VZCZCXRO0727
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHNH
DE RUEHHM #1279/01 3620531
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 280531Z DEC 07
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3496
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 2386
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 3715

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 001279 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/IRF AND DRL/AWH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KIRF PHUM PREL VM
SUBJECT: CHANGES IN THE FORTUNES OF ONE CHURCH REFLECT CHANGES IN 
VIETNAM 
 
REF: HCMC 811 
 
HO CHI MIN 00001279  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The story of the United World Mission Church 
(UWMC) is a microcosm the changes that have gripped Vietnam in 
the more than 32 years since the end of the war.  The church 
went underground but survived as the direct persecution and 
police scare campaigns of the late 1970's progressed to property 
confiscations in the 1980's.  While the situation improved once 
the 1986 "doi moi" reforms brought liberalization, the best the 
church's leader could say about the 1990's is that his church 
was unofficially tolerated and harassed less often than in the 
1980's.  Since the passage of the law on religious freedom in 
2004, however, the once glacial pace of change has speeded up 
considerably.  The UWMC now has full legal status and an elected 
Executive Council formally recognized by the GVN.  After decades 
of training preachers in underground schools or sneaking them 
abroad, the UWMC graduated 75 new preachers from its Danang 
training center in 2007; 150 more will graduate in 2008.  Plans 
are afoot for a new church to accommodate 1,500 worshipers at 
once and a new national headquarters building.  Perhaps most 
surprising of all, the same local police station that once meted 
out harassment now keeps cordial relations with the UWMC's 
central church, going so far this year as to organized a special 
Yuletide dinner at which the pastor was invited to give the 
benediction.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) During a December 18 meeting at his home in Danang, 
Pastor Toi of the United World Mission Church (UWMC) of Vietnam 
provided an illuminating personal perspective on the progress of 
religious freedom since 1975.  Immediately after reunification, 
security agents told everyone that even though the U.S. had 
pulled out of Vietnam, they left behind their CIA agents in the 
form of Protestant pastors.  While all Protestants were suspect, 
Pastor Toi says that the UWMC was singled out for particularly 
harsh treatment.  Many pastors were sent to reeducation camps 
and all pastors found themselves totally isolated from their 
congregations since people feared retribution from security 
police if they were seen talking to a preacher.  Pastor Toi, 
like many other religious and business figures, "voluntarily" 
donated most church property to the GVN.  Among the donated 
properties were a large hospital located on 20 hectares (50 
acres) of land, a school on 2 hectares (5 acres) and smaller 
properties.  As part of his understanding with the new 
government, the UWMC kept its main church in Danang. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In 1983, roughly three-quarters of the property of the 
main UWMC church in Danang was confiscated by provincial 
officials and six families were moved into the former church. 
The justification given was that the church was not being used. 
Pastor Toi points out that while the rationale was true, it was 
only true because UWMC members could only meet in secret due to 
fear of police reprisals.  Public religious worship was illegal. 
 At roughly the same time his church was divided up, other 
leading UWMC pastors were ejected from their parsonages so 
Pastor Toi had to partition his own home to make room for 
additional families.  In his tiny remodeled living space, the 
former entry way became the living and dining area while the 
former bathroom became the sole bedroom.  His home retains this 
form to this day. 
 
¶4. (SBU) After the start of Doi Moi in 1986 and particularly in 
the early 1990's the situation improved and UWMC members could 
once again meet openly, although still only unofficially.  On 
more that one occasion, police prevented services from taking 
place, sometimes by blocking access and sometimes by summoning 
the pastor to a meeting.  Several times, police summoned Pastor 
Toi to meetings at the same time that major celebrations such as 
Christmas services were scheduled to take place.  The police 
never had anything in particular to discuss; they just wanted to 
disrupt services. 
 
¶5. (SBU) After the passage of the new law on religious freedom 
in 2004, the situation began to improve.  While it was initially 
very difficult to register churches and meeting points, as both 
Pastor Toi and local governments became more familiar with 
registration procedures, the process quickened.  By July of 2007 
(when Pastor Toi first met the new CG), many registrations were 
being processed in only two weeks (reftel).  While many others 
took longer, Pastor Toi and the other pastors from UWMC were 
clearly learning to work the system and had found that central 
and provincial authorities from the Committee on Religious 
Affairs (CRA) were willing to play an active, supportive role. 
 
¶6. (SBU) In September 2007, the UWMC held it's first nation-wide 
conference since the end of the war, electing an 11-member 
executive council that includes roughly equal numbers of pastors 
from three generations: the pre-1975 generation, the generation 
of pastors who began their service in the "underground" 
congregations of the UWMC from 1975 to 2004, and new pastors who 
 
HO CHI MIN 00001279  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
graduated from the UWMC's first officially-approved five-month 
training program in July 2007.  While Pastor Toi was told not to 
invite foreign observers to the September general conference, 
several showed up anyway.  Pastor Toi said that those foreigners 
who did come were given a warm reception both by the church and 
by local officials and wound up going away deeply impressed by 
what they had seen. 
 
¶7. (SBU) After years of having to run to Hanoi or to the 
People's Committee office for all types of permission slips and 
official paperwork, Pastor Toi was all set to head to Hanoi once 
again to accept his denomination's official national 
registration certificate on October 24, 2007.  He was therefore 
pleasantly surprised to receive a call from the CRA telling him 
that he did not need to travel; the CRA would send someone to 
bring the certificate to him.  When the denomination was given 
"legal person" status (allowing it to officially own property 
and engage in legally-binding transactions just as a corporation 
or NGO can), the CRA once again sent someone down from Hanoi. 
While small, these changes reflect a fundamental change in 
attitude toward religion. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Pastor Toi commented that perhaps his experience this 
Christmas season best summed up the changes that have occurred 
in Vietnam.  This year, he once again received a call from the 
local police.  Unlike the dark years of the 1980's when they 
called to harass him or disrupt Christmas services, however, 
this year they called to invite him to a special dinner in honor 
of the Christmas season -- a dinner hosted by the police at 
which Pastor Toi would be invited to say the blessing. 
 
MORE WORK TO BE DONE 
-------------------- 
¶9. (SBU) While Pastor Toi credits the will of God (and not the 
GVN) for the changes that have occurred, he is actively pressing 
the GVN to make more changes.  Church registrations are easier 
but there are still problems to be resolved, particularly in 
some provinces in the north eastern part of the country.  Even 
though he never donated the UWMC's central facility to the GVN 
and it is therefore officially considered to be "borrowed" 
rather than owned by the GVN, he has been told that in order to 
reclaim the church property the church itself -- and not the GVN 
-- must first directly compensate the six families and one 
brewery that now occupy former church land.  All six families 
have made it clear that their compensation price will be very 
high.  The brewery has announced plans to relocate and sell its 
facility on Danang's red hot real estate market. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Having trained 75 new pastors last year, the UWMC 
plans to train 150 more in 2008 while simultaneously upgrading a 
number of "meeting points" into fully recognized churches.  Now 
that the UWMC has full legal rights, Pastor Toi is planning to 
sue for property restitution rather than simply request it.  At 
the same time, he is filing an application for a 10,000 square 
plot of land as compensation for seized properties.  He already 
has plans drawn up for the new 1,500 seat church, bible school, 
dormitories and UWMC headquarters he plans to build there. 
FAIRFAX