Unknown assailants shot Y Hung Ayun, an Ede minority independent Protestant house church pastor, in the leg with rubber bullets while riding his motorbike on December 1. Pastor Y Hyung was on his way home in Tara Puor village, Vietnam, when two people with their faces covered, riding a motorbike, pulled up to him and shot him in the leg with rubber bullets. The men then rode away, leaving the pastor with his injured knee.

“They attacked me to warn that I should withdraw [from the independent house church] and return to the [government-approved] Evangelical Church of Vietnam”

said Pastor Y Hyung in an interview with Radio Free Asia. He said it was a warning to leave behind his current religious activities. It is not rare for pastors leading independent house churches to be targeted in Vietnam. Those who the government does not sanction are under strict surveillance and have to suffer harassment such as raids, confiscation of religious books and items, restrictions, and disturbances of religious activities. Pastor Y Hyung was previously imprisoned for “undermining the national solidarity policy.” He then became a pastor and is under constant surveillance.

The other pastor, Y Pho Eban, who belongs to the Ede minority as well, is a leader of an independent Protestant house church in Cue village. The pastor was shot in the leg while working in the fields on September 25. After being shot in the leg, Pastor Y Pho fell to the ground and was not able to identify where the shot came from. His family found him in the fields. His leg was bleeding, and the bullet chipped the bone and left a big open wound. His injuries were treated in the hospital, but he was still unable to walk. Pastor Y Pho told Radio Free Asia that:

“They hate me because I worship at a house church, which they absolutely forbid. They said we were not allowed to gather. Every time they summon me to the commune [headquarters], they threaten to ‘handle’ me and my family. That’s what they always say.”

According to him, he was shot because of his religious activity as the leader of an independent house church. He also noted that police summoned followers from his church and tried to persuade them to leave the community of Pastor Y Pho.

Source: Radio Free Asia