Pray for Vietnam

Vietnam has one of the world’s oldest continuous cultures, influenced by China, Southeast Asia, and France. Tet, or the Lunar New Year, is one of its most important holidays, and lantern festivals are held year round. Vietnam is sometimes called the “S-shaped country,” stretching from the Chinese border to the Mekong Delta. The north’s cool winters and hot, humid summers support coffee and fruit production, while the south’s year-round tropical climate supports rice farming. In 1954, the Geneva Accords temporarily divided North and South Vietnam. Communist North Vietnam and anti-Communist South Vietnam underwent several decades of conflict until the North won in 1975. Today, Vietnam is one of the few remaining Communist countries in the world.

Communist ideals of protecting socialist rule have led to limitations on freedom of expression. Protesters and journalists have been arrested for voicing their opinions and face harsh punishment and unfair trials. Activists are often not permitted to travel and are denied passports. In 2025, the Vietnamese government consolidated provinces and cities in order to strengthen administrative control. The nation also faces rising sea levels, deforestation, and increasingly extreme weather. In 2024, eleven typhoons struck the nation between May and October. The storms killed over 400 citizens and injured over 700 more. Mass flooding swept away thousands of homes and hundreds of thousands of crops were lost.

In Vietnam, freedom of religion is constitutionally guaranteed, yet the government often denies church registration. Christians and churches are viewed as a threat to government control and face harassment and political pressures. Though Christians in urban areas do not face violent persecution, believers in rural areas do. Over half of the nation is Buddhist, and even those who identify as non-religious often practice ancestor veneration and elements of Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian traditions. Ancestor veneration in particular is central to Vietnamese family and culture. But amid harassment and restricted worship, the Church is persevering, and the number of evangelicals is growing.