Reflections on "Recognition"

We were witnesses and participants in history, in the unfolding of a new chapter in the building of Zion, as the hinges of time and eternity opened an effectual door for the preaching of the gospel in Viet nam, and not just on earth, but also in heaven.  As such, perhaps we have an obligation to share our perceptions and experience, both on the scenes, and behind the scenes of what was reported in the media, public and social. 

First, the event was a long time coming, but it was also just one of many steps critical for the teaching of the restored gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ was first brought to Vietnam by Jesuit missionaries in the late 1600s, in conjunction with Portuguese traders and military influence. Notable among these was a Frenchman, Alexandre de Rhoades, pictured here,

                                 

who spent considerable time in Tonkin and in Cochin China over his life, and in the process learned the language well. He attained considerable success in conversions and followers who assisted in building congregations and churches. But he is most remembered for his Romanization of the written language, in a coherent phonetic construct that replaced in the early 1900s the modified Chinese script or pure Chinese script that had been engrafted onto the language about 10 Centuries earlier. In so doing he made literacy an achievable goal for the vast majority of the populace, and made the scriptures accessible. The Bible translations still pose some problems given the tendency to impose doctrinal constructs or bias in their various versions, but this was such a significant step it cannot be overstated.

The colonialization period also produced the seedbed for conflicts that led to the coming of US servicemen in the 1960's, another landmark by-product being the contact of the Church with Vietnamese culture, and the beginnings of conversions. This led in turn to the monumental translation work of other pioneering saints who further laid the foundation for a marvelous work. Their stories have been told elsewhere so I need not recount them here, but their names will be held in reverence by many millions for their sacrifices. 

The outcome of the American war, with the breeching of that foothold of the gospel in Saigon and elsewhere, seemed at the time such a setback, termed by one observer as "the snap of the silver thread" that many had looked to as the one bright hope from an angry tapestry of war and conflict in the land. But in the Lord's hand, the ensuing scattering of so many Vietnamese people through the world, from all over the country, if not from every clan, was but the pop of the seedpod in the gospel winds that could guide them into fertile seedbeds of gospel training and nurture. And now as we witness a generation of able, consecrated and endowed young missionaries returning to the lands of their forefathers with the light of the gospel beaming from their eyes and the love of the Savior abundant in their hearts, we see the wisdom of the Lord of the Vineyard at work, bringing to pass his "strange act," a "marvelous work and a wonder" no longer about to come forth, but actually coming forth.

       

The work of a generation of church leaders and members found a sweet fulfilment and moment of celebration as the Saints and many government officials gathered in Keangnam Tower for the "Le Don Nhan Quyet Dinh Cong Nhan" of the Church. It's arrival was not without some trepidation at the last minutes and some skepticism about what it would actually mean. But it did represent a good faith effort to allow the church to flourish in Vietnam. As we deliberated over the wording of the request, and the likely meaning of the decision, I like the explanation from one member of the representative committee about the process. Relationships are so important in the dealings, so often trumping laws, policies and otherwise, that this effort, and perhaps especially the earlier step, the "interim" recognition, illustrated so well. The process was a dance, of words, of stance, of face, but performed with a desire to further the relationship.

"I'm sorry that we don't have a straight-forward answer for you. However, in this email, I'll try to be as clear as possible with my explanation. This should clarify what President Hassell emailed a couple of hours ago. 

"May I share a simple analogy first? I promise, it will make sense what's I'm trying to explain. An American asks a Vietnamese person to give them 5 cows so he can start raising [them,] producing milk and other dairy products. In the American mind, he thinks about the breed that he always saw growing up and gave the sweet milk he loved.

       

[ Interestingly, these are also what are commonly seen in Vietnamese Dairy advertising spots.] When the Vietnamese deliver the 5 cows, they are not the same. The American says, "I wanted this and this breed, why do you give me these. I won't accept them." The Vietnamese responds, "You told me to give you 5 cows. Here they are. They can provide you milk to make dairy products as you want. Even if we wanted, we don't have the breed you request. These are the local cows and they practically will do the same things you want."

       

"First of all, depending on how we phrase it, our main objective has always been: to legally operates as an entity in Vietnam with all, but not limited to, the following functions: conduct religious activities, buy, lease and own properties, have bank accounts, receive donations, obtain licenses for printed religious materials, able to import religious materials, preach the gospel, work with third parties on projects and pay them, etc. 

"By the letters of the law, i.e. the provisions in Decree 92, it would have taken us a long time to obtain the status we currently enjoy. Thanks to all of the relationship building over the years, they granted us the IRC status two years ago. Since then, we obtained an official chop, started to import religious materials legally, conducted religious activities, rent buildings. Mr. Pham Dung, in many occasions has said that when it's time, they will just remove the word "interim" making the Representative Committee the official governing board of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [in Vietnam.]

"The time is May 31, 2016. They will remove that word "interim." The document will be similar to that we received 2 years ago without the word "interim." This is their way of "fully recognizing the LDS church and grant them the nationally recognized status" even though it may not outright say so on a piece of paper. Why are they doing this: 

To be flexible while still keeping it within the bounds of Decree 92 based on "their interpretations" of the writen terms and provisions

To be on our good side for other political advantage, i.e. being on the good side with the US

To still have a control over the church by legally holding the representatives responsible for all that the LDS church does in Vietnam. 

"It seems silly to us but to them, this is how they control. If we view it their way, it makes a whole lot of sense. If they recognize an entity without anybody being responsible or with a foreigner being responsible, and if something goes wrong with the church, they can't hold anyone responsible by Vietnam Law at all. 

"So, they're going to recognize us fully, within their "flexible interpretations of Decree 92," by recognizing the Representative Committee. They're, finally, trying to give us the cows, but the Vietnamese breed, so to speak, that can provide us with all of the "dairy products" we've been wanting to have."

I'll put a few more thoughts on the actual process of preparation for the event, and the back-story there, into a separate post, but for now, I'll go enjoy some Vinamilk Ice Cream...