The Patriot Post® · Dispatches From Vietnam: Part III
By the time you read this, we will have finished a 2-3-day Franklin Graham crusade in Saigon. Like the first one in 2017 in Hanoi, thousands will have come to know Christ. Read on for “the rest of the story.”
In 1989, the communists ruled with an iron hand. Every government official had been in the North Vietnamese Army. Surprisingly, we met former communist soldiers who were sent to reeducation (concentration) camp after the war. Apparently, the “worker’s paradise” promised did not meet their expectations. There is no dissent when tyrants rule; but “divine encounters” would change everything!
In Vietnam, religion is banned. But somehow we were allowed to bring in 10,000 Vietnamese Bibles on that trip. That was the last time it happened. We were meeting with a group of pastors, most of them only recently released from reeducation camps. We presented copies of the Bibles to the pastors. They had not held a Bible for over 14 years.
A hush fell on the room; almost immediately their knees hit the floor and they began singing. My Vietnamese was rusty, until they began to sing the chorus. With tears streaming down their faces, they sang, “Halleluia thine the glory, halleluiah amen; halleluiah thine the glory, revive us again!” Now everyone was crying. Their faith had not been broken after the years of torture and depravation.
Our next divine appointment was to meet with an underground church leader. At least that’s what we thought! After ensuring we were no longer being followed, we were taken into the back of a small factory, up a staircase into an upper room. We went inside where about 50 people were sitting on the floor with open Bibles and notebooks. They were furiously writing what the speaker was saying. The speaker smiled and kept going.
After about 30 minutes he stopped and said something to those in the room who began to spread out, many getting on their knees. The “teacher” looked at my friend Bill and I and in perfect English said, “Brothers, let’s pray!” Suddenly, like in another upper room 2,000 years earlier, the presence of the Holy Spirit came down. This small group of underground church leaders began to pour out their souls to Heaven, asking our Heavenly Father for another move of God in their country.
In my 14 years of serving Christ, attending churches, retreats, advances, “revivals” (services) — and don’t forget potlucks — I had never felt the very presence of God like I experienced that day. These people who faced persecution and imprisonment for meeting, if caught, wept for the Lord to move in their nation. My heart was moved even more for this country.
Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia suffered greatly after America’s withdrawal from Southeast Asia. To those of us who fought, we wanted to stop the “domino effect” of communism in Southeast Asia like had happened in Eastern Europe after WWII. But we abandoned them. A bloodbath followed. But Christianity could not, would not, be extinguished!
America has rejected the biblical faith that made it the most free, prosperous nation on the planet. We’re watching the nation crumble before our very eyes. But be encouraged: Christianity cannot, will not, be destroyed. A new generation is rising up to pray Heaven down on earth. Listen for the sound of the “mighty rushing wind”!
It’s coming!