news," the persecuted church, how the government in vietnam is trying to bully christians from holding sunday services. >> plus, revival. we'll take a look at one of the fastest growing evangelical congregations in the country. >> and soul surfer, the new movie about top surfer bethany hamilton and how her faith helped her recover from a devastating shark attack. >> an evangelist preaches the

gospel in vietnam. >> public rallies in vietnam could signal a new openness for the church in a country long criticized for persecuting christians. evangelist luis spoke to an estimated 16,000 people with as many as 5,000 making commitments to jesus christ. he credits vietnamese pastors for organizing the historic event. >> it's very touching to see the humility, humility with strength, not weakness. they speak with those who they have to talk to in leadership with humble authority. this is very impressive. and they don't give up. they are persistent. they are consistent. and they insist on doing what the lord has told them to do. and they are willing to pay any price if that happens. >> he flew to hanoi who hold morallies. he plans to return to vietnam in

june. >> in spite of the government's willingness to allow public rallies, vietnam has a history of persecuting christian believers. denise from canada's 100 street traveled to vietnam with a team. she tells us of the many hardships experienced there. here's her report. >> it's sunday morning in saigon. for hoe chee moit could be any h america. some of the choruses are translated from english. but the similarities end there. this is another church in saigon, the hidden camera shows government officials raiding the building, breaking up a service held by the assemblies of god congregation. it wasn't the first time. the reason for the raid?

officials said those meetings didn't have permission to do so. in communist vietnam christianity isn't illegal, now is any religion. but what the law says and how it's practiced are often two different things. just ask this man, reverend quang, a pastor who's become a thorn in the flesh of vietnam's ruling party. what makes him so dangerous is what he knows. as a trained lawyer, he's challenged the government on its violations of religious freedoms. he's not speaking just for himself, but for many other persecuted minorities. in the last 20 years he's been arrested repeatedly and imprisoned, slandered in newspapers and followed by police. we've agreed to meet in a safe house, in one of saigon's busy neighborhoods. >> they follow me for the last

20 years, but in this period it's more intense. >> on september 14, 2010, an estimated 500 soldiers and police oversaw the demolition of a two-story building that was the home of pastor quang and the headquarters of the church. though he did not resist the demolition, he was beaten unconscious when he objected to the arrest of 20 bible school students. >> we are also horrified by that, being beaten up and thrown like that. in vietnam, we have no right to think and speak the truth. >> if anything, these events provoked pastor quang to speak even louder. he says his legal training has helped him to be a voice for those who can't speak for themselves. still, pastor quang has landed in jail on seven occasions, most recently in 2005. >> whenever i think back of times in prison, i think this is the best time.

i have communion with the lord. in 2005 when i was in prison, in the rooms they have 100 prisoners. 50 of them became believers. >> as a single party state, the government is ever present. still, among the stars and sickleles and portraits is another vietnam, one that has wholwholeheartedly embraced commercialism. tourism and the billions it brings in has caused the state to work on its image. a 2004u.s. state department report on human rights practices cited vietnam's poor record on freedom of speech, press, assembly and association. in recent years, vietnam has done better, thanks in part to an initiative to register christian churches. >> while the government of vietnam made a very concerted effort to get off of the u.s. state department list of

countries of particular concern, they made a very public showing of, look, we're making progress. look, it's different now. they wanted not to be on that list. and it works. >> but todd metalton and craig are concerned. as representatives of voice of the martyrs in the u.s. and canada, they travel the world to document cases of christian persecution. this means going directly to the source. >source. religious persecution is ongoing, albeit more hidden. >> to the outside world you get this understanding that things are not so bad in vietnam. but when you're actually in the country, you start to talk to the believers, you realize that the persecution is still there. >> which brings us back to this video. this is an unregistered church, which makes it illegal. according to pastor quang, government registration of churches is the new frontier in the battle for freedom of religion. >> registration is not freedom

of religion. we have to ask for permit. registration is giving in to control. >> pastor quang and his church have no plans to register with the government. and they are in the process of rebuilding what was destroyed. he plans on continuing his fight for freedom through legal means. and most of all, through prayer. >> once we serve god, surely we must go the way of the cross. i'll not go against the lord for what has happened. once they use violence, they are defeated already. they are afraid. >> for cbn news, denise lutty, vietnam. >> chinese authorities have released more than 100 churchgoers arrested for worshiping in a public park. the pastor and his wife remain under house arrest. this is under coverage footage taken at the park. as you can see, police were in full force su surrounding the

