Mr. O* was arrested by the authorities on February 2nd because of his faith. He accepted Christ through his son. In the beginning, his son accepted Christ and was excited to share his faith with his parents. Unfortunately his father hated that he accepted Christ, and kicked him out of the house. O* threw away the Bibles, radios, USB sticks with message, and MP4 speaker radios that his son brought back home to witness to his parents. S* left the house and went back to his home church, 5-6 hours away in another province. S* went to stay with his grandma and his uncle. During the trip back to his home church, S* father, O*, called the police to arrest his son. Thank the Lord that S* was visiting his friend on the way, and the police could not find him! The Lord sure protected S*.
S* felt that God called him to study God’s word in Chiang Mai. May 2017 was when he went to study in Chiang Mai. The Bible school was only able to accommodate him (and 2 other students) for 1 term because of visa issues that were encountered. Yet, I took him and the 2 other students to stay in our compound and decided to teach them daily. I challenge them to love God, love God’ Word, pray, love the K* people and other people’s group. On November 3rd, 2017 they went back to Laos to minister to their own home churches. S* asked me for permission to visit his parents again even though they did not like S* religion. S* parents dislike Christianity because they see that it is a foreign religion and the government of Laos detests it.
S* and his uncle went to visit them. This time was different as S* parents were open to listen to the messages on the MP4 speakers, the K* program on the radio, and interacting with their son and pastor. S* and pastor T* led S* parents to Christ along with other families. A total of 10 people accepted Christ! O* was on fire for the Lord and started to witness in the village. He then led 5 more families to Christ, which brought to a total of 50 people in the village that accepted Christ! This made the head of the village fear for his position from the Communist party. On January 17th, 2018 O* called me, and said he led 8 families to Jesus. He asked for more messages on the USB sticks, more MP4 speaker radios, and other ministry materials. He said that many people are wanting to accept Christ after listening to the messages.
On February 2nd, 2018 O* was arrested and put in prison until today (as I am writing this on February 20th) 2018. From persecuting and wanting his son to be arrested, O* was now put in prison for his faith! From his hate to now being in prison for the God he accepts in his heart. This situation has never occurred yet among the K* Christian, since I have been serving God for 40 years, which started in 1977.
At this moment O* is waiting for the court to have a verdict on his case. The head of the village is currently forcing O* wife to renounce her faith. They want them to give up their fish pond to the village, and then her husband will be released. S*, their son, told his mother to not renounce their faith under any circumstances, and not sign any papers to renounce their faith. Recently, the court asked Mr. O* to prepare at least 3,000,000 Kip (380 USD) as a “fine” regarding the situation. Please pray for those 8 Christian families who are facing tremendous pressure to renounce their faith, as they just recently accepted Christ. They depend on the radio, USB messages, and MP4 speakers to grow in their faith. Please pray that they will not renounce their faith, be strong in the Lord, and stand firm. This will be a great test for them as we believe that if they can withstand this, many more will come to Christ!
-Recent update as of Feb. 23rd - Mr. O* cannot be released from prison no matter what he pays until he officially signs a paper to renounce his faith.
*Name and location have been changed for their protection.