Release International

A well-known evangelical pastor has made a desperate cry for help for his family – because the police have made them prisoners in their own home.

Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh, who oversees several Mennonite churches in the Central Highlands, says his family have been under siege in their home in Hoa Lu commune in Pleiku city, central Vietnam, for months. Police have been guarding his house around the clock. The pastor managed to escape in a bid to find 'help, food and medication' for his wife and three young children on July 17.

He says his wife has been in poor health since police officers assaulted her on June 6 – when she protested about the disappearance of laundry from their washing line. 'She's confined to bed now, she cannot eat,' Pastor Chinh told Radio Free Asia last month. The siege has left the family on the brink of 'starvation and serious sickness', according to IMIDCHR, a Vietnamese human rights agency.

The authorities have been harassing Pastor Chinh since 2003, urging him to disband his church and the other Mennonite churches he supervises. His home and church have been raided several times and he has been banned from preaching. He was held for questioning for 12 days in May. His current whereabouts are not known.

(Sources: BosNewsLife, Radio Free Asia)

• Ask God to act in His sovereign power to set Pastor Chinh's family free.
• Pray that Pastor Chinh and his family will know God's Holy Spirit is with them.

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