Dear Friend,
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of Christians who are currently serving sentences in Vietnam's brutal prisons. Their sentences are unfounded - these believers have refused to join the government-sanctioned churches which are the only legally-recognized religious institutions allowed to operate in the Communist nation. Government-sanctioned churches are heavily monitored and controlled in Vietnam. Thus the underground, and consequently illegal, house churches are continually monitored, harassed, and persecuted by special religious police. These underground Christians believe that being a part of a government-controlled church is not an option for followers of Christ, so they continue to live out their lives of faithfulness quietly and subversively.
Puih H'Bat is a Degar woman from the Central Highlands of Vietnam who was arrested for her leadership of an underground church. The Degar, or Montagnards, are an indigenous group that have been brutally colonized by the Vietnamese for decades and have been systematically denied their inherent rights and freedoms. Most Degar are Christians, and worship in underground churches. The then-41-year-old woman and mother of four was leading a group of 20 Christians in a prayer meeting in her home in 2008. Four Vietnamese security police exploded into her home and demanded that all those present sign a document agreeing to follow the government-sanctioned evangelical church, and threatened arrest and imminent imprisonment to those who refused. Despite the threats, all the Christians that night refused to sign the document. The following day, police stormed back into Puih's home and forcefully arrested her, along with two other believers. They were taken to the local prison, where after much suspected torture and continual threats, the other men were released after signing the document. However, it is believed that Puih refused and remained under arrest. She was officially sentenced to a five year sentence for "destruction of the unity of the people's solidarity".
However, since April 11, 2008, no one has heard from Puih. Despite several attempts from the international community, no one knows whether Puih continues to live out her days in Vietnam's brutal jails, not knowing whether release will truly come in 2013, or whether she has been murdered by a regime that purposefully seeks out to squelch underground Christian movements on the false accusations of their political undermining of the current regime. Most Degar fear that Puih has perished in Vietnam's harsh prison system.
For the sake of Puih H'Bat, her children, and her husband, we must not let her story be forgotten. We must pray that God opens the hearts of her captors and allows information of her survival, or unfortunate death, to be communicated. We must hold the Vietnamese government accountable to their actions, and to the rights of their citizens and prisoners. ICC is petitioning the Vietnamese government to release information on Puih H'Bat, for the sake of her family and the Degar community. Please join us in calling for this much-needed action by the Vietnamese government!
Here's How You Can Help
Pray: The first thing you can do to help is stop right now and ask the Lord to intervene for Puih H'Bat and for other Christians imprisoned in Vietnam for their faith.
Print out the petition and take it to your friends and church and have everyone you know sign it. Send the signatures back to us so we can compile the responses.
Feel free to print out extra signature pages for large numbers of sign ups. When you have collected all your signatures, please mail the signature pages to:
ICC
PO Box 8056
Silver Spring, MD 20907
or fax them to us at (301) 585-5918.
Please get them back to us by October 15th.
Forward this email to all your email contacts and ask them to do the same.
Sincerely in Christ,
Jeff King
President, ICC
International Christian Concern
P.O. Box 8056
Silver Spring, MD 20907
