Officials arrest five Christians in southern village in Laos

On March 25, officials in a village in southern Laos arrested and detained five Christians during worship and charged them with leading a religious movement without official approval, according to advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom.

Compass Direct News reports that the five Christians from Palansai district were attending a worship service in nearby  Boukham village in Ad-Sapangthong district. The two men – Phosee and Viengsai – and three women – Alee, Poon, and Narm – had previously attended services in the area without interference from authorities.

Boukham church members meet in a private home, as do Christians in most other provincial villages. Officials strongly oppose small groups meeting outside the umbrella of the government-approved Lao Evangelical Church, but many Christians prefer meeting at house churches, citing strict controls over LEC activities.

"This is typical of Laos now," a pastor from the capital, Vientiane, said. "In Vientiane we see things opening up a little. But the law is fluid. Things can change from day to day, and the situation is still very difficult in the provinces."

You can help by praying!

• Pray for the release of these believers. 
• Ask the Lord to give them the strength to stand firm in their faith. 
• Pray they will rely on the Lord to give them the words to say as they stand before authorities (Matthew 10:19). 
• Pray that God will use them as a witness for the gospel even at this difficult time.

For more information on the persecuted Church in Laos, click here.

Christians in Laos threatened to recant or leave their homes

Laos is a Communist-ruled South-east Asian state known for its abysmal human rights record, particularly its appalling prison conditions and systematic use of torture, reports the Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission.

Christians in this poor, landlocked nation face intensive persecution. Generally the religious persecution occurs outside the main cities, targets the already marginalized and persecuted ethnic minorities, and is committed by belligerent and corrupt local officials. In Laos, religious liberty exists in theory but not in practice. Article 30 of the Laos Constitution states: “Lao citizens have the right and freedom to believe or not to believe in religions.” However, the Prime Minister's 2002 Decree on Religious Practice (Decree 92) renders religious liberty illusory by mandating that religious activities first be approved by the village, district and regional authorities.

On March 2, Khamla, the only known Christian in the whole of Viengphuka district in Luang Namtha Province, was summoned to meet with Lao officials at their headquarters. Khamla had recently converted to Christianity after being miraculously healed from a long-term disease in answer to the prayers of believers from another district. After rebuking and interrogating Khamla, the authorities gave him an ultimatum: recant or leave Dongvieng village by March 7. Local authorities are reportedly determined to keep Christianity out of Viengphuka district. No update on Khamla is available.

On February 18, local authorities in Pakoo district of Luangprabang Province issued an expulsion order against 10 Christian families. The families, comprising some 65 believers, were given until March 18 to either recant their faith or leave Hueygong village. Eight of the 10 families became Christian only three months ago, but without the permission of the Pakoo district chief, a district religious affairs official and the secretary of the Communist party's regional branch. The head of religious affairs of Luangprabang Province has reportedly intervened and is seeking a reversal of the expulsion order on the grounds that it is illegal as provincial religious affairs are supposed to be under his jurisdiction. Whether he is protesting injustice or procedural irregularity is unclear.

Please pray that God will...

• bless His faithful Church in Laos, protecting them wherever they are, meeting all their spiritual, emotional and physical needs.
• redeem this suffering, using the arising witness to fan flickers of faith into a revival that transforms communities: may there be a spiritual awakening in Laos that liberates tribal animists driven by fear of ancestral spirits; Lao Buddhists driven by fear into legalism and ritual; and spiritually empty Communists driven by atheism into meaninglessness, selfishness and cruelty.
• bring unity and solidarity to the body of Christ in Laos, so that registered (state-approved) religious groups will not be ashamed of those who are suffering on account of Christ's name. May they have strength and courage from the Holy Spirit to support their brothers and sisters who are suffering. “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35 ESV)

For more on persecution in Laos, please visit our Laos Country Report.

The Overcomers: Laos

Seven Christian leaders arrested during a church service last December in Boukham village in Laos have been unconditionally released. For the details, watch this one minute video.


Want to share about persecuted believers with your own church? Play an Overcomers report during a service! For other videos you can share, visit our multimedia site.

Seven imprisoned Christian leaders freed in Laos

Seven Christian leaders arrested during a church service last December in Boukham village in Laos were unconditionally released on January 12. The village chief had ordered authorities to raid the Christmas service on December 16, 2011, even though freedom of religion is guaranteed in the Lao constitution.

