HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (BP)--Christian sources in Vietnam report that some 40,000 people gathered in a hastily constructed venue in Ho Chi Minh City to worship God, celebrate Christmas and hear a Gospel message on Dec. 11 -- an event of unprecedented magnitude.

A popular Vietnamese Christian website and other reports indicated up to 8,000 people indicated a desire to follow Christ in response to the Gospel message, Compass Direct News reported Dec. 14.

For the last two years, authorities surprisingly granted permission to unregistered house churches in Ho Chi Minh City to hold public Christmas rallies, and last year more than 10,000 people participated in one in Tao Dan Stadium, Compass reported.

This year house church leaders approached the government in October and asked for a sports stadium seating 30,000. Authorities denied the request but offered a sports venue holding only 3,000, located 13 kilometers (eight miles) out of the city, Compass reported. This was unacceptable to the organizers, who pressed for another stadium for about 15,000 in the city, and officials gave a verbal promise that they could have it.

The verbal promise did not translate into the written permission that is critical in the country, Compass reported, noting that church leaders say such promises are empty until they we have the permission paper in hand. However, Christian leaders believed that planning for the event had to proceed without permission and sent out invitations far and wide -- only to have authorities deny the stadium they had promised.

Led by pastor Ho Tan Khoa, chairman of a large fellowship of house church organizations, organizers were forced to look for alternatives and found a large open field in the Go Vap district of the city. When permission still was not granted five days before the scheduled event, Compass reported that several church leaders literally camped for three days outside city hall, pressing for an answer.

Authorities, who often work to sabotage united action among Christians, tried urgently to find ways to talk the leaders out of going ahead, promising future concessions if they would cancel the event, Compass reported. But organizers stood firm, ultimately telling the deputy mayor that refusal to grant permission at that point would have far-ranging negative ramifications in Vietnam as well as internationally.

Finally, at the close of business on Dec. 9, just 48 hours before the event, officials granted permission that had required clearance all the way to Hanoi. But the permission was only for 3,000 people, and many more had been invited.