LAOS: Teen Barred from Church

Date of Bulletin: 30 April 2014

A 16-year-old Christian girl is being prevented from attending church by her Buddhist family members. "Tien" loves God and loves attending church, but her family has prohibited her from attending church because she refused to go to temple with them. Tien continued to attend church despite her family's demands, until her grandmother began coming to the church every week to yell at church leaders.

Tien has stopped attending church because she does not want to cause the church trouble. "I really love God and I want to go to church," Tien said. "Please pray for me, that one day my grandmother or my family will understand me."

VOM Sources

Please Pray!

• Pray that Tien will be allowed to go to church.

• Pray that her family will see the change in her life and be attracted to Jesus.

• Pray that the other church members will find ways to encourage her.

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2

Voice Of the Martyrs is assisting believers in Laos by supporting itinerant pastors and evangelists, providing training Bible to new believers and vocational training to girls like Tien whose families reject them.

 

LAOS: Believers Blamed for Deaths in Village

 

 Date of Bulletin: 27 November 2013

Laos

A group of new Christians in a Laotian village have been blamed for the unrelated deaths of three men. In March 2013, two evangelists brought the gospel message to three remote Hmong and Khmu villages. As a result, 178 people received Christ and 18 were baptized. Less than a month later, three villagers died in a series of unrelated deaths. One was given the wrong medicine, one died in his sleep, and the third was accidentally electrocuted while trying to run a cable line.

The shaken community consulted a witch doctor, who concluded that the strange new religion brought by the evangelists had angered their ancestors. "Those Christians have to renounce their faith or they have to leave the village!" he warned. "Otherwise, more people will die." The community leader told the believers to renounce their faith. So far, all of them remain committed, but they may soon be forced out of the village.

Voice Of the Martyrs Sources

Please Pray!

• Please pray that God will strengthen the new believers and fill them with his peace.

• Pray that the community leaders turn from their false gods to the true, living God.

• Pray that the believers will be allowed to stay in the village and that they will continue to be a light to the community.

"Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter." 1 Pet. 4:16

VOM provides various means of assistance to Christians in Laos, including Bibles, Christian radio broadcasts, skills training and support for pastors.