The seven leaders were held without being charged until December 30. Since authorities were unable to charge the pastors with violating a religion law, they eventually charged them with violating the village's “hiit," the traditional spirit cult. The Christians were fined the equivalent of 35 times the average monthly wage.

International human rights organizations had exerted pressure on authorities to release the imprisoned Christians, and the families of those arrested filed complaints against the village authorities shortly before they were released.

Please pray!

• Praise God for the release of these bold followers and thank Him for their safety while in custody. 
• Please pray that these believers will remain faithful despite any future persecution they may face.
• Pray that their steadfastness will strengthen the faith of other Christians in Laos.

For more on the trials Christians face in Laos, go to the Laos Country Report.

The Overcomers: Laos

Officials forced Christians in a Lao village to give up their faith in order to bury a family member in the village graveyard. To learn more, watch this one minute video clip.


To watch other videos about the persecuted Church, visit our multimedia site. For more on Christians in Laos, click here.

Orphans under pressure in Laos

Eleven orphans in northern Laos are currently facing pressure from the principal of their orphanage to stop attending church, reports VOM-USA. If they do not obey, the children may have to leave the orphanage.

After attending a local church and becoming a Christian, one of the orphans shared the gospel with his peers. Soon, 10 other orphans turned to Christ and began regularly attending church. When the principal heard of the conversions, he told the children multiple times to stop attending church.

After pressuring the children with no results, the principal called the group to his office on August 19. He told the children they must stop attending church or face the consequences.

Seven of the orphans promised they would stop attending church, but none of them have renounced their faith. The remaining four orphans continue to attend church and refuse to bend under the pressure. Please pray that God will protect these orphans, who depend entirely on government support.

To learn more about persecution in Laos, please visit our Laos Country Profile.

Christians in Laos ordered to stop house meetings

Christians in Sounya, Laos, have been
ordered to cease meeting for worship. 

Authorities in the northern Laos village of Sounya have ordered all Christian residents to stop meeting for worship in private homes, reports Compass Direct News (CDN) and Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF).

The order comes after four Christians were arrested on July 10. Pastor Seng Aroun, a man known as Kofa and two other Christians met for Sunday worship at Kofa’s house. When the service concluded, police arrested all four men for assembling for worship without approval. On July 13, all but Pastor Seng were released. It is believed he remains in detention.

In 2002, there was an initial conversion of about 400 Sounya residents. Since then, opposition of Christians in the village has increased with police conducting three separate waves of church leader arrests.

In 2009, police tore down the Sounya church building and ordered all Christians to cease meeting for worship. Last year, despite the dangers, Christian began meeting in small groups. In January, they were permitted to meet in private homes on Sunday, but even this freedom has since been attacked.

You can read the entire CDN report here and the HRWLRF report here.

You can help by praying!

• Pray freedom of religion will truly become a reality in Laos.
• Pray God will give Pastor Seng wisdom as he speaks with authorities.
• Pray other Christian small groups in Laos will remain safe.

Lao Christian kicked out by family for refusing to visit witch doctor

A Christian in Laos was recently kicked out of his home for taking his daughter to a medical doctor rather than seeking treatment from a witch doctor, reports our sister mission VOM USA.

Twenty-six-year-old "Noy" lived with his wife and their two children in his in-laws' home. He began facing opposition from his family members when he converted to Christianity because he attended church on Sundays rather than work in the field.

When his daughter became ill, the family told Noy to take her to a witch doctor. Instead, Noy said, "I will take my daughter to the hospital. God will rescue her life." His in-laws cursed him and burned his Bible and other Christian books while he was at the hospital.

When Noy returned after his daughter's recovery, his in-laws told him he couldn't live there unless he renounced his faith. Noy refused, saying, "How can I forsake the living God?" They then forced him to leave the house.

With help from VOM workers, Noy and his family have purchased a simple bamboo house, but are without basic necessities such as food, clothing and materials for farming.

You can help by praying!

• Thank the Lord that Noy and his family stood firm in their faith and that they are continuing to attend church joyfully.
• Pray God will provide for their physical needs and guard their hearts against anxiety.
• Pray Christians in Laos will be a bold testimony of love to those around them.

Imprisoned Lao pastor’s condition worsens

Two pastors in Laos have been
in jail for six months for holding
a “secret meeting.”

Two pastors remain in prison in Laos, reports Compass Direct News (CDN). Eleven Christians, including pastors Wanna and Yohan, both from unregistered churches, were arrested in Khammouan Province in January.

