Vietnamese widows, pastors suffer hardship.

Posted: 19 September, 2003

Vietnam (MNN) ― Vietnam's persecution of evangelical Christians has left many widows without support, scores of pastors imprisoned for their faith, and more in great hardship.
Christian Aid has received the names of 36 widows who are in dire straits. About 20 of these are from the Koho people group; about a dozen are ethnic Vietnamese; and the rest are from other minority tribes such as the Ede and Jera. Their names are kept confidential for security reasons, but their stories are similar.
Many of their husband/pastors were reportedly killed by the government for working for "anti-government organizations of tribal people."
These men left behind congregations of hundreds and surviving widows who are now old and sick. The Montagnards, a tribal group from Vietnam's highlands, are accused of being traitors to the government because they align with Christianity, a "foreign" religion that authorities identify with their old enemy, the U.S.

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