BANMETHUOT, Vietnam — Just hours after the prime minister’s office assured denominational leaders that there were no plans to destroy their Protestant church building, authorities in Banmethuot demolished the historic structure in the Central Highlands city in March.
Government work crews arrived at the site just after darkness fell March 11 and quickly demolished the structure belonging to the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South), or ECVN(S), according to local sources.
Authorities had confiscated the church building in 1975 after the Communist victory and had removed its cross. Church authorities many times had asked for the return of the building. Following demolition of the building, the ECVN(S) executive council passed a resolution March 20 announcing it was “extremely upset and in deep sympathy with the 135,000 believers in Dak Lak province.”
Calling for the church to set aside April 9 for fasting and prayer, the resolution also states that ECVN(S)’s executive council will select representatives to meet with authorities of Dak Lak province and the central government to ask that “they urgently address and solve this matter so that the events described above will not be repeated in other places.”
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