The Christians were arrested at gunpoint for holding a “secret meeting” after they celebrated Christmas without prior governmental approval. Nine of the prisoners, including two children, were released within days of their arrest.

The pastors, who have remained in jail since the incident, have been told they may walk free as soon as they sign documents renouncing their faith, advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom said in a press statement on July 8.

Pastor Wanna’s family members recently visited him in jail. They said he has lost weight, has contracted an infection, and appears to be extremely weak. The families of both pastors, who rely on the financial support of the men, are appealing for advocacy.

You can read more about this case and the conditions in Laos in CDN’s full article here.

Pray for Christians in Laos!

• Pray for Pastor Wanna’s health. Pray he will recover from his infection and that his health will improve during his time in jail.
• Pray the Lord will provide for the needs of the families of both Pastor Wanna and Pastor Yohan.
• Pray the pastors’ jailers will see their faith and be brought to a knowledge of their Saviour.

Missionary charged with human trafficking in Laos

VOM USA is reporting that a missionary to youth in Laos was recently charged with human trafficking, an offense that carries a hefty fine and a prison sentence of five to 50 years.

Brother K was arrested and charged with human trafficking in May after he went to a police station to seek the release of 24 young people. The youths had been detained while travelling to a Christian training conference, where Brother K was serving as a leader.

Brother K denied involvement in human trafficking and invited the officers to visit the conference centre to see what the students were being taught. Taken aback by his boldness and concerned that the offense would become known as a persecution case, police released the 24 students but detained Brother K.

After bail was set, Brother K bargained to reduce the amount and police agreed on a sum equal to three months' wages. The youth later held their training session at a hastily convened new location.

You can help by praying!

• Thank God for His protection of the students and for the boldness of their leader.
• Pray Brother K will continue to persevere in the faith.
• Pray Christian youth in Laos will continue to passionately share the gospel with their neighbours.
• Pray freedom of religion will truly become a reality in Laos.

You can post a prayer of encouragement for Brother K and the Christian youth in Laos on our Persecuted Church Prayer Wall.

Standing up for Jesus in Laos

Khamxay is a former animist who became a Christian and then later a pastor in Laos. His faith in Jesus landed him in jail, and beatings by the guards almost resulted in his death. Yet, Khamxay continues to tell others in his nation about the God of the Bible!

Take a few moments to watch this video by our sister-mission Release International and be encouraged by Khamxay’s faith (Length 5:00).



You can view more videos like this one at Persecution.TV.

Christians killed in Laos; alarming religious freedom abuses continue

Pray for religious freedom in Laos!

Several Christians were recently attacked and killed in Xiengkhouang Province, Laos, underscoring the intense repression and abuse facing followers of Christ in the nation, reported the World Evangelical Association (WEA) Religious Liberty Commission (RLC).

On April 15, troops from the Lao People’s Army caught a group of Christians belonging to the Hmong community, an ethnic minority. All of the believers’ Bibles were confiscated. The troops shot and killed four of the women after repeatedly raping two of them. Their husbands and children were beaten, tied up and forced to witness the gruesome killings. At last report, the whereabouts of the surviving believers were unknown.

The absence of free press and lack of information infrastructure in Laos, a Communist state, often prevents news from reaching the outside world—including that of religious freedom. This incident and other recent reports, however, indicate a disturbing increase of repression facing Christians in the country.

Around last Christmas, authorities in Khammouan Province reportedly unlawfully detained 11 church leaders. Seven Christian families were also reportedly expelled by officials in Katin village, Salvan Province, earlier this year.

Protestant Christianity and the Hmong Christian community, in particular, are seen by sections of the Lao society and the authorities as an American or imperialist “import” into the country and a threat to the Communist rule.

As a result, believers are routinely expelled, forced to relocate, pressured to renounce their faith and arrested. Religious organizations and institutions have been allowed to function in Laos, but only as long as they remain under government surveillance and control.

You can read the full WEA-RLC Research and Analysis Report “Why Laos Restricts Religious Freedom” here.

Pray for comfort for all those mourning the loss of the four Christian women. Pray other believers will soon be returned home safely. Pray for the peace and strength of Christ to reign in the hearts and minds of Laotian Christians under pressure for their faith. Pray that the Laotian government will recognize the need for true freedom for all their citizens.

Laos, Vietnam troops kill four Hmong Christians

Agence France-Presse released a story of Laotian and Vietnamese troops killing four Hmong Christian women over the weekend after confiscating their Bible.

