Vietnamese in Netherlands

People Name:	Vietnamese
Country:	Netherlands
10/40 Window:	No
Population:	25,000
World Population:	87,374,200
Primary Language:	Vietnamese
Primary Religion:	Buddhism
Christian Adherents:	10.00 %
Evangelicals:	1.80 %
Scripture:	Complete Bible
Ministry Resources:	Yes
Jesus Film:	Yes
Audio Recordings:	Yes
People Cluster:	Vietnamese
Affinity Bloc:	Southeast Asian Peoples
Progress Level:

Introduction / History

For over two thousand years, people in the land of Vietnam have recognized their national identity. During those two millennia China controlled Vietnam about one half of the time.
In 1887 Vietnam became part of French Indochina. From 1939 to 1975 the Vietnamese fought the Japanese, French and then the Americans.
The Vietnamese in the Netherlands are mainly South Vietnamese refugees and their descendants. The Vietnamese came in boats to several countries including the Netherlands in the late nineteen seventies. Guest workers from Vietnam came via Czechoslovakia after communism ended in that country. Others left France for the Netherlands.

What Are Their Lives Like?

They speak Vietnamese and Dutch. The Vietnamese are acculturated, but they enjoy their own ethnic celebrations such as Tet. Many of them have taken advantage of the free market economy to begin flourishing businesses in Western European countries like the Netherlands.

What Are Their Beliefs?

Many of the Vietnamese are Buddhists. Pagode Van Hanh is a Buddhist temple in Nedhorst Den Berg in Utrecht. About a thousand people are members. There are Catholics among the Vietnamese as well.

What Are Their Needs?

The Vietnamese must see that Christianity is not a foreign religion imposed on them by outsiders. They need to see the love of Christ lived out among them by Spirit-filled disciples.

Prayer Points

Ask the Lord to send loving disciplers to the Vietnamese in the Netherlands.
Pray for a spiritual hunger among the Vietnamese that drives them to read the Bible and listen to Christian radio programs.
Pray for a church planting movement that affects every Diaspora Vietnamese community.