Barnabas Aid, 27th March 2024 (excerpts)
A small house church in southern Laos attacked by residents and village leaders in February is now reopening under the protection of district authorities.
On Sunday 4 February a mob of residents and village authorities tore down the house where Christians were gathered and interrupted the worship service. The attackers also burned Bibles and other documents.
Ministry of Public Security officials have since stepped in to protect the Christians’ right to worship. “They announced that from now on, our fellow Christians can resume worship,” a Laotian Christian said. “So, starting this week, we’re rebuilding our place of worship.”
Another churchgoer added that while the building is being repaired, the church will still meet for worship.
“But the village authorities and other non-Christian villagers are still threatening us, threatening to tear down our place of worship again,” he said.
He said that the district level authorities warned the village authorities not to harass Christians again.
The tearing down of Christian homes and eviction of Christians from villages has happened repeatedly in country districts in Laos, despite a national “Law on the Evangelical Church”, in force since December 2019. But in rural areas this law has not had much impact yet.
Praise God for the support of the district authorities in providing protection for the house church to reopen.