The Center for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA), a U.S. rights group, said the unarmed highland Hmong women were “summarily executed” on Thursday in northeastern Xieng Khouang province by soldiers from a special 150-member unit of the Lao People's Army (LPA) led by Vietnamese secret police and military advisers.

The government troops confiscated the group's only Bible and “brutally and repeatedly raped” at least two of the younger women before shooting them at point blank range with automatic weapons in the head and torso. Their husbands and 26 children were forced to witness the killings and have since disappeared after being beaten and tied up.

CPPA executive director Philip Smith said there has been a “very dramatic” increase in persecution, imprisonment, torture and killing of Lao and Hmong Christians for celebrating Christmas or worshipping independently, as well as independent Buddhist and animist believers in the provinces of Vientiane, Khammoune, Saravan, Xieng Khouang, Luang Prabang and other regions in Laos.

Please pray for Laotian and Vietnamese believers who are suffering for their faith in Jesus Christ. Pray for the families of the four women who were recently killed. Pray they would be surrounded and strengthened by the love of Christ. Pray, too, that senseless acts of murder such of these would not dampen the spirits of other believers in the area.

Christian villagers driven from homes in Laos face starvation

Pray God would move in the hearts of
authorities who are preventing food from
reaching Christians in Laos.

A group of approximately 65 villagers, who were driven from their village at gunpoint for refusing to give up Christianity, are facing starvation as local authorities in Laos destroy crops and prevent food from reaching the group, reported Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) on Tuesday.

The 18 families have been living in a temporary camp outside Katin village, Ta-Oyl district, Saravan province, since they were marched from their village at gunpoint in two separate incidents in 2010 for refusing to give up their Christian faith.

A report received from a CSW source this week said that village officials are refusing to allow the Christians to enter the village to farm their land. An area that had been farmed around the camp has been destroyed. Village officials have instructed families in surrounding villages not to help or provide food for the group, who lack access to adequate food, water and sanitation facilities, and medical treatment.

It is reported that the villagers believe these tactics are an attempt to starve them in order that they give up their Christian faith.

At first, 11 families were driven from the village at gunpoint during a worship service in January 2010, before a further seven families of new converts to Christianity were driven out in December 2010. Despite international advocacy on the case, the dire situation has not improved. One man from the group has died during this time.

In March 2010, the district head of Ta-Oyl, Mr Bounma, met with the group and urged them to reconsider their decision to follow the Christian faith, encouraging them to renounce their Christian beliefs. The group refused, and on hearing this, Mr Bounma reportedly stated that while the Lao Constitution provided protection for freedom of religion and belief, he did not allow Christianity in his district. He threatened the group with expulsion from the district if they refused to renounce their faith.

The Laos Constitution provides protection for its people to practise a religion of their choice without discrimination. However, legislative protection is weak and implementation at a local level can be arbitrary. Theravada Buddhism is the dominant religion in Laos. Religious minorities, including Christians, can face harassment. 

Please pray for believers in Laos today!

11 Lao Christians arrest; 3 still detained

Christians make up 3.4 percent of
Laos' population. Persecution against
them is often intense and ruthless.

Eleven Christians from Hinboun district, Khammouan Province, in Laos, were detained at gunpoint on Tuesday while gathering for a Christmas celebration in their village, reports Compass Direct News. Eight of the Christians, including children ages four and eight, were released yesterday and today.

Three house-church leaders remain behind bars for “holding a secret meeting,” said advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF). The charge against them is a political offense punishable by law, HRWLRF said.

In December, Pastor Wanna, one of the house-church leaders, informed authorities that church members would gather at his home on Wednesday to celebrate Christmas. His notification was in line with official celebrations by the government-approved Lao Evangelical Church scheduled between December 5 and January 15.

On Tuesday, a truckload of district police officers with guns cocked and ready to shoot burst into Pastor Wanna’s house after dark, shouting, “Stop! Nobody move!” They then forcibly detained the 11 who were quietly sharing an evening meal and charged them with conducting a “secret meeting” without approval.

You can read the full report here.

Please pray for Lao Christians. At the local and village levels, they are targets, and persistent social pressure and the prevention of building new church buildings are two primary opposition strategies. Pray for perseverance and grace for those who must endure, especially those singled out by persecutors. Pray there would be an increased openness to evangelism throughout Laos.

The Overcomers: Christians forced from their homes in Laos