o embraced Christ, one of the few of the Sung clan to do so. He lives with his wife & children in the village of Ho Co in northwest Vietnam, an area that is mainly Hmong, where ancestor & spirit worship is prominent. For this, police of the Na Son Commune incited area residents to abuse and stone them, as well as other Christians in the village.For this, Po and his wife, Hang thi Va, were arrested on December 1st and Po was beaten, receiving 70 blows to his back & head. They were fined 8 million dong (US $430) and a pig of 16 kilos. Po’s motorbike & cellphone were confiscated. On December 15th, Po & his wife were taken by police to his extended family, where his clan brought severe pressure on him to recant his faith.
Under additional threats from the police, Po denied his faith, signing recantation documents. “I folded – I signed when police threatened to beat me to death if I didn’t recant,” he said. “Then they would seize my property, leaving my wife a widow, and my children fatherless – without a home.” Following Po’s written recantation, authorities subjected him to further family and clan pressure and “fines,” as well as rites to satisfy traditional Hmong spirits said to have become upset when he offended them by becoming a Christian.
As a final sign that his recantation was genuine, Po was to offer ancestral sacrifices on February 13th, during the lunar New Year celebrations. No word on whether Po made that sacrifice as a final mark that he denied the faith arrived until April 1st when Compass Direct reported that Po never made the sacrifice during the new year celebrations. On March 15th, police destroyed the family’s home and on March 19th, Po and his family fled into the forest. It is hoped that they were able to connect with other Hmong Christians who will help them.
That Po at first succumbed to the pressure of police and clan and family. . . the prospect of losing your home or your life. . . is not surprising. As a new believer in Christ, maybe as one without the comfort and support even of other believers, what inner resource is there to resist such pressures? How circumstances can fall on one and bring an end to all hope. . . no answers, no way out, no strength to get thru. What confusion and distress. . . the promise of life and hope in Jesus was met immediately by the crushing reality of persecution. For Po, circumstances closed on him quickly with intense pressure, the prospect of losing everything can weigh heavily. . . as a believer of only a few weeks, it is not surprising that he recanted.
What is surprising is that he did not make the final sacrifice to the spirits during the village celebration. Having gone so far down the road of leaving the faith, there was something that kept him from going further. The original pressures would still be there and would most likely be more intense. The villagers most likely thought Po’s case was solved, with only the sacrifice as something of a final mark that the problem of Po as a Christian was resolved. How fierce the reaction from the village when realizing that Po would not sacrifice and instead would follow Christ. . . what intense hatred for this one. The destruction and burning of his house is the natural course for such hatred.
In Ephesians 3, Paul writes, “. . . according to the power at work within us. . .” There is a power at work within. . . something immense and vital operating in the believer in Christ. Something greater than this world that gets us thru this world. . . a going on and a going forward when every other resource and power and hope proves impotent. The word is “. . . to those who are called. . . Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” Christ is the power of God in us that calls us on and forward, that when circumstances and everything within say there is no way, that the power within is working and strengthening and showing a way forward and providing a new prospect. Something rises up within that brings hope and encourages and draws one on. It is “… by the power of an indestructible life,” mentioned of the Lord in Hebrews 7.
There is for those in Christ, something irresistible and eternal that rises up within. . . that faces the hardest obstacles and the heaviest burdens and overcomes. That’s what being in Christ brings, a life not of ourselves that has the power to take us thru and bring us home. How easy it would have been for Po to have given up and made the final ancestral sacrifice. . . how much easier on him and his family to have escaped all the pressures. Having made the initial denial, it would not be a far step to make the final one. But Christ within means resurrection and life. Against all the troubles and persecution, in Christ we rise. Although the troubles often do not go away, and for Po his troubles increased, there is in Christ the capacity within to face things and be faithful. . . to go forward and not sink under. The Lord proves Himself faithful even when we are not. Even if we fall for the moment, the life of God within remains and in Christ, we can find the strength to go on. It is our testimony, that in Christ we rise. Against all the troubles and failures in this journey, Christ means life within.
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