Evangelical Christians and the Vietnamese Government appear to have learnt from past mistakes – and their joint response to a recent coronavirus outbreak in Ho Chi Minh City has highlighted the benefits of prompt co-operation.
After some students at the Evangelical Church of Vietnam South’s Institute of Bible and Theology developed coughs and fevers last summer, church authorities immediately called the government health department. Tests revealed that 290 of the 306 students and staff on the campus had Covid-19. The authorities immediately quarantined the campus and sent in a medical team. Two Christian doctors and five volunteers of a Christian student fellowship also entered the campus to serve the sick. The 15 who needed hospital treatment included the Dean of Students, pastor Nguyen An Thai, and his wife.
This constructive episode is in stark contrast to what took place following a serious Covid-19 outbreak at the Revival Ekklesia Mission (REM) house church last April. Then, the government and state-controlled media came down hard on the small church and its leaders, blaming and shaming them and launching a criminal investigation for spreading the disease. The resulting media and public hostility only subsided after Ho Chi Minh City was overcome by other, larger outbreaks in factories and schools.
