Government approves printing Bibles in Vietnam

Vietnam (MNN) — Vietnam has been a country that has been
very dangerous for Christians. For years it has been on the Open Doors World
Watch list of nations who persecute Christians. Until last year, Vietnam
was on the United States list of countries of particular concern as it relates
to religious freedom violations.

President of WorldServe Ministries Dr. David Hunt says that
may be changing. "In spite of the difficulties over the years and the
challenges in Vietnam still today, to some extent, we are seeing some of the
greatest opportunities and openings in the history of the nation."

The reason for this is that the government has
given approval to do something unprecedented. "Our friends in
Vietnam have written permission from religious affairs to print 100,000
Bibles that will be released to the unregistered church in Vietnam. That is
stunning."

The Bibles are needed because of incredible growth. Hunt
says, "The church has grown so explosively since 1975 from about 55,000
baptized believers to well over [nobody knows for sure] 1 million believers
today, and maybe as close to 1.5 million believers. And the church is growing by
leaps and bounds."

The need for training church leaders is vital. According to Hunt, World Serve already has
plans to help build a training center. "The land has already been
purchased with the long term goal of having a training center whereby hundreds
and hundreds of pastors would be equipped."

However, the need for Bibles is the biggest need, and funding
to print those Bibles is their top priority. "We are needing our partners
and our friends to stand with us once again. And literally we are still
needing a few hundred thousand dollars to accomplish this. We have a
partnership with the American Bible Society, and they are stepping up with matching
funds. So we truly do have a great, great need."

You can help WorldServe print Bibles by clicking
here.