AFWIS Joins with OW in prayer for the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Asia

December 18, 2012

Vietnam

Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Asia

See Prayer Information

Geography

Area: 331,653 sq km
Long, narrow country occupying the entire eastern and southern coastline of Indochina.
Population: 89,028,741    Annual Growth: 1.15%
Capital: Hanoi
Urbanites: 28.8%
HDI Rank: 116 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)

Peoples

Peoples: 114 (56% unreached) All peoples
Unreached Peoples Prayer Card

Official language: Vietnamese    Languages: 106 All languages

Religion

Largest Religion: Buddhist

Religion		Pop %	Ann Gr
Christians	8,395,410	9.43	2.3
Evangelicals	1,576,889	1.8	2.6
Buddhist	46,722,283	52.48

Answer to Prayer

Increased numbers of Bibles in Vietnamese and major tribal languages are printed and released with permission from the government. This is a great need, as the Church has spread rapidly and has a shortage of Bibles in the heart languages of Vietnam’s peoples. Many Christian books and study materials have recently been published, some by the government’s own publishing company.

Challenge for Prayer

The deepest spiritual allegiance in Vietnam is not to Communism, nor to the amalgam of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism traditionally practiced by Vietnamese. It is the veneration and worship of ancestors that runs deepest and across most religious practices. Its impact is usually underestimated. Christians face hard questions in dealing with this issue biblically. Pray for the gospel to be wisely contextualized into this reality even while generational bonds that run counter to Christ are broken.
     For an additional 8 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.

More Information

The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Vietnam.