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| Pastor Bob Roberts, President of the Institute for Global Engagement. |
Pastor Bob Roberts first visited Việt Nam in 1995, and since then, he has maintained a close relationship with the country. As the President of the Institute for Global Engagement (IGE) – an organisation devoted to promoting religious freedom – and the founder of Glocal Ventures Inc. in Hà Nội, he has witnessed firsthand the changes and growth in the country.
Leading a delegation of international Evangelical pastors to Việt Nam earlier this month, Pastor Roberts talked with local reporters about his observations about the country’s evolving religious landscape and plans for future exchanges and partnerships.
What is the purpose of your visit to Việt Nam?
The main purpose of my visit is twofold. First, there are Christians all over the world, and Việt Nam has a significant number of Catholics, Protestants, Evangelicals and various other Christian denominations. We are here as faith leaders from India, Indonesia, Australia, and other countries to connect with the global Church, learn about what God is doing in Việt Nam, and see how the Church and ministry operate here.
I also want global pastors to see what’s happening in Việt Nam, a beautiful country. When I first visited 30 years ago, the streets were filled with bicycles, with only a few motorcycles and cars. Now, the streets are bustling with motorcycles and cars, and bicycles are a rare sight. This visit allows me to witness the country’s remarkable progress and development while connecting with the Church community in Việt Nam.
What has been your experience with the Church in Việt Nam?
Visiting Vietnamese Churches has always been a positive experience. The Church in Việt Nam is vibrant, alive and growing. Many incredible things are happening here, and we hear about these remarkable developments all around the world.
When I visited the Church in Việt Nam, I was particularly impressed by their strong theological foundation. They know the Bible, believe in it, and follow its teachings – they are biblically based. I was also impressed that they want to be involved in the community. They want to be good citizens who bring value to the well-being of Việt Nam.
The Protestant Church and the Catholic Church are strong in Việt Nam. I had the opportunity to visit with the Pope on different occasions, and on one occasion, we had a long conversation about Việt Nam because there are many Catholics here. I encouraged him and said: “You need to visit Việt Nam because the church there is healthy, vibrant, and growing.”
Regarding how the Vietnamese government is working in the space of religion, I would say they’re doing a very good job. Since 2001, many laws have been passed that promote religious freedom, encourage it, and protect churches and other religious organisations – not just Christians but Buddhists and other religions as well.
What I like about them is that they acknowledge the fact we have a lot to do. Because the reality is that religious freedom is something that we always work on all the time. Even in my country America, we have to deal with Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. Sometimes there are challenges in a place of worship being built because maybe people are nervous about that. So we have challenges in America, every country does.
What I love about the Vietnamese government is that they are willing to work on those challenges. And if you were to talk to the Protestants, as I have, and the Evangelicals and the Catholics, they would all tell you that there is much more freedom and that people can practise their faith freely and openly here. Sometimes there are challenges in the rural areas, but maybe that’s because somebody doesn’t know the law, or maybe there are other things that get involved that make it difficult.
I think the most important thing is when those things come up, just respond to them as quickly as you can. I’ve done my best in America to share with our government and the Department of State the changes that have been made. Many American diplomats working in the space of religious freedom acknowledge that Việt Nam has made giant strides to see those changes come about.
IGE and the Việt Nam-USA Society under the Việt Nam Union of Friendship Organisations signed their first Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on religious cooperation 20 years ago. How has this partnership impacted on bilateral relations?
I was here when that first agreement was signed. I’ve been involved with IGE for a long time. I’ve been the president for a year and a half, but I’ve been involved with IGE since the early 2000s, as well as with the other organisation that I have been working with for many years. Back then, it was more at the grassroots level, working with everyday people on humanitarian issues. IGE also partnered with us as we worked at the grassroots level. They also worked with government leaders, government officials and so forth.
I would say the relationship between IGE and your government has been incredible. We haven’t just been working around issues; we’ve become good friends and close friends. And we’ve come to love Việt Nam. When they come to America, I take them to eat Texas barbecue. And when I’m in Washington DC, I take them to fun places.
I just had some of them go see The Lion King in New York City because I wanted them to experience that. When I come here, they take me to the best restaurants. We hang out together. Seeing the way that working relationship has developed is how we’ve been able to move forward.
The work we’ve done in Việt Nam has provided a template – a pattern we’ve followed in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Sudan, Pakistan, and countries all over the world.
So, Việt Nam for IGE is not just a place we thought we could help; it’s also a place where we can learn together and take what we’ve learned in Việt Nam to the rest of the world.
Now that you’ve signed the third MoU, what are your plans for future cooperation and exchanges?
I would say there are several things we want to do in the future, and we’re really excited about them. We signed a third MoU last year.
One of the things we’re looking forward to involves not only religious freedom but also religious responsibility – figuring out how we can work together. We’re interested in doing community projects together. For example, we’ve been visiting church-run rehab centres that help people with addiction issues. We want to see how we can help them and how they can work with the government, how we can partner, the church and the government, to build good citizenship.
We also want to have exchanges between pastors, churches and government leaders. We’d like to encourage more people-to-people exchanges between Việt Nam and America. Just yesterday, we were at the Hồ Chí Minh National Academy of Politics, and we had a great discussion. We talked about how exciting it would be if we could have an exchange programme.
For instance, maybe we could bring a hundred pastors here to learn political philosophy and see how things look from Việt Nam’s perspective. In turn, they could send a hundred of their academics to America, and we could teach them about Christianity. One of our dreams for the future is to foster these kinds of people-to-people exchanges. — VNS
This article was first posted on Vietnam News