Ministry Cautious About Reported Improvements in Persecuted Nations
by Chad Groening
November 29, 2005
(AgapePress) - - An organization dedicated to the persecuted Church says it is taking a wait-and-see approach before determining if there are any real human rights improvements in two countries that made the U.S. State Department's list of "Countries of Particular Concern." Todd Nettleton is director of media services at Voice of the Martyrs, an Oklahoma-based ministry that serves and advocates for persecuted Christians around the world, particularly those in nations where religious liberty is a rare, threatened, or virtually unknown commodity. Having reviewed the State Department's recent release of its annual list of nations noted for particularly egregious suppressions or violations of religious freedom, he says the yearly "Countries of Particular Concern" report indicates a few possible glimmers of hope -- even in one of America's old enemies.
State Department officials did note some positive changes, Nettleton points out. He says, "They mentioned improvements in Vietnam. It'll be interesting to see how those play out and if those improvements actually affect the average Christian on the street, or if that's a lot of 'PR stuff' that is merely good talk that doesn't result in any good actions."
Some evidence does point to improvement in the Southeast Asian socialist regime, the ministry representative admits. "We have seen at least two different pastors set free from prison this year early, ahead of when they were scheduled to be released," he says. "So perhaps we are seeing the dawn or, at least, a little bit of improvement."
Nevertheless, Nettleton says, "I think we'll take kind of a wait-and-see approach to see how much of the talk actually becomes action."
Then there is Sudan, where a peace treaty was signed earlier this year, the VOM spokesman notes. "That's another country, I think, where we'll kind of play wait and see -- you know, how much of this peace agreement is going to result in better treatment of Christians, how much of it is going to actually result in more freedom," he says. "I think that's something that we'll see in the coming months and years."
Sudan has been on the State Department's "Countries of Particular Concern" list since 1999, while Vietnam first made the list in 2004. Nettleton says it remains to be seen how the peace treaty in the African nation will affect the treatment of Christians; so, as with the improvements in Vietnam, VOM intends to "wait and see."
Chad Groening, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
