Laos pastor beaten almost to death for refusing to give up his faith - pix, audio, video |
| Apr 07 2008 |
| Postings >> Laos |
A Christian pastor in Laos has been describing how he was arrested, imprisoned without trial, beaten almost to death – and told to sign a document renouncing his religion. He refused, preferring to remain in jail rather than give up his faith.
A Release International investigative team travelled to the communist nation of Laos and discovered that Christians are regarded with suspicion and treated with brutality.
A new video report on Laos has just been posted on the Release International website: www.releaseinternational.org In it Pastor Khamxay describes how he was arrested for bringing foreign religions to Laos, a largely Buddhist country.
He told Release: ’They asked me to sign a piece of paper that said that I would not be a Christian because Christians are not good and not right for the Lao people. I didn't sign it because of my faith.’
Instead, he shared his faith with the other prisoners in the cell. Five of the eight became Christians. When the guards found out, they beat him almost to death.
‘After I shared Christ they took me to interrogate one more time. They said I was paying money to people to become Christians and be against the government. I said, “No, I didn't do that. It is not against the government.” And they hit my head, they kicked my shoulder, my bottom and my chest.’
He says the guards beat him until he passed out and almost died. Today his memory has been permanently affected by the kicking to the head he received.
Like
So some Christians - especially those who obey Christ’s command to lead others to the faith - are regarded as enemies of the state.
In prison Khamxay and the other prisoners were shackled and unable to move. They were forced to defecate where they lay in the stifling heat.
‘The jail was a very small, dark room with no air inside,’ says Khamxay. ‘There was very, very bad smell because it was like a toilet in there. When we lay down we could not sleep.’
Khamxay, who is in his 50s, has been jailed three times for refusing to stop sharing his faith. He used to be an animist, who believed in the spirit world. When ten of his 15 children died, he believed they'd been killed by spirits. But after a Christian pastor prayed for his family the sickness and the dying stopped, and Khamxay became a Christian.
Now he prays for the sick and they get better. Ill people seek him out to pray for them and to find out about Jesus. Today Khamxay travels on foot to care for 18 house churches with more than 500 members.
It is dangerous work. There are spies in every village. The government requires the village leader to report on anything suspicious. And that includes Christian services. Khamxay often travels by night to avoid their watchful gaze.
He says many Lao people are becoming Christians because Jesus is healing them of their diseases. ‘Many people are seeing that Jesus is the true God, and many people want to become Christians and accept Jesus as their God,’ he says.
Khamxay tells his story in the latest edition of the World Update on the Persecuted Church, by Release International, which can be seen on www.releaseinternational.org
Release, which serves persecuted Christians in 30 nations, is supporting the families of prisoners of faith in Laos. It is enabling wives to visit their husbands in jail, and providing much-needed medical care for when they are eventually released.
‘Please pray for Khamxay and the Christians of Laos, that God would strengthen them, increase their faith and the power of their witness,’ says Release International’s CEO, Andy Dipper. ‘And pray that the communist government would realise that Christians who love God will serve their nation, too.’
The Lao authorities recently arrested 15 Christian families from the Hmong tribe. Many of the 58 men, women and children are thought to have fled persecution in neighbouring Vietnam. If deported they are likely to face brutal treatment - even death.
The authorities have also sentenced nine Hmong church leaders to 15 years’ in jail because their ministries were deemed to have grown ‘beyond acceptable levels.’
ENDS
NOTES TO THE EDITOR
For a picture of Pastor Khamxay, please send an email by return.
Broadcast quality audio and video are available. The report can be viewed on www.releaseinternational.org The audio is in CD quality. To order broadcast quality HD or DV footage please contact by email andrewboydconsultant@ntlworld.com
A country profile on Laos can be found at: http://www.releaseinternational.org/pages/country-profiles/laos.php
Through its international network of missions Release International works to support persecuted Christians in some 30 nations. Release is supporting Christians imprisoned for their faith and their families. It supports church workers, pastors and their families, and provides training, Bibles, Christian literature and broadcasts.
Release International is a member of the UK organisations Global Connections, the Evangelical Alliance and the Micah Network.
For further information on Release International, please contact Andrew Boyd on 01730 301905 or 07986 712 813, or contact Release International on 01689 823491 or by email at info@releaseinternational.org
For more information about the work of Release International, please go to: www.releaseinternational.org
[Back]
