Vietnam's Religious Affairs Minister Pledges Religious Freedom in Meeting With Franklin Graham

CHARLOTTE, N.C. —

Vietnam's minister of ethnic and religious affairs, Nguyen Dinh Khang, told Franklin Graham during a visit to North Carolina last week that his government is committed to promoting religious freedom, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association said in a statement reported by The Christian Post.

Khang, who also sits on the Communist Party of Vietnam's Central Committee, led a delegation of senior officials and three Vietnamese church leaders. The group toured BGEA's headquarters in Charlotte on Tuesday, Oct. 13, and visited Samaritan's Purse relief operations in North Wilkesboro on Oct. 14.

“In the years to come, the government of Vietnam, at all levels of administration, is committed to promote religious freedom,” Khang said. Graham, who leads both BGEA and Samaritan's Purse, replied that “Vietnam has made great strides in improving religious freedom in recent years.”

Pastor Nguyen Huu Mac of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam Northern said the country has more than 1,400 churches and about 220,000 Christians. BGEA estimates evangelicals make up 1% to 2% of Vietnam's population.

Graham has preached in Hanoi in 2017, Ho Chi Minh City in 2023 and Can Tho in 2024, and he is scheduled to return in March 2027 to headline the Season of Love Festival in Hanoi. Samaritan's Purse has worked in Vietnam for more than three decades.

Concerns remain. The Christian Post noted that Vietnam this year sentenced a pastor to seven and a half years in prison over “unregistered” religious activity and announced action against 119 Christians it accused of separatism. The 2026 Global Christian Relief Red List ranked Vietnam fourth for arrests of Christians, behind China, Russia and Iran. The delegation's U.S. trip was to continue with stops in Washington, D.C., and Texas.