Laos: Police seize Bibles and songbooks

Please pray for a small church community in southern Laos who are being targeted and threatened by the authorities in their region.

One Sunday back in November 2022, the community of Christians had gathered for their morning worship service in a small house. While the service was going on, local police charged inside the building, ordering everyone to stop worshiping. The officers then told the believers to hand over all their Bibles and songbooks.

A pastor leader from a nearby church had joined the service, and when asked to hand over his Bible, he refused, saying: “Would you read it if you took it? I have only one, how can you take it from me?” Thanks God, after discussion, the police didn’t leave with his Bible.

After taking Bibles and songbooks, the police pulled out a document and asked all the believers to sign it. The church members were told this record was being used to gather information on people currently attending the service. The believers had no other option but to sign their names.

Before the police left, they cautioned them all to stop meeting together as a church; if they disobeyed, they were warned they would be charged and eventually imprisoned, as they were ‘breaking the rules.’

Dey*, a local Open Doors partner in the region, shares: “This is not the first time that local officials in Laos have seized Bibles… The majority of the time, the local authorities, the village chief, and other villagers in the community were opposed to Christians living in their area, and the villagers have done all in their power to convince all Christians to reject their faith in Jesus Christ.”