Three Christians who were seriously injured in a violent attack on November 13 near Hanoi have been transferred to an unnamed hospital in Ho Chi Minh City after several hospitals in the area refused to examine and treat them.
The attack targeted a service at a house church in Lai Tao village in My Duc district. A female evangelist, Nguyen Thi Lan, had her pelvis broken in two places and suffered severe damage to her internal organs, according to doctors, who recommended immediate surgery.
But the doctors at the three other hospitals where she had previously sought help along with two other badly injured Christians had turned them away, saying there was nothing wrong, says Pastor Nguyen Cong Thanh, leader of the house church. When doctors in Vietnam hear that an attack is religiously motivated, they usually don't dare to treat or even examine the victims of the persecution.
Nguyen Thi Lan recently retired from her position as a Communist Party official and converted to Christianity just last year. In that short time, she has led over 50 people to the Christian faith. This angered a man from the village, known only by his first name Khoan. Khoan and his son came with a gang who broke into her house, smashed things and beat several people, including Pastor Ngyuen Danh Chau, who was knocked unconscious, according to witnesses.
Doctors' examinations of Ngyuen Danh Chau revealed internal damage to his kidneys, liver and possibly other organs, and he was hospitalized for treatment. Nguyen Thi Tac, who had been hit with a shovel in the chest, stomach and back, was also still in severe pain, but she was not hospitalized. "I pray that you will patiently endure your trials without bitterness for Jesus' sake," Nguyen Cong Thanh told the victims. "Know that the blood you have shed is now united with the blood of Christ's sufferings."
