Hien Pham

After the fall of Vietnam to the communists, Hien was imprisoned because of his bold Christian faith. He had served as an interpreter for Ravi Zacharias when this evangelist was only 25. (Ravi died on May 19, 2020 after more than 40 years of powerful ministry to millions worldwide.) The Christian & Missionary Alliance had asked Ravi to go there in the early 70’s. There were great results as many Vietnamese turned to the Lord. In prison Hien was subjected to propaganda in French and Vietnamese day after day. At one point he started thinking that maybe Christianity was not true. Perhaps he had been deceived. He decided to stop praying or even thinking about matters of faith.

The next morning, as he was cleaning the prison toilets, he spotted a scrap of paper in the garbage with English script on it. It contained the Scripture verses from Romans 8:28-29: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…” He wept as he realized that God had not abandoned him.

Hien eventually escaped from prison, left the country, and became a powerful witness to many about the reality of God’s presence in our lives.
Source: RZIM quarterly magazine, volume 28.3

Henry Wiebe