Photo: Nate Thayer |
Fulro Catholic Priest at Services in Jungle Church Where They Fled From Religious Persecution in Vietnam
Nate Thayer
MONDULKIRI, Cambodia – Accompanied by a chorus of crickets and the
steady drumming of rain on the leaf roofs of their huts, scores of Montagnard fighters and their families gather in the jungle darkness each night to pray and sing.
Having long ago fled ideological restrictions in Vietnam for a
religious sanctuary deep in the forest, the soldiers are members of
FULRO–the United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races-which has
fought for a separate homeland in Vietnam for their hill tribe people
since 1964.
Lamps fueled by chunks of slow-burning tree resin
give light to the few shared tattered bibles and hymnals as Christian
songs of worship echo through the otherwise uninhabited forest. Familiar
gospel hymns are sung in the tribal dialects of the mountains.
For many at FULRO’s scattered guerrilla bases, the ability to pray
freely was a main motivation to flee their villages in Vietnam’s central
highlands 17 years ago.
“The communists will not let us pray.
They say that Christianity is an American and French religion, so we
came to live in the jungle,” said Lt.-Col. Y Hinnie. “In our land under
the communists, people pray at home secretly or in the rice fields. They
cannot worship together like we do in the jungle. Here we are free.”
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