Yes
Are there Hmong people who are Christians?
We were lucky to know two Hmong individuals who identify as Christian, one who attends a Hmong church and one who attends an American church. Andrea Vang attends church with the Salvation Army. Her parents still practice Hmong Shamanism, but all of the children converted to Christianity except for her eldest brother.
Why were the Hmong accused of collaborating with the French?
Meanwhile communist insurgents attempted to overthrow the new monarchies in Laos and Cambodia. The Hmong and Montagnards were accused of “collaboration” with the French because of their Christian faith, and were suspected of siding with the United States for the same reason.
What is the persecution of the Hmong and Montagnards?
In Vietnam, Hmong and Montagnards persecution is less severe. Nevertheless, Hmong and Montagnards face arbitrary detention, beatings, and evictions. Priests, pastors, and preachers are often targeted. Neither Laos nor Vietnam has faced serious international sanctions because of the persecution of the Hmong and Montagnards.
What religion is Vang Ger’s grandmother?
The Traditional Religion. Vang Ger’s grandmother was a shamaness of the ancient religion of the Hmong people. This religious system recognizes a duality of body and soul. The Hmong religion blends animism, which provides a practical "body" of rules and regulations, with shamanism, which supplies a theory of the soul.
What are the embarrassments of the Ua Nengs?
It is hard to ignore the embarrassment which many of the refugees in Philadelphia manifest if asked about the ua nengs. A woman who has been in the US for four years says her people are frightened of neighborhood reaction if they were to depend on shamans – Americans, they fear, would regard the Hmong as crazy were they to beat on gongs, dance, and perform animal sacrifice.
What did the Hmong do in the 1800s?
These women belong to a hilltribe which, having migrated south from China in the late 1800s, acquired a strange and varied fame during the century they farmed the mountains of Laos. Renowned for their fierce independence and strong sense of ethnic identity, the Hmong achieved economic self-sufficiency by producing an opium cash crop large enough to supply some 15% of the total revenue of the French government. Later, the same men so skilled in rudimentary slash-and-burn agriculture learned to operate sophisticated radio and military equipment, to guard their mountain existence. During the war in southeast Asia, large numbers of the Hmong formed the core of "the CIA’s Secret Army," reputed to be one of the most, if not the only, effective guerrilla force in the area. But while some 40,000 Hmong men joined the Royal Lao/American alliance, thousands of others chose to fight for the Vietnamese-supported Pathet Lao.
How many Hmong are associated with a Christian church?
Refugees, social workers, community and religious leaders estimate that about 30% to 50% of the Hmong are associated with a Christian church and agree that most of the remaining 50% to 60% "do nothing.". The Hmong unanimously assert that there are no shamans or ua nengs in Philadelphia.
How many Hmong joined the Royal Lao/American alliance?
But while some 40,000 Hmong men joined the Royal Lao/American alliance, thousands of others chose to fight for the Vietnamese-supported Pathet Lao. Reprisals, aimed indiscriminately against the Hmong as a group, began after assumption of power in 1975 by the Pathet Lao.
How many Hmong people lived in Philadelphia in 1981?
By 1981, approximately 1000 Hmong hillspeople had settled in Philadelphia. The vast majority survived only with government aid – paying for their housing with welfare, their food with food stamps, their hospital costs with Medicaid. With their compatriots across the country, the Hmong in Philadelphia attempted to adjust to drastically new social, economic, and linguistic conditions. A rash of mysterious nighttime deaths among adult Hmong males – hypothetically caused by nightmares of their ordeal – highlighted the trauma of the transition.
How many Hmong were resettled in 1981?
By 1981, some 45,000 Hmong had been resettled in the United States. If their connection to US military operations assured many Hmong entrance to the country, that exposure in no way prepared them for the Western society, a world dramatically different from the mountains of Laos. Resettlement.
Why is it important for Western Christianity to make space for Hmong Americans?
It’s important for Western Christianity to make space to disciple Hmong Americans well—as a displaced people at risk of losing parts of our tradition and culture—to see how community, family, and our ethnic identity matter to Jesus and that he wants to restore them.
What is the Hmong culture?
Hmong culture is communal, and everything is shared. We are who we are through relationships and shared identity. So, when the good news first came to the Hmong people in Southeast Asia, whole households and family units converted. Faith and family were integrated, and following Jesus was a communal decision and experience.
How did colonialism affect our culture?
Colonial influence distorted and ripped us of our original cultural identity, which God made beautiful. Through contextualization, we can restore the beauty and value of our shared experiences and culture and reorient ourselves to see how our cultural identity relates to our faith in Jesus.
Who are the Hmong people?
You may be wondering, “Who are the Hmong people?” We are Asian American, but our narrative is one of an Asian minority group seeking refuge, displaced from our own land and longing for a sense of home and belonging. We don’t have a country to call our own, and our land of origin is known to us only through the stories passed on from generations. We are a people uprooted from one land and put into another. Together, we are disconnected from our ethnic identity because of multiple spatial displacements. We wrestle with the question of “Who am I as a Hmong or Hmong American?” Like me, many Hmong Americans often don’t feel Hmong enough or American enough.
Who is Ashley from Intervarsity?
Ashley is an InterVarsity Campus Staff Minister and leads the Asian American InterVarsity (AAIV) chapter at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. You can support her ministry at donate.intervarsity.org/donate#21287.
Why did the French invade Vietnam?
In 1858, the French invaded southern Vietnam to protect Catholic missionaries after a spate of state executions. By the end of the century, they had occupied modern-day Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. French Catholics missionaries were joined by American Protestants who began preaching throughout the region. By the early 20th Century, a large number of Hmong and most Montagnards (the French term for ethnic minorities living in the mountains of Vietnam) had become Christians.
Where do Hmong people live?
The Hmong people live across the mountains of Laos and Vietnam. They are a minority among the Lao and Kinh people. Though traditionally animists, many Hmong converted to Christianity in the 20th Century. As communists seized power in the region, they became victims of violent persecution due to their religion. They continue to face persecution to this day.
Where did the Hmong flee?
The regime began rounding up Hmong and sending them to re-education camps. Around 300,000 fled to neighbouring Thailand where they were placed in squalid detention camps: Thailand is not a party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and so does not recognise the Hmong as refugees. Many were later resettled in the United States, but Thailand has deported many back to Laos ( to an uncertain future ).
Is the persecution of Hmong and Montagnard Christians a geopolitical consideration?
Geopolitical considerations mean that the persecution of Hmong and Montagnard Christians do not get the governmental or media attention that the Uyghurs or Yazidi do.
When did Catholics first arrive in Indochina?
The first Catholic missionaries to set foot in Indochina arrived in the 16th Century. They established small communities of converts, mostly along the Vietnamese coast. However, these converts were viewed with suspicion by the state and locals alike. Pogroms against converts and the execution of priests lead to the death of around 100,000 Catholics in the 19th Century.