VIETNAM PRO-LIFE MINISTRY

At Easter we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus which marks the beginning of a new covenant between God and man. It was indeed the biggest event in Bible history - Jesus gave His life so we may be saved and have LIFE! Life is such a precious gift from God. We do not have absolute autonomy over our own lives but are stewards of the life given to us by God. In Psalm 139:13-16 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” The lives of all humans, their own and others are to be cherished and guarded.

I was recently reading a report from our Pro-Life ministry in Vietnam and was appalled to read of the number of abortions performed there, estimated at about 1.5 million per year! Vietnam is the 3^rd to 7^th highest ranking county (statistics vary) in the world for the number of abortions and the highest in Asia. About 40% of pregnancies in Vietnam are aborted and abortion is the biggest challenge in Vietnam in the field of reproductive healthcare (according to a World Health Organization report).

Secret abortions are performed on teenagers aged between 13 and 19, said Nguyen Thi Hoai Duc, the director of the Institute for Reproductive and Family Health. In Vietnam, getting pregnant before marriage remains a taboo. A young woman who gets pregnant without being married is likely to face harsh backlash from not only her own family but society too. As a consequence, unmarried women  turn to private clinics to have abortions. On average, one woman dies every week because of unsafe abortions. However, it is not only unmarried women who abort their babies. Statistics show that married women with one or two children (some statistics show one or two daughters), have the highest rate of abortions.

The guilt of killing their unborn children affects many Vietnamese women who believe that the soul of their unborn child cannot rest in peace. So they go to online grave sites on the internet and insert a tombstone, name their baby and ask for forgiveness. Besides this online grave site there are also real grave sites for giving foetuses a proper burial. It has been reported that in grave sites outside the city of Hanoi more than 100,000 foetuses have been buried. This does not reflect the true number of abortions however, as many more are simply discarded in the most convenient place or manner.

Our missionary in Hanoi, Pushpa Waters was heartsick to learn of the growing number of abortions and she prayed to the Lord to show her a way to save these unborn children and together with others the Pro-Life Ministry was born.

From a slow start with varying degrees of success to reach women at risk, the PL-Team (Pro-Life Team) in Hanoi is now growing in number and in the scope of their ministry. Last year (2017) Passion Life from the US came, (thank you AO Malaysia for introducing), and conducted their first ‘Four Questions – Answering the Crisis of Abortion with the Gospel of Life’ (4Qs) Training in Hanoi. They returned in March this year teaching in several more churches, then David (Pushpa’s husband) was invited to teach the 4Qs to the Hanoi Christian Medical Fellowship in April and later David and Hue (his secretary) taught the 4Qs in their church. About 130 believers in Hanoi have gone through this one day abortion awareness training.

After the second visit by Passion Life in March, a pro-life team (PL-Team) made up of local believers was formed, adding momentum to the pro-life movement. They have now finished translating the 4Qs materials, and are challenging the local team to train churches. They have also just completed translating ‘Forgiven and Set Free – A Post-Abortion Bible Study for Women’ by Linda Cochrane (introduced by Jeanne Pernia) and are set to begin their first restorative group in the coming days. This is important, since many of the women who have a heart for pro-life have had abortions themselves, and they need to be set free in order to serve well.

Since March, one doctor in the PL-Team has created a website and written a pro-life booklet specifically aimed at non-Christians and has invitations to teach this to students in the medical universities. This same man has also offered the land he inherited just outside Hanoi as a refuge centre for women in pregnancy crisis. He already has the legal process underway and plans drawn up to build a legal orphanage/women’s refuge centre. This will be the first Christian women’s refuge centre (that we know of) in North Vietnam.

One lady pastor in the PL-Team has been taking care of four women in pregnancy crisis, even though she is poor (a single mum) and her house is very small. Two of the women are staying with her. Several other women have plans to reach out to women in pregnancy crisis as they enter or sit in crowded clinics. Many go there looking for abortion, but the reality is, in their time of need – in their crisis – they simply don’t know anyone who can help them. Many don’t want to abort but feel that they have no choice and are pressured to do so.

One woman was told by her pastor to attend the first 4Qs training and after the session she was determined to keep her baby – she was convinced she should abort when the doctor told her that her baby would most likely be born handicapped because she has high blood pressure. Her families were forcing her to abort. She is married with one child already. Praise God she did not abort.

Lan Anh, a university student in David and Pushpa’s church faced a difficult time when she was pregnant. She had to take a year off from studying when she became pregnant. She was abandoned by her boyfriend and disowned by her parents, however with help she was able to stay in her rented room in Hanoi until the baby was born. After the birth of her baby her mother softened and came from the countryside to visit, finally her whole family softened and welcomed her and her little child back into their home. Lan Anh returned with her baby to her family in the province and there met a nice young man. She is now married and has had another baby already!

The PL-Team in Hanoi have three main areas to serve in and to develop:

1. Awareness – starting with the church then mobilizing the church to pro-life action. Giving a clear understanding of the sanctity of human life, the humanity of the unborn child, the moral evil of intentionally killing innocent human beings (born or unborn) and the clear calling to the church to rescue the innocent.                                    

Connecting the church to God’s truth on life and abortion.

2. Women in Crisis – developing people and practical ways to minister to women in pregnancy crisis – through personal presence and care, offering understanding, hope, safety and practical support in their time of crisis. Opening Pregnancy Help Centres and Women’s Refuge Centres. 

Connecting with those in need.

3. Post-Abortion Healing – Offering real healing and freedom from guilt to the many women affected by abortion.

 Connecting women with Christ and the forgiveness he offers.

Pray for every woman facing a pregnancy decision, that they would choose life for their unborn children, and be surrounded by a supportive family and community to make a commitment to family and life. We pray that all will look upon human life as a great gift from God and be accepted and loved, not an unwanted burden to be destroyed. We pray for the Lord’s help for the efforts of those in the pro-life ministry of promoting the dignity and value of all human life, in particular the unborn. As for those women who have already aborted their unborn children, we pray they will seek His forgiveness and find peace and comfort in Christ Jesus.

Proverbs 24: 11

“Deliver those who are drawn toward death, And hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.”