Reports are now emerging of two independent House Pastors who were recently shot in separate attacks within Vietnam’s Central Highlands.

Pastors Y Hung Ayun (62) and Y Pho Eban (57) are both part of the minority ethnic Ede people group. and both lead House Churches which are not registered with the Vietnamese government.

Leaders and members of such unregistered House Groups are regularly harassed and oppressed by local and Central Government officials, because they are not part of the government-sanctioned Evangelical Church of Vietnam.

The Pastors have both stated they believe the attacks on them are because of their ongoing unregistered Church activities.

Pastor Ayun was shot with rubber bullets by two masked men on a motorcycle, causing severe swelling and damage to his legs.

Previously, Pastor Ayun spent nine years in prison for his religious activities, but since the shooting, he’s been even more closely monitored by police and now must notify authorities if he leaves the area.

Pastor Eban was shot in the leg as he worked on his coffee plantation; the bullets causing serious wounds, leaving him unable to walk.

Pastor Eban’s case is even more worrying, as his unregistered Church has about two hundred members and he is the father of Christian activist Y Quynh Bdap, who’s presently facing extradition from Thailand.

Several ministries and NGOs, including International Christian Concern, have reported on Bdap’s plight, especially as he’s likely to face an unfair trial, torture, or even death if extradited back to Vietnam.

Materials used by kind permission of the original author.

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