In March, ten Mennonite house church leaders met with Don Sensenig, a former EMM worker in Vietnam, and a Vietnamese Mennonite pastor from Canada, to talk about their pressing spiritual and physical needs.

Two hours away from Hochiminh City, a minority tribal people* have joined the Mennonite family of faith.

Several groups of house church leaders began identifying with the Mennonite church after receiving copies of the 1995 Mennonite Confession of Faith that had been translated by Vietnamese Mennonites in North America and distributed widely in Vietnam.

As some Vietnamese Mennonite leaders applied for legal registration with the government, they also gave copies of the Confession to the local authorities. They wanted to demonstrate that Mennonites were not some strange, indigenous sect, but part of a worldwide body.

In addition, the Vietnamese Mennonite leaders knew that the government had permitted Mennonite Central Committee to work in the country, and identification with Mennonite churches overseas could strengthen the argument that they were a legitimate religious body.

“It is mind-boggling to realize that during the decade that copies of the Mennonite Confession of Faith were circulating in Vietnam, an estimated 10-15,000 believers in unregistered house churches came to consider themselves part of the Mennonite family of faith,” said Don Sensenig, a former EMM worker in Vietnam.

In March, Sensenig and a Vietnamese Mennonite pastor from Canada traveled to the region to meet with a delegation of ten Vietnamese Mennonite house church leaders. For this meeting in an outdoor restaurant in a large market town, some of the house church leaders traveled four to five hours over rough dirt roads on borrowed motorbikes.

As the group assembled, Pastor John*, head of this district of house churches, invited the leaders to share their hearts. First of all, they expressed deep appreciation that someone from so far away had come to visit them in their own land, that they are not forgotten.

Then they spoke of their struggles and challenges. As evangelical Christians, and a minority people, they are suspected of being disloyal to the Vietnamese regime. They are constantly monitored and questioned, although now rarely imprisoned.

Their way of life is changing. They can no longer practice traditional upland agriculture, and many of their lands have been confiscated. Recent years have brought drought. There are few sources of income and limited educational opportunities. Their young people are being lured to the factories springing up near Hochiminh City.

Maintaining strong churches is also a challenge. They have no adequate places of worship and few hymnbooks, Bibles, or other resources.

In sharing their plight, they wondered what resources the broader church may have to share with them for their financial and spiritual health. First and foremost they asked for training in Bible, church leadership, and further understanding of Mennonite life and teaching.

The group also brainstormed together about appropriate material assistance. Outside funds could be used to help with the construction of church buildings and to purchase musical instruments and other worship resources. Income-generating projects like breeding cows and cultivating small plots of rubber trees could produce a steady stream of income.

“Clearly the long-term future of these and other minority peoples, who make up the majority of Mennonite and all other evangelical church members in Vietnam, is at risk,” Sensenig said. “Their traditional way of life cannot be sustained, and they will need support as they transition to a faster-paced modern world.”

Sensenig noted that the Vietnamese government is also aware of these issues and wondered if there is a change coming that will replace antagonism with cooperation.

“As we parted,” Sensenig said, “These dear brothers gave us two plastic bottles filled with wild honey they had gathered as a token of their appreciation. Yes, they’d been stung in gathering the honey, but when there is a desire to give and share, small setbacks can be overcome and the shared blessings make the hardships worth the cost. Let’s pray for wisdom and resources to help our brothers and sisters here find a better future than they now foresee.”

EMM welcomes contributions for holistic assistance of the Vietnamese Mennonite house churches.

-from reports by Don Sensenig, EMM worker in Vietnam, 1963-73. Sensenig continues to relate to the Mennonites in Vietnam.
*Places and names not given for security reasons.

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