Police Destroy Church Building in Laos Village
Compass Direct News reports Police in Borikhamxay province, Laos, on March 19 destroyed a church building in Nonsomboon village while Christian residents attended a meeting called by district officials. A member of the provincial religious affairs department, identified only as Bounlerm, has since claimed that police destroyed the worship facility because it was built without official approval. Tension between the Christians and local authorities escalated last year when officials ordered at least 40 Christian families living in Ban Mai village to relocate some 20 kilometers 12 miles to Nonsomboon for “administrative reasons,” according to advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom HRWLRF. Local sources said the forced relocation to Nonsomboon village was an effort to control the activities of Christians in Ban Mai who were sharing their faith with other people … Read entire article »
Filed under: Christian, Compass Direct, Laos, Persecution
The Overcomers – Laos
Abigail, not her real name is continuing her husbands work in Laos, looking after churches he set up. He was away on church business when news came that his body had been found. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Christian, Laos, Persecution, Video, Voice of the Martyrs
Laos Village to Expell 55 Christians
Compass Direct News reports that The chief of Boukham village in Savannakhet province, Laos, on Friday (Sept. 19) called a special community meeting to resolve the “problem” of eight resident Christian families who have refused to give up their faith. The meeting concluded with plans to expel all 55 Christians from the village. Although all adult members of a village are usually invited to such meetings, on this occasion the Christians were deliberately excluded, according to rights group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF). Pastor Sompong Supatto, 32, and two other believers from the village, Boot Chanthaleuxay, 18, and Khamvan Chanthaleuxay, also 18, remain in detention in the nearby Ad-Sapangthong district police detention cell. HRWLRF earlier reported that police have held the men in handcuffs and wooden foot stocks since their … Read entire article »
Filed under: Christian, Compass Direct, Laos, Persecution
58 Christians Arrested in Laos
Compass Direct News reports that: Laotian officials arrested 15 Hmong Christian families in Bokeo district on February 22, a day before a court sentenced nine area Hmong church leaders to 15 years in prison for conducting Christian ministry and meetings that had grown beyond acceptable levels for communist officials. Sources said that the day before the sentencing, Laotian authorities arrived in Ban Sai Jarern village in Bokeo (also called Bo Kew) district with six trucks, in which they hauled away eight Christian families. Authorities also arrested at least seven Christian families from Fai village three miles away, they said. “It seems they are rounding up all Hmong Christians from Vietnam to send them back to Vietnam,” said one Christian source who requested anonymity for security reasons. “What will happen to them is … Read entire article »
Filed under: Christian, Compass Direct, Laos, Persecution
