Laos

Fone is a trader with two children in a northern province of Laos. After she accepted Christ in March 2014, her husband began to abuse her physically, verbally and emotionally. He forces her to visit Buddhist temples with him and has often threatened to kick her out of their home.

Two Laotian men, Linh and Keon, heard the gospel from Christians in their respective villages. Though afraid of the police and knowing that conversion could cause much trouble for them, they attended a worship service and prayed with the pastor to accept Christ as Lord.

When 18-year-old Rung and her brother left their village to find work, they were employed by a Christian family whose example won Rung and her brother to the Lord. After they returned to the village, their mother became ill, which was blamed on their Christian faith.

Since accepting Christ, Ton, age 17, and Tan, 15, have been harassed for their decision by their mother and older siblings. Their mother and the rest of the family are aggressively pressuring the girls to travel to Vientiane to prostitute themselves and send the money back to the family.

LAOS – Woman Banned From Village for Following Christ
After Som shared the gospel with her mother and led her to put her trust in Jesus Christ, some of their relatives grew angry with them. They urged Som and her mother to stop believing in Jesus because “Christianity is a foreign religion.”

After her husband died, BounMee felt cursed. Although she was an animist who believed in ancestral spirits, BounMee turned to Christians she knew as a way to break the curse. After meeting a local pastor, she put her trust in Christ.

Since her one of her daughters died, Gate has lived with her 15-year-old granddaughter, Noi. Another of Gate’s daughters with her husband have supported them with food and necessities. On May 15, 2021, an evangelist visited Gate and Noi at home, and both put their trust in Christ. When Gate’s daughter and son-in-law learned of their conversions, they scolded Gate and told her to renounce her faith.

On February 13, a Christian named Nin died, leaving behind two daughters, Neung and Nom, and a son, Ram. Since 2009, the three teenagers also lost their mother, a sister and their grandmother, all of whom were believers. After Nin’s death, his older brother and sister-in-law blamed the deaths on the family’s belief in God.

During a public gathering on Feb. 15, police ordered 10 families to renounce their Christian faith. When they refused, an officer singled out one of the Christians, a woman named Sri, and ordered her to sign a document stating that she had stopped following Jesus. After Sri refused to sign, the officer wrote her family members’ names on the document and forged her signature.

On Jan. 18, two Buddhist village leaders assaulted Taeng for his trust in Christ. Many in the village already disliked Taeng for his Christian faith, but the hatred toward him escalated when he began drilling a well to draw water for his family. When village leaders told him he had to renounce his faith if he wanted to continue drilling, Taeng refused.