Youth Disowned by Family for Conversion


Two young Lao girls reading God’s Word.

A teenage girl from Laos, who recently converted to Christianity, went home to visit her family while on holiday during a high school break. After sharing her newfound Christian faith with them, she was immediately rejected and disowned for becoming a believer. "Dee," who is 16 years old, had once heard many negative things about Christianity. However, after personally inviting Jesus to be the Saviour and Lord of her life, she thought it would be good to tell her parents about the resulting peace and joy she had experienced.

To her surprise, Dee's parents were not happy over the news of her conversion, and they even tried to force their daughter to renounce her faith. When the teen refused, remaining firm in her resolve to follow Jesus regardless of the outcome, her parents kicked her out of the family home and announced that she is no longer their daughter.

Church leaders are now assisting Dee who is presently staying at a VOM safehouse. They request prayer for the teen, further explaining that even though she is saddened over her parents' rejection, God's abiding peace and an unexplainable joy remains within her heart. Dee is longing for her parents to personally experience the Lord's wonderful presence in their lives too and, therefore, asks that we please intercede on behalf of their salvation.

To learn more about the challenges facing believers in Laos, please visit our country report.

We can join Dee in offering thanksgiving to the Lord for His provision of a safe place in which to live where she will receive further ministry, teaching and counselling within a caring and nurturing environment. May she be further strengthened in her resolve to follow Christ all the days of her life, trusting Him to also work in the lives of her loved ones during this difficult time of estrangement. We echo Dee's prayers for her family, that they may personally come to know the Lord's mercy and plan of salvation as well.

Laos Information

  • Current Ministry Project

    VOMC is working with an international partner to provide New Testaments to persecuted Christians, new believers, and those who are earnestly seeking Christ. We believe that the Word of God is a vital tool in combating persecution by helping believers grow in maturity to the fullness of Christ.

    Project Fund: Bibles

  • Country Information

    Population
    7,852,377 (2023 est.)

    Ethnicity (%)
    Lao (53.2), Khmou (11), Hmong (9.2), Phouthay (3.4), Tai (3.1), Makong (2.5), Katong (2.2), Lue (2), Akha (1.8), other (11.6)

    Religion (%)
    Buddhism (64.7), Christianity (1.7), none (31.4), unspecified (2.1)

    Leader
    President Thongloun Sisoulith (2021)

    Government type
    Communist state

    Legal system
    Civil law system similar in form to the French system

    Source: CIA World Factbook

  • Pray for Laos

    Pray for strength and courage for Christians as they continue to face pressure and imprisonment for their faith.

    Pray for the government of Laos -- that those in power will continue to improve policies and activities, recognizing the need for freedom for all their citizens.

Laos News

  • Homes Demolished for the Second Time
    Laotian village
    A village in Laos.
    Photo: Vinko Rajic (cc)

    For the second time within the past five months, the homes belonging to a group of believers in Laos were demolished by angry villagers. The village is located in an area of the country considered a "hot spot" for persecution because of the increasing number of Christians.

  • Converts Driven from Their Homes
    A village
    A village in Laos.
    Photo: VOMC

    More than a dozen Christian families from the village of Mai in northwestern Laos were driven from their homes by other members of the majority-Buddhist community. This recent incident is the latest in a string of similar attacks against Laotian followers of Jesus, despite the fact that laws have been instituted in this country to protect the free exercise of religion.

  • Pastor Tortured and Killed
    Sy Seng Manee praying
    Pastor Sy Seng Manee
    Photo: Morning Star News

    On October 23rd, an evangelical pastor in Laos was found murdered after he had been kidnapped and badly beaten. His body was discovered near his motorbike in a forested area outside Donkeo village in Khammouane province.

    According to an eyewitness, three men in a black truck had seized Sy Seng Manee a few days earlier. At the time, the bystander thought the men were capturing a criminal, and so he did not intervene – only to realize later that he had instead witnessed the pastor's kidnapping.

  • Detained Pastor Confirmed Alive and Released
    Pastor Sithong - Photo: Radio Free Asia www.rfa.org
    Pastor Sithong at a wedding in 2018.
    Photo: Radio Free Asia

    On March 15th, 2020, Pastor Sithong Theppavong was approached by authorities who demanded that he agree to no longer hold worship services at a small church in Savannakhet Province, Laos (see this report). When Pastor Sithong refused, he was arrested without charge. Earlier this spring, those familiar with his situation were concerned that he was no longer alive since there had been no news of his whereabouts. (To read this previously posted report, visit this page.)