Laos

A newly Christian woman is facing expulsion from her village because of her faith. ThaoSeng, 51, became a follower of Christ in 2024 through the witness of a cousin she was visiting in another city. When she returned to her hometown a few months later, she remained faithful and worshiped at a church in a nearby village. Her family and the village elders became aware of her new Christian faith and began to persecute her, threatening to kick her out of the village if she would not renounce Jesus Christ.

On April 25, 2025, Christians from a minority tribal group in Laos were prevented from constructing a new church building. The 85 members of the church had started building the church’s foundation when the police arrived, told them to stop and drove away the assembled workers with threats of arrest and imprisonment. The pastor and one elder were arrested and deprived of food and water for the day.

A church in Laos has been told by authorities to stop meeting, and an evangelist has been threatened. When Kane, 28, moved to his wife’s village in a minority area of Laos, he was the only Christian. But he shared his faith with his wife, Mae, and her parents, who came to faith in Christ. They, in turn, became bold witnesses throughout their community. By the end of 2023, 25 Christians gathered for worship each week. The village head tried to stop them, calling Christianity a religion belonging to foreigners, but the church continued to meet.

A Christian woman’s husband has attempted to divorce her for her faith and has forcibly prevented her from attending church. Lomg, a 33-year-old mother of four children in Laos, has been under constant pressure from her husband since she began to follow Jesus Christ. In April 2025, he tried to initiate divorce, saying, “I hate her because she believes [in] God.” When the divorce was not granted, Lomg’s husband escalated his efforts to make her recant her faith by taking her and her children out to their remote fields and leaving them there to work and sleep.

A Christian woman’s brother-in-law is persecuting her and her family because of her faith in Christ. Feeling that she was attacked by the “ghost spirits” worshiped by her tribal group in Laos, Pin sought protection and healing in Jesus Christ in 2022. Through a local pastor, she and her husband continued growing in their faith. When Pin’s brother-in-law, who is a policeman, became aware that they were Christians, he became furious and threatened them. In April 2025, he cut off access to electricity and water in their home and began a campaign to get his brother to divorce Pin and leave her and their three children.

Kard felt that she was controlled by the spirits her people worshiped – that they were making her sick and causing trouble. In May 2013, a pastor prayed for Kard and led her to faith in Jesus Christ, and she was released from the spirits’ control. Though she kept her new faith a secret, other villagers noticed her healing and asked questions. She started to share the gospel, and 21 people eventually placed their trust in Christ through her testimony.

A recent convert has faced backlash from her family since becoming a Christian. Vanh came to faith in Christ in January after local Christians invited her to Christmas activities. When her husband and adult children found out, they forbade her from returning to church, saying they would cut off all support for her if she did. After the next Sunday service, one of her sons angrily smashed her dishes, saying it might be her who gets smashed next time. Her children took her phone so that she would not be able to listen to Bible texts and Christian teaching, and the next day, her husband prepared divorce papers.

TuYang, a 32-year-old tribal Christian in Laos, remains firm in his faith despite persecution from his family and village. When his older brother, a police officer, found out that TuYang and his wife had come to faith in Christ in 2021, he became angry and began a campaign of persecution. He encouraged his extended family and the village to cut off TuYang, his wife and their children. Even so, TuYang and his wife have brought nine families to Christ.

YeanFin is persevering in faith despite total rejection from her family and community. In 2015, YeanFin became a Christian and led her four children to Christ. Already a widow at that time, she was dependent on her extended family as she raised her children alone. Her relatives and the officials of her Laotian village were at first curious about her decision but then threatened her to return to the worship of their ancestral spirits. They said they would not help her if she persisted in following what they saw as a foreign religion: “You should choose us, not choose God!”

A Christian family’s registration book is being withheld because of their faith. Vat was born and registered in a village in northern Laos, but as a young man he left for the southern part of the country to work at a coffee farm. While there, he married and also heard the gospel, and he and his family came to faith in Jesus Christ. In Jan. 2024, he returned to his home village. However, after learning that Vat and his family were Christians, the head of the village refused to renew their registration book – a document with vital records such as ID, travel and work permits, marriage and birth records, educational records, and residence permits.