Illegal Worship

This past Lord’s Day, Gail and I worshipped in Vietnam for the first time. It was Easter Sunday and we met with 56 others in a small hotel room. From the beginning it felt strange somehow for some reason.
Perhaps it felt strange because it was illegal to do so. I have never worshipped where it was against the law to do so. I understand that you can assemble in Vietnam but with certain stipulations. First, your group must be registered with the state. There are many reasons why the Church of Christ is not registered in Vietnam but that will have to be another topic on another day. If you are not registered, you can meet but no more than eight people can be present. There must not be any evangelism going on also.
I sat next to the door and several people came late and knocked at the door. I felt fear the first few times I opened the door. Would there be Communist police there to arrest us? The police did not come and I was glad to open the door for people who were simple coming to worship God. Maybe this was just a tiny hint of how the first century church felt on the Lord’s Day. Rick