The wife of a jailed Christian human rights activist has shared how she has relied on the powers of God during her darkest challenges.

Speaking to LA Times, Vu Minh Khanh, wife of imprisoned Nguyen Van Dai, shared her reliance on God as she travels across America to advocate for her husband's release.

Nguyen, a lawyer and blogger, was abused and imprisoned by the communist government in Hanoi after arranging to meet with European Union representatives to research human rights.

En route to this meeting in December, undercover police officers stopped him and took him back to his house, where he was monitored by cameras.

They confiscated three computers and USB sticks and later charged Nguyen with "conducting propaganda against the state".

Since his imprisonment four months ago, he has not been allowed contact with family and his requests for a lawyer have been declined, said Vu.

Vu is determined that Americans and others "outside our community... know his work, his cause".

"Now that I'm here in this country, I realise even more how much people suffer in my country," she said.

"How else can you describe it when you don't have basic rights?"

Nguyen founded the Committee for Human Rights in Vietnam, travelling across the country educating young people in human rights.

Vu, who had to sneak out of Vietman in order to visit the United States, told LA Times about the centrality of her faith in coping with her situation:

"I think and believe in the powers of God. If I become frail, it weakens the purpose," she said.

"Dai always tells me: 'We want to live a life with meaning – not just for us but for those around us.' That's why we continue to do what we do."

Nguyen was jailed previously in May 2008 and sentenced to five years in prison under the same propaganda charges. He was released to house arrest in 2011 for another four years.