From opium to orchids, via Jesus

A Vietnamese village once ravaged by drug addiction has been transformed by belief in Jesus.

Sin Suoi Ho village in Lai Chau, central Vietnam, was so dysfunctional that there was nothing to eat because all the agricultural workers had become opium addicts.

Pastor Hang A Xa told CBN: “We were selling opium like selling chickens. Everyone was addicted so no one worked in the fields. We did not have food, just leaves from the jungle. People were fighting. It was a very messy time.”

Even the village’s chairman, Hang A Lung, was addicted. Because Lung was a leader, the government gave him a radio to hear about its policies. Lung did not understand Vietnamese, though, only knowing the Hmong language and understanding a broadcast ministry to its people. Instead of communist ideology, he listened to Christian broadcasts each day.

Pastor Xa, who is Lung’s son, explained: “My father heard the gospel and became the first believer. He wanted our whole family to receive Jesus. He summoned my brother who was studying in another town to come home right away. He said, ‘You need to receive Jesus’.”

Christianity was banned at the time, and Lung was arrested, beaten and threatened with death for his beliefs, but he refused to back down.

… story continues