Source: www.vomusa.org
Date: February 7, 2025
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A Gospel-Centered Prison Sentence
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| A glow spread across Kham La’s face as he recalled the day in 2011 when he placed his faith in Christ. “After I became a Christian,” he said with a smile, “I had happiness in my life.” His circumstances hadn’t changed. He still lived the hard life of a subsistence farmer, raising chilis and rice on his small plot of land in a Laotian village. And he still had to haul his produce to market in different villages to support his wife and five children. But in Christ, he found healing from sickness and freedom from the spirit worship common to his culture. He also found a higher calling. Kham La shared the gospel of Jesus Christ and the story of his conversion in his village and in the markets. “When I go … many people know my name and my story, and they come to listen,” he said. “Many people are interested and become Christians.” Ministry Roadblocks The constitution of Laos allows for “the right and freedom to believe or not to believe in religion,” but many Laotians, especially government leaders, view Christianity as a foreign religion and a tool of the West to undermine the Communist regime. Soon after coming to faith in Christ, Kham La began to face pressure from local officials, who told him to renounce his faith or leave the village. Police presented him with a written renunciation of his Christian faith and demanded he sign it, mocking and threatening him. “I wasn’t afraid,” Kham La said. “I just stayed strong and faithful and didn’t sign.” After three years, the officials changed tactics. They set up roadblocks to prevent Kham La from evangelizing in other villages and warned people in nearby villages not to become Christians. “In these other villages, so many people know Jesus through the police,” Kham La said. The police’s warnings piqued the curiosity of other villagers. “Thank God the gospel still spread and is growing in that area.” On August 8, 2022, Kham La received an “invitation” to meet with authorities at the provincial police office. After praying with his family, he and one of his sons left for the meeting. The “meeting” was a trap. Without explanation or charge, officers roughly handcuffed Kham La and led him to a tiny, windowless cell, locking him inside.
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