[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”By Gina Goh” font_container=”tag:h6|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1612882089955{margin-bottom: 22px !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”121350″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]02/09/2021 Vietnam (International Christian Concern) – Pastor A Dao in Vietnam was released on August 18, 2020, after serving four years in prison for a trumped-up charge the communist regime placed on him –“helping individuals to escape abroad illegally.”
As a staunch advocate for religious freedom for his church members in Vietnam’s Central Highlands and elsewhere, he was targeted for his faith and activism. The Vietnamese government considers him to be anti-state. As a result, he was repeatedly tortured and beaten during his time in prison.
Once he regained freedom, what awaited him was an empty house. His wife and children had left him. His only source of income before his arrest, cropland, was sold by his wife before she returned to her province.
To help Pastor A Dao pick up the pieces after the twofold blow, ICC stepped in and provided Pastor A Dao with a fund that he can use to restore his life. After some thinking, he purchased a house next to the main road from his brother-in-law and started a small grocery shop.
Pastor A Dao told ICC, “I am grateful to ICC and my brother-in-law and his wife for having enabled me to buy this house, which is now my store. […] May God continue to bless you and help you succeed in all your undertakings.”
So far, his business is running smoothly, and he has also resumed some of his religious activities under the surveillance of local police. Although his wife and children have not returned to him, they are now on good terms with each other.
Please continue to lift up Pastor A Dao and his family in your prayers, as they have been through the valley and need time to reset their lives.
For interviews, please contact Alison Garcia: press@persecution.org.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
