I demand my right to complete my prison sentence

To Dinh Trung was arrested more than 25 times for preaching the gospel in rural Vietnam. During his 24th imprisonment, in 1991, he was deprived of food for 12 days, "In prison, I worshiped the Lord a lot, praying and singing in a room by myself," Trung said. "My room was the prison toilet." After 12 days, village authorities dragged Trung before a people's court. "I became bold and grabbed the microphone," he said. "I said, 'For the Lord's sake, because of his name, I am willing to die: The police grabbed the microphone back, exclaiming, 'Once again. you want to preach the gospel.'"

The next time Trung was arrested, he spent three years in prison. VOM helped his wife and three children, and VOM supporters were invited to send him letters of encouragement. While in Quang Ngai prison, Trung helped lead many prisoners to Christ.

One day, prison officials offered to release Trung early, but Trung surprised them by replying, "I demand my right to complete my prison sentence,"' He wanted to spend more time leading prisoners to Christ and teaching new converts.

Trung completed his time in prison and immediately returned to ministry. Since 1999, Trung has trained 20 believers to become evangelists. Police still harass him, interrupting his church services and detaining him for questioning. Although his church is sometimes filled with more police than Christians, Trung relishes the opportunity to teach them the gospel, too.

(from Voice of the Martyrs newsletter, September 2012)

Also see Stacy L. Harp, Christian Prisoner Refuses Early Release Opportunity from Prison, September 24, 2012, PersecutionBlog.com.

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