Recently Imprisoned Pastor Returns to Pulpit : Religion: Five days after being released from a jail in Vietnam, the Rev. Tuan Phuc Ma leads celebratory services at his Santa Ana church.

In his 10 years as head of a Santa Ana church, the Rev. Tuan Phuc Ma never missed Sunday services until June 30, when he was held for questioning in Vietnam while traveling as an underground Christian evangelist.

Sunday, five days after he was released and allowed to return to Orange County, the 55-year-old pastor once again presided over his congregation at the Vietnamese Christian Church in Santa Ana, telling its members that he had not been allowed to worship God the previous four Sundays and that he had found solace in the Bible passages he remembered.

“Hallelujah! Hallelujah!” Ma exclaimed in front of about 130 people. “I was captured because of Jesus Christ. That has been a source of pride and comfort for me, though I was worried and fearful in jail.”

The 9 a.m. service also was for members of the Vietnamese Assembly of God from Long Beach because their pastor, the Rev. Nhi Van Ho, was detained with Ma and also released Tuesday. After the two-hour service, there was a buffet at 11 a.m. to welcome the two men home.

Ho, a 58-year-old resident of Cypress, told the congregation that he and Ma were held in two different prison cells in Ho Chi Minh City. Their cellmates, about 10 to each room, included religious and political leaders who are perceived as dangerous to the current regime.

“When that metal door is shut and locked, then you can see what freedom is, then you realize how precious sunlight is,” Ho said.

The two men and two other Vietnamese pastors, Ho’s son, 31-year-old Vu Van Ho, and 23-year-old Thanh Tran, went to Vietnam in June. All four were picked up by police and interrogated until June 30, when they were released, they said. But on July 2, Ma and Nhi Van Ho were called in for further questioning and were imprisoned. The younger Ho and Tran managed to return to Orange County on July 3.

But the episode was behind them all Sunday, and it was time to celebrate. The festive mood was evident, from the balloons and streamers on the walls to the bright-yellow, traditional ao dai dress worn by 48-year-old Ngoc Le Ma, the childhood sweetheart whom Ma married.

Before feasting on Vietnamese food, Ma led the crowd in a prayer. Afterward, he looked around at those he had missed during his weeks in jail, smiled and said, “I have been waiting for this morning.”