'My life is safe in Jesus'

Pastor Khoun,* a father of five from a small village in Laos, first heard about Jesus through his mother-in-law. “When she told me about Jesus, I read and liked the teachings in the Bible,” he shares. “They talked about humility and love.”

But that wasn’t the only thing on his mind as he continued learning. The pains in his body made his daily work almost impossible—until someone told him that he could be healed if he prayed and believed in Jesus. So Khoun prayed and, a few days later, the pain disappeared.

“It was amazing, I could work properly,” he recalls. “I returned home and told my wife the good news.”

Khoun told his wife about his healing. She also suffered regularly from frequent bouts of fever, so Khoun prayed for her—and she was healed. After witnessing those miracles, the entire family gave their lives to Jesus.

Spiritual warfare

"Thevillagers wondered why I no longer drank alcohol with them,” he says. “When I told them it is because Ibelieve in Jesus, they mocked me and hurled abuses at me.”

The insults did not stop Khoun from sharing what the Lord had done for him and his family, and as hecontinued to tell others about Jesus, he saw people come to faith. “More than 30 people came to Jesus,” he remembers. “There were over 10 Christian households.”

He says that people witnessed his healing and began to ask how they could be healed as well. A paralyzed relative came to him looking for answers and asked for prayer. Khoun told him, “‘I can pray for you, but I cannot heal you; only God can do that. You must believe in Him if you need healing.’ He agreed and was miraculously healed.”

But that incident led to increased pressure from other members of the village; they were threatened after seeing so many turn away from the tribal religion. Khoun’s relative was pressured to reject his faith and Khoun himself was subjected to threats to stop leading church services.

The villagers continued to intimidate Khoun, threatening him with an ultimatum: “If you do not leave Jesus, we will destroy your house, and you will have to leave the village.”

Pastor Khoun responded that he would never renounce his faith. "I told them that I had done nothing wrong. Jesus healed me when I was in sickness and pain; hence, I do not want to practice my old customs or beliefs anymore. However, they insisted that believing in Jesus was against their animist traditions and customs. They told me, ‘Your God is very strong, and our animism is weak.’

He continued to question them, asking “If you know this, why don’t you believe in Jesus? Gods that we worship require us to offer money, livestock and sometimes even our lives. Believing in Jesus means worshiping Him alone, and He requires us to offer Him our hearts only.”

But they refused to listen and continued to insult and pressure Khoun.

On New Year’s Eve, that pressure reached a breaking point.

‘You must flee’

When Khoun requested to hold a New Year’s Eve thanksgiving service, it was quickly denied by the village authorities. The next day, he found his water pipes cut.

“One person from the village came to my house and warned me: ‘They are planning to kill you. You must flee.’ I was terrified and ran to a nearby village.”

He later heard that his house, along with two others that belonged to Christian families, had been destroyed and their possessions taken to a detention center. The devastation was so great that one family renounced their faith.

‘My life is safe in Jesus’

Since then, Khoun and his family remain in exile, unable to return to the place they once called home. “Life is a struggle; we have very little food and resources,” he says.

But, through your support, Open Doors partners are responding with practical help and persecution survival training. This training has not only taught Khoun but grown his desire to share the gospel. He is only one of many other pastors who, though in exile, are receiving formation and dedicating their lives to the work of the gospel.

“Many Christian leaders in villages have not undergone formal training and have studied the Bible themselves,” Khoun explains. “They read the Bible every day and are very dedicated to their ministry.”

Opposition and difficulty remain. Nevertheless, Khoun remains thankful. “I am thankful to God that we have a place to stay and that we can worship with others in a nearby village. The Bible teaches that nothing can harm me.”

He concludes: “I stand strong in my faith, and I know that my life is safe in Jesus.”