Believers Arrested in Laos
On 2nd September, Bountheung Phetsomphone, aged 43, and Neuy, aged 40, had just sat down to eat lunch with a family of believers in Nong-hang village, in central Laos, when five police officers broke into the house and arrested them both.
The men were accused of “spreading the [Christian] faith” after they encouraged the believers to pray.
Christians in Laos make up a small minority and, despite the fact that the Laos constitution provides religious freedom for citizens, Christians have been tightly controlled since Communist forces seized power in 1975 and overthrew the monarchy.
Last September, six Christians were arrested in Savannakhet province of Laos, after they met together to worship, just a week after village officials had banned Christians from meeting for worship.
- Pray for Bountheung Phetsomphone and Neuy as they are in prison. Pray for protection on them and their families, for faith and courage, and for a speedy release without conviction.
- Pray for Christians in Laos who face daily opposition and threat of prison for their faith. Pray that they will know they are held in their heavenly Father’s hands, and that, through their faithful witness, many in Laos will come to know freedom and grace through Jesus Christ.
- Pray for the Laos government, to allow Christians to worship without fear.
Deuteronomy 32 vs 10: “In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye.”
Source: https://www.barnabasfund.org/news
