging to the unregistered Assemblies of God house churches, were jailed for three years. Lo Van Hen, his cousin Lo Van Hoa, and Nguyen Van Vuong, who were pastors in unofficial "house" communes in Dien Bien Phu (Northwest Vietnam), had been accused by local authorities of being "fake Christians" and of "illegally propagating their beliefs." [3] On May 7, 1999, police raided an Assemblies of God meeting in a hotel in Hanoi, holding 20 people for several days.
In October 2009, the Assemblies of God received an official operating license from the government. This gives it the right to legally operate and is the first step to being recognized as an official church.[4]
References
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