Vietnam's Minister of Ethnic and Religious Affairs Meets Franklin Graham in Charlotte, Commits to Promoting Religious Freedom
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A delegation of high-ranking Vietnamese officials led by Minister of Ethnic and Religious Affairs Nguyễn Đình Khang traveled to North Carolina this week to meet Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and Samaritan's Purse, the BGEA announced on October 15. The officials told Graham they will protect religious freedom in Vietnam, where evangelical Christians comprise just 1 to 2 percent of the population.
The delegation, which included nine government officials and three evangelical church leaders, arrived at BGEA's headquarters in Charlotte on Tuesday, October 13, where they toured the Billy Graham Library. On Wednesday, October 14, the group traveled to North Wilkesboro to see how Samaritan's Purse stages relief supplies for international disaster responses. 'In the years to come, the government of Vietnam, at all levels of administration, is committed to promote religious freedom,' Minister Khang said, describing open channels the government has established, including digital platforms, direct dialogues and letters, where religious minorities concerned about limitations can share ideas, recommendations and needs.
Graham, who has visited Vietnam seven times in the past 25 years and preached there three times — in Hanoi in 2017, Ho Chi Minh City in 2023 and Can Tho in 2024, the first times the government permitted an evangelistic outreach with a foreign speaker outside a religious holiday — thanked the minister and noted he has been allowed to schedule a fourth evangelistic event in Hanoi in spring 2027; the Season of Love Festival is scheduled for Hanoi in March 2027. Pastor Nguyễn Hữu Mạc, president of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (North), said the church in Vietnam is growing, with more than 1,400 churches and roughly 220,000 believers, while acknowledging limitations remain in some places. Samaritan's Purse has worked in Vietnam for 30 years. The delegation will also meet U.S. government and religious freedom stakeholders in Washington, D.C., and Texas. At the end of the meetings, Minister Khang presented Graham with a government-commissioned painting depicting a rice harvest in Vietnam.
Source: Compiled from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) press release, October 15.
Source: 葛培理布道团（BGEA）官方
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于 Charlotte 的葛培理图书馆（资料图）。图片来源：葛培理布道团官网（billygraham.org）。Photo: The Billy Graham Library in Charlotte (file photo). Image: Billy Graham Evangelistic Association official website.
