Laos is a South-east Asian country where official communism mixes with cultural Buddhism, and hunger, poverty and human rights abuses are rampant. Since 1975 the communist party in Laos has been ruling this country of 6.4 million people. Christianity is by default not tolerated (even though it is officially acknowledged) and persecution of believers is significantly high. Communism has isolated Laos from the rest of the global community, as one of the few remaining communist countries in the world.

Abandoned Devotion & Spiritual Awakening:

Around 3.4% of the Laos population is Christian, but only the Catholics and other orthodox mainline denominations are officially approved. The protestant-evangelical Church is seen as a threat and heavily persecuted. Pray for a revival and spiritual awakening in the Catholic congregations which are often just people committed to religion without the experience of authentic life and walk with Jesus. Pray for hunger for the deep things of God, a desire to know God and walk with him and not just know about him. Pray also for courage to persevere and not give up for the growing converts and evangelical community. Ask God for them to be so captivated by the love of Jesus, that no amount of persecution, force and threat will be able to separate them (Romans 8:35-37).

Great Commission Vision/100,000 New Message Bearers:

Many Christians, especially the leaders of the Church fled the country when communists took over power in 1975. The lack of proper, trained leadership has left the church without direction for the most part. Pray God will bring about a new era in Laos in which visionary leaders and passionate ordinary Christians are envisioned with the burden and responsibility for the Great Commission. Pray they will begin to seek the Lord about ways to get involved, develop indigenous missions structures for the purpose of sending out Message Bearers to the unreached. Pray poverty and a poor international image will not hold Laos believers back from fulfilling their mandate in the Great Commission.

100 Million Global Harvest:

Pray that the government will continue to relax its high-handed rule over the country and become more tolerant for all expressions of faith or religion therefore paving the way for increased missionary activity in Laos. Pray even in the midst of the government’s current crackdown, missions will find a unique expression and culturally relevant ways of reaching indigenous Laos peoples. Missionaries are forbidden but open doors exist in areas of aid and development that Christians could employ to spread the love and message of Christ. Pray many will see these opportunities and seize the moment.