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Lent Prayer 2013 - Laos

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Lent Prayer 2013 - Laos

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Published: 00:01 GMT Standard Time - Wednesday 06 March 2013

Lent Prayer 2013 - Laos

Project(s): 90-740

Country/Region: South and East Asia, Lao, People's Democratic Republic

Take part in an animist ritual to renounce their Christian faith or leave their village. This choice was placed before six Christian families on 18 October 2012 in Allowmai, Savannekhet province, Laos. When they refused, they were warned by the district police that their pastor, who had been detained a month earlier, would remain in prison for two or three years. Despite orders from provincial authorities to release him, the police did not let the pastor go.

Village officials frequently ignore the rights and freedom of religion that Christians in Laos should enjoy
Village officials frequently ignore the rights and freedom of religion that Christians in Laos should enjoy
CC BY-SA 2.0 / sweet_redbird

Village and district officials frequently take the law into their own hands in Laos. In some regions Christians, particularly those belonging to ethnic minorities, suffer threats, harassment, detentions, property confiscations, forced relocations and forced renunciations of faith or are denied access to education and medical care. The central government rarely restrains local authorities, despite the fact that the constitution and laws allow for freedom of religion for the country’s small Christian minority of 2 to 3 per cent. Both local and central authorities are very suspicious of the rapid spread of the Christian faith among ethnic minorities. They consider Christianity an American import and a threat to national identity and unity.

The government officially recognises three Christian groups and refuses to recognise others. Nearly all Christian activity must undergo a strict and laborious approval process by the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC), the national agency responsible for religious affairs, in either their local or their national offices. This means in practice that many Christians are prevented from performing legal activities such as importing Christian literature, evangelising and building churches. Printing Bibles is forbidden.

Give praise that many Laotians from ethnic minorities are coming to know the Lord Jesus as their Saviour. Pray that when Christians in Laos experience injustice and pain for their faith, they will receive strength from God to endure their ordeals patiently and with Christian love. Pray for the release of Christian leaders who have been unjustly imprisoned for many years. Pray that the central government will educate more local and district officials about the rights and freedoms that Christians have in the constitution and reinforce these rights when officials violate them. Pray that the suspicion that officials on all levels feel towards Christians will be replaced by trust.

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“Praying for the Persecuted Church 2013” -  Download.

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Lent Prayer 2013 - Laos

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christian, persecution, charity, church, persecuted, sookhdeo, Islam

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