venue. the church was evicted from their usual meeting place. leaders insist no laws were broken. one church leader says he was tortured while in police custody. many members have lost their jobs and homes due to government pressure on employers and landlords. one of them said, quote, this is a great spiritual battle. keep praying for us. >> the christian community here is dwindling. as many as 95,000 christians have fled since muslim extremists attacked a church last october. iraq had more than 800,000 christians before the 2003 invasion. muslim radicals have forced many to flee the country. open doors president car carl mueller. >> it can' it is the systemic

intentional elimination of christianity from that country. it's just a disturbing reality for all of us. i understand americans. we want to put iraq in our rear view you mirrors. we want to move past it. unfortunately, for our brothers and sisters in christ, the church in iraq is not a past tense phenomenon. their suffering is present tense. we need to be aware of that and stand with them now. >> open doors is calling on the obama administration to encourage iraq's leader to do more to protect the christian community there. >> some christians in egypt are looking for ways to leave that country. they're concerned that radical islamists are getting power after the ouster of the president. they arat least 20 christians hn killed since the ouster.

>> in the ivory coast there are fears that the former president and his wife are being mistreated. u.n. and french forces helped the troops who arrested him this week. gary lang spoke earlier with his daughter. she's concerned for her parents' safety because the new president has abused them in the past. >> in 1992 when my parents organized a protest because the students had been abused on campus, he arrested them. my mom was beaten and she was basically left for dead. then they were all arrested along with my brother. so this is like deja vu for us. it's nothing new. he's the same man and attitude that he's using against the population. i asked everyone to believe that god has not said the last word and to keep us in prayer. >> and to hear more from her, go to gary lane's log the global

lane at cbnnews.com. >> coming up, revival in russia, how one church in reaching thousands.

>> welcome back. despite social and political up heave al, russia is witnessing a christian revival. >> they sure as. as i recently discovered, at the heart of this powerful move of god is the mosque of good news church, one of russia's largest and fastest growing evangelical congregations. in a land where the russian or orthodox church dominates, one evangelical charismatic church is creating spiritual waves. >> the prot tan protestant moves growing strongly. >> this couple is at the forefront of the movement.

in 1991 they moved their family to what is now the former soviet union with the goal of reaching russians with the gospel of jesus christ. nine years later, in september, 2000, they started months coa goo --moscow good news church. >> it's approximately 3,500 people in regular attendance. >> that's big for russia, where most churches attract less than 1,000 people to each of their congregations. and while the goal is to reach a broad section of those living in the metropolis, the church puts a special emphasis on reaching the upper class. >> specifically as a part of our vision is to reach a higher class of people. >> why? >> well, because they hate god too. and there are not many churches that they actually feel comfortable in. >> most russians belong to the orthodox church. there are some 30,000 churches dotting the russian landscape.

the church is gaining more prominence after decades of persecution, yet this newfound role isn't necessarily translating into regular attendance. >> most people don't even know the faith. they don't have a personal relationship with jesus christ. nowadays it is hip to be religious in russia. >> something different happens at moscow good news. those from an o orthodox background find a whole new experience. >> i was shocked. i've only seen this in movies. >> along with the preaching of the gospel, worship and a style of music played in church is a big draw too. >> hey, come to church. you know, we have music in church and it's fun. like gospel music? >> in addition to the main service, moscow good news has an active children's ministry that puts on regular drama performances about the life of

christ. they also have an entire church dedicated just to reaching the elderly. >> and despite the tremendous success of moscow good news church, it faces a huge public perception problem. you see, today in russia charismatic churches are often considered cults. >> so the government puts laws on the books to restrict religious freedom. because the russian orthodox church views them as competitors, they side with the government. >> the official position of the russian orthodox church is that everything besides them is a cult. >> but a new generation of young russians are emerging with different views on the matter. >> i know the orthodox church doesn't have a good opinion of the protestant churches, but that has to change. i have evangelical christians who are friends of mine. i enjoy talking with them and appreciate things they share with me.

>> it is that sentiment that members of moscow good news church hope lead to more russians embracing the message of jesus christ. >> capitalism has come. many people are successful. many people have made money. many people have lost an amount of money. and they know and they've found out for themselves that it's not the answer to all their problems. so there's a new wave of interest in spiritual things. >> and you can learn more about the work of the church around the world at our website, cw news.org. you can also follow christian world news on facebook. >> when we come back, soul surfer, how faith in christ helped one girl overcome the odds and become one of the best surfers in the world.

>> bethany hamilton was a young surfer who lost her arm in a shacshark attack.

