LAOS

Laos has a population of 7 million with the capital Vientiane where 700,000 live. It is the size of the state of Utah and it is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. 80% of the Laotian people practice subsistence agriculture. It is one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia.

65% of Laotians are Buddhists, 30% practice traditional spiritism and approximately 2% are evangelical Christian. There are 127 different people groups and the primary language is Lao.

After the Vietnam war ended in 1975, Laos came under Communist rule. Laos is a one-party socialist republic, espousing Marxism-Leninism governed by the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party.

Church planters face ongoing Communist oppression and persecution. Plain-clothed or uniformed police can be anywhere and everywhere. Church planters are persistently persecuted in Laos by the communist police. They are harassed, have their property confiscated, they are ridiculed, beaten and arrested for their faith.

There are 15,000 villages in Laos and 13,000 of those villages have yet to hear the gospel of Jesus. The Laotian people are incredibly open to the gospel—it’s just that millions have never heard the gospel. Laos is a beautiful country, but it is a least reached country!