When Protestant Christians celebrated their 100th anniversary this past weekend, it was at a 12,000-strong gathering where US-based evangelist Luis Palau preached. It was the first time since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 that Protestant churches had been allowed to hold such a large gathering. However, permission for the rally came just three hours before the meeting was due to begin, even though the application to hold the rally had been submitted several months before. The location of the meeting was also changed at the last minute to another location several kilometers from the originally planned one.
It seems to have become standard procedure for the government to grant permits for major Christian gatherings just hours before the start of the meeting, and often the venue is changed.
Argentine-born evangelist Luis Palau, who has preached to 28 million people in 72 countries, preached the Gospel message at Thanh Long Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) late in the evening on Saturday, April 9 and the following night, Sunday, April 10.
The change of venue meant that equipment set up in one part of the city had to be moved to the new venue before it could be assembled and set up, church leaders said. It also meant that organizers had to notify many thousands of people invited to the original venue to make their way to the new venue.
Especially given this lack of cooperation from the government, the leader of the Vietnam Evangelical Alliance (of house churches) said it was an "absolute miracle" that the event went ahead.
By word of mouth, Internet, Twitter, Facebook and text messages, thousands of people were notified of the venue change, while technicians and hundreds of volunteers heroically prepared the stadium for the event. The Vietnamese police were surprisingly helpful in directing people from the original to the new venue.
At 9 o'clock in the evening, two hours after the originally scheduled start time, huge banners reading "Pray for Vietnam" and "God loves Vietnam" were unfurled to welcome Luis Palau's team and the thousands of people who attended the party, which was a celebration of joy that combined the 100th anniversary with Easter.
After the opening prayers and welcome greetings by Vietnamese leaders, Luis Palau's son, Andrew Palau, gave his testimony of how God had delivered him from alcohol and drug abuse and called him to Christian ministry. A vice president from Intel Corporation testified how God blessed his life and his business. Pastor and musician Don Moen, known for songs like "Give Thanks with a Grateful Mind" and "God is So Good," provided inspirational music followed by jubilant congregational singing.
Palau began his sermon at 23:00. It was a concise, clear gospel message, and about 800 attendees came forward as he invited people to receive Jesus. It was past midnight before people started to go home.
The second celebration happened on Sunday evening, April 10, in better order and more on time. Over 12,000 people filled the seats and most of the extra chairs set up on the stadium lawn. In response to Palau's second message, according to the organizers, over 1,000 people came out in response to the call to follow Jesus.
You can see pictures and the Vietnamese text about the event on the website www.hoithanh.comand video clips of Luis Palau and Don Moen's arrival in Vietnam can be found on YouTube. They were welcomed at Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhut Airport by hundreds of enthusiastic young people carrying banners and flowers.
Dr. Nguyen Xuan Duc, President of Vietnam World Christian Fellowship, said he has been very encouraged about the future of the church in Vietnam.
"These days mark a shift for Protestantism in Vietnam," he said. "There is no fear, but rather a wonderful spontaneity and a joy that cannot be suppressed. Events like this are happening despite the government and without the blessing of overly conservative church leaders. What we are seeing is young, lay-led, internationally connected and media savvy."
While Luis Palau, Don Moen and others were speaking on Sunday night, there was another performance in Ho Chi Minh City, where famous singer and songwriter Bob Dylan was performing. Here, about half of the 8,000 seats at RMIT University were empty.
A week earlier in China's capital Beijing, censors reviewing Bob Dylan's list of songs he would perform had allowed an overtly Christian song that begins with the words "Jesus said: Be ready, for you do not know the hour in which I am coming," but they did not allow Dylan's most famous songs "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are A-Changin'" according to the Associated Press. Brad Adams of Human Rights Watch complained that Bob Dylan, whose music contributed to the opposition to the Vietnam War, would never have let any government dictate what he could sing in the past.
Luis Palau's team and the Vietnamese organizers will hold similar meetings on Friday-Saturday, April 15-16. So far, there is no indication whether the authorities there will be more accommodating than they were in Ho Chi Minh City.
Source: Compass Direct / Danish European Mission
