Laos

OVERVIEW OF LAOS

Especially in rural areas, Christians are affected by tribal antagonism as animism is still strong in the country. Tribal leaders and villagers continue to preserve these practices and anyone who turns their back on this belief and converts to Christianity faces the risk of getting expulsed from the community. Communities who practice animism see Christianity as a foreign element which may anger the spirits who protect the village. In one reported incident, authorities in a village tried to force Christians to worship ancestors and swear an oath to animist spirits, thereby proving their “loyalty, innocence, and submission” to local authorities. Refusal of this can lead to corporal punishment or to being banned from the village.

PRAYER POINTS

• That the country’s communist government will relent in its pressure on the small Christian community
• For protection over the members of the illegal church meetings which are often raided
• For Christians in small villages to stay loyal to their faith despite the threat of being forced from their homes