Vietnamese Man Refuses to Renounce Jesus Despite Brutal Beating From His Muslim Brother
He was bloodied and beaten by his own brother, but this Christian convert from a village in northern Vietnam refused to give up his faith as his brother and leaders of his village had demanded of him.
Khanh, 28, and his wife and daughter, embraced Jesus just five months ago, according to Open Doors USA.
When the Muslim leaders of the village learned that they had been meeting with other believers from another village regularly, they issued a warning to Khanh that if he did not return to Islam, the government would cut the social services his family has been receiving, including access to health care and education for his daughter.
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The village leader named Duy also warned that they will be expelled from the village if they continue to believe in Jesus.
Late last month, Khanh's brother Thanh came to his house to try and convince him to renounce his faith. But Khanh said he would never give up his faith.
Angered, his brother punched and kicked him, leaving him with bloody wounds on his head and legs. Thanh also hurt his brother's daughter and destroyed some of their property inside their house.
Because of the threats coming from the village elders, Khanh and his family were forced to leave their house. They found refuge in the home of a local pastor.
Khanh is just one of the thousands of Christians in Vietnam who are being subjected to increased persecution.
In its report, Open Doors USA says converts to Christianity from Buddhist or ethnic-animist backgrounds face the strongest persecution, which comes not only from the authorities, but from family, friends, and neighbors.
On its 2017 World Watch list of the top 50 Christian-persecuting countries in the world, the persecution watchdog placed Vietnam at number 17, rating the persecution level there as "very high" with communist oppression and ethnic antagonism as the source of persecution.
On Nov. 18, 2016, Vietnam's communist government adopted a new law on belief and religion, which further curbed religious freedom in the country.
According to the National Catholic Register (NCR), Christians in Vietnam who refuse to speak out against Christ are threatened with loss of their jobs, not being able to send their children to the public school, torture, imprisonment, and even death.
Since the communists took power in Vietnam in 1975, the NCR report says thousands of Vietnamese Christians have been arrested, tortured and threatened in an attempt to suppress their faith.
Despite the persecution, Christians in the communist nation continue to defend their faith, with the Catholic community now the second largest in East Asia, it says.
"The bottom line is the Vietnamese government generally sees religion as something to be manipulated and restricted, not respected—and so they are constantly waging a battle across the country to keep religion under state control," Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch Asia division, told the South China Morning Post.
