Since the first Protestant missionaries entered Northern Vietnam in 1911, and later moved down to Saigon in 1918, the Church in Northern Vietnam has had a brief but turbulent history. Opposition first came from the Roman Catholic Church in the French colonial days, but continued beyond the French withdrawal from Northern Vietnam in 1954.

When the government opened the door to the Western world in the late 1980s, 14 churches were allowed to be reopened in Northern Vietnam. Yet the number of pastors and believers to fill these churches was small, and when, in the 1990s, new mission workers came to North, they were faced with many obstacles.



Some of the churches, like one in Hanoi, had a handful of elderly in 1996 but became a vibrant young church with over 600 members today. However, history shows that the 35+ million people in Northern Vietnam is one of the most “neglected” segment of the major people groups in East Asia. It has a short mission history, and less than 0.1% of this population segment are Evangelical Christians. The overwhelming task and fragile condition in the North have meant that a church movement has not yet occurred among the Vietnamese (or Kinh) in the North.

May the Spirit of God blow new and vibrant life into the missionary and church movement in the North and to the whole nation!