>> soul surfer is doing great at the box office. it tells about her amazing comeback and her christian faith that helped her become one of the top surfers in the world. >> bethany hamilton is holding nothing back. [cheers and applause] >> looks like she has a real future. >> soul surfer is the true life story of bethany hamilton, the 20-year-old surfer was only 13 when she lost her arm in a vicious shark attack off the coast of hawaii where she grew up. it was a day her parents will never forget. >> it was pretty traumatic. i didn't really know the condition she was in. but obviously if she was coming to the hospital, she was still alive. but until i saw her face-to-face, that's when i realized her arm was gone. >> and my main concern was not whether she was going to surf again, but whether she was going to live. >> tom and sherry hamilton were avid surfers themselves and

spent their younger days surfing all day and waiting tables at night. >> we were obsessed with surfing and addicted to it and our whole lives revolved around surfing. >> they found jesus thanks to another surfing friend who invited them to dinner. >> it seemed like, wow, jesus is real. he's real, you know. and this is true. so we ended up giving our hearts to the lord, pretty much at the same time. >> tom and sherry raised their children in the church, and before the shark attack, bethany and her mom had been praying that bethany would be in the center of god's will, especially with her surfing. >> we prayed that for two weeks every day. so when it happened, i had peace. i had total peace in god. >> as bethany healed, they longed to get back on her board. but would she be able to surf with one arm? >> there's times when i got frustrated, but for me it's just i love surfing and i was pretty determined and i think god put that determination in my heart and he knew that i would be able

to handle it through him. >> but learning to surf with one arm was no easy task. >> i knew how to surf. i just had to figure out how to do it with one arm instead of two. i just had to use my brain a lot and just adjust to this new way of living. i figured it out. >> bethany's story of overcoming incredible odds captured the attention of hollywood. >> it's a metaphor for everyone's life. you get knocked down, whatever your shark attack is or whatever happens to you, you have a shot to get back up. not only can you get back up on the board, but you can excel at it. >> it also impressed actor dennis quaid. >> she was so inspiring and her story so touched me. tears streaming down my face at 7:00 in the morning on the couch. it just so happened two days later they offered me the part to play her father. >> the actress who learned to

surf for the part said hanging out with bethany was very inspiring. >> you think her arm's gone, but after spending a couple days with her i just totally forgot it wasn't there. she goes on every day like -- and lives life totally normally and just trying to set a good example. and just live a godly life. that's the most inspiring thing about her. >> and country singer carrie underwood makes her big screen debut as bethany's youth pastor. >> i don't know why terrible things happen to us sometimes, but i have to believe that something good is going to come out of this. >> today bethany is among the top female surfers in the world. she graciously gave me a few pointers during my first attempt at surfing. the waves were pretty choppy that day, but bethany had no problem popping right up on her board and then, in my first attempt, i stood up for about a second. but what a thrill that one second was.

>> the hamiltons say as painful and traumatic as this shark attack was for bethany, they believe god has a greater purpose in it, and they're hoping this movie will inspire others going through tough times to trust god and never give up. >> life's not about like having all your limbs or, you know, just having everything perfect. like life's not perfect. but through our imperfections is where we can bring beauty and good stuff out of life and glorify god through what we overcome. >> so you didn't know i could surf, george. >> no, i didn't. that was more than a second. >> you think so? maybe two seconds. >> absolutely. >> you're supposed to put your hands like this, not like that. and so i did it wrong, but i still stood up. i love what she said at the end. life is not about having all your limbs. it's not about being perfect. it's about taking what happened

to her and she's still one of the top ten women surfers in the world. the movie's great too. we will be right back. >> right after this.

>> imagine what the world was like 15 years ago with new internet. that's hard to imagine, right? >> hard to imagine. >> what if moses -- do you think moses would have wanted the internet back then? >> no. but a new web video answers that question and it's going viral. the video tells the passover story using 21st century internet tools. it had more than 1.2 million views within its first week of going online. video is produced by aich.com, a jewish group to help jews learn more about their faith. >> there's a misconception i think that the bible is antiquated, especially in today's world with everything moving so fast, looking so

forward-thinking. so telling the exodus story through the internet helps break that misconception. what we've been doing for the past decade and more is taking jewish bible concepts and bringing them into the 21st century. so this is really a natural extension of what we've been doing to communicate to the younger generation that religion is still relevant to today's world. >> absolutely. >> the video is also available online in hebrew and spanish. >> that's awesome. well, we have had a real variety of stories today. i hope you've enjoyed our broadcast. that is our report for this ek. i hope you'll join us again next week. >> until then, goodbye and godo