ICC NOTE: Vietnam has been very prevalent in the news as of late due to President Obama’s visit and the subsequent lifting of the decades long weapons embargo. What hasn’t been distributed by mainstream media sources are the stories like the death of pastor Dang Ba Nham on May 5th as reported by Morning Star News. While himself, his wife, and church elder were evangelizing to a woman on the side of the road, a truck plowed through the small group dragging the pastor 15 meters where he was killed from the impact. The wife and church elder have been going through various surgeries to repair their injuries and as for the woman, she died at the scene but praise God she is with the heavenly father as she was a newly converted Christian. 

5/27/2016 Vietnam (Morning Star News) – On the evening of May 5, pastor Dang Ba Nham, his wife, and a church elder were praying on a roadside with a woman who had recently converted to Christianity in this city on the north central coast of Vietnam.

They stood in front of the property of the new Christian, Phan Thi Thanh Huyen, to ask God for His blessing in building a new house. As they were praying, a large pickup truck with red military plates veered across the street and ploughed squarely into the small group.

Pastor Nham was dragged about 15 meters and died at the scene. He was 56.

The new believer, Huyen, died of injuries the next day. Pastor Nham’s wife underwent complex surgery for serious neck and upper body injuries on May 9; she is weak, and her recovery uncertain. The church elder, Hoang Ngoc Hung, was transported to Hanoi by the military and has also undergone serious surgery. An attending doctor said his chances of surviving are no more than 20 percent.

Serving the Vietnam Good News Mission Church, Pastor Nham was an effective evangelist in Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh – probably the four provinces in Vietnam most hostile to the gospel, and the location of regular incidents of persecution. He had been recently warned to stop sharing his faith.

Mrs. Huyen had also faced strong opposition from relatives.

No one believes the trajectory of the vehicle across an oncoming lane directly into a group of people standing together was an accident, although some church reports published on the Internet use the term to avoid trouble. Staged “accidents” are a common way for authorities in Vietnam to take care of those they deem trouble-makers.

The funeral of Pastor Nham was held on May 8 at his church in Vinh. It was crowded to overflowing. The speaker at the very moving funeral service informed Morning Star News that some 30 young people stood in response to his question, “Who will take his place?” In this way, he added, those attending also received amazing courage and blessing to accompany their tears and deep grief in a place where being a follower of Jesus can carry a high cost.

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