“I have only three gifts,” Som told us, laughing. “Solving problems, reconciling people, and staying out of jail!”
Our new friend was only partly joking about that last gift. We were in Laos to attend our first meeting with the Asian Christians in this country to encourage them in making disciples who make disciples. There, we were witnessing the everyday life of the persecuted church.
Som pastors a small church that meets on his family’s land. Christians in Laos face hostility not only from the country’s rigid, old-style communist government but also from the Buddhist animists living all around them. In the past, Som’s father was imprisoned three times for his obedience to Christ, and had to divide and sell his property just to get out of jail. More recently, six of Som’s Christian co-workers were arrested for holding a worship service. Family and church friends are providing food for them in prison, but have no idea if or when they will be released. They do not receive any information from the police.
Life here is hard enough, even without religious persecution. In the fall of 2024, flash floods in the wake of Typhoon Yagi brought destruction to northern Laos, inundating villages and farmland and leaving residents sheltering on the roofs of houses and wading chest-deep through murky brown waters. Many families lost everything they owned, and countless businesses were destroyed along with crops and livestock. Relief efforts continue still, with national partners like Som helping to coordinate a response to this devastating situation by traveling to the hardest hit locations with emergency supplies, providing villagers with rice, clean water, blankets and other essentials.
Som supports himself by doing odd jobs that help support his ministry with the church. Despite all that he faces on a daily basis, his cheerfulness is irrepressible. As we drive along the rough, red dirt roads through small villages that overflow with barefoot children, Som is always smiling and joking, but his sharp eyes miss nothing; he is ever alert for danger. I think about what Jesus said, written in Matthew 10:16. Som and his fellow believers are shrewd as snakes, yet as innocent as doves.
Pray for believers in Laos to continue to be wise in the face of persecution, and for their joy to abound.
