Paj

VOM Newsletter

 

A Hmong couple in northern Vietnam had known the Lord for only four weeks when they were beaten by village officials. Local authorities haven’t bothered established Christians as much recently, but they zealously persecute new converts. After hearing of the couple’s conversion, officials called the wife, “Paj,” to the police station.

 

“Do you believe in Jesus?” they asked her. When she told them she did, they ordered her to stop believing. But Paj told the men, “I will believe in Jesus and will not stop, whether I live or die.” They then beat her in the face with a stick and pressed her face into the ground.

 

After the beating, officials told Paj and her husband, “Tuam,” that they and their three boys needed to convert back to the tribal religion or face losing their house, livestock and land. But they were unwilling to give up their new faith in Jesus. The pastor who had led them to the Lord offered support, but he lived 15 miles away. They hung on for a week before officials ran them out of the village.

 

Paj and Tuam fled their village with only the few things they could stuff in a suitcase. They lost their land and their livelihood, and all their family and friends turned away from them. A small church in the same province took them in, but the church is very poo. The church and VOM are sharing the expense of building the family a new home, and the church will be their new family. VOM workers met with Paj and Tuam a few days after they left their village. Paj’s face had mostly healed by then. VOM workers encouraged the couple and prayed for them as they began their new journey of faith. Their faith has already been tested, and it remains firm.