Trip to Vientiane, Laos (September 2017)

After I gave a presentation in Udonthani, Thailand, Missionary Jun Hyung Cho and I went to the border by a car and went through the border control to enter Laos.

In Laos, a local pastor came to pick us up and took us to the Laos Evangelical Church, the largest church in Laos. The purpose of our visit was to meet with the leadership of LEC that dominates the Christianity in Laos, approximately 90%.

Our meeting with the president Rev. Dr. Khamphone and three vice presidents went very well. The president spoke very good English and was very pleasant. He said that significant business owners are all with young Christian faith and the church can hardly expect their commitment to BAM. We in principle agreed to hold a BAM conference early next year.

He also explained that Laos Christianity represents approximately 2.5-3% of the country's 7 million population, That would translate into 200,000, far more than Thailand proportionally. Thai Christians are estimated to be 0.6% of the population.

Laos is still a socialist nation and every Christian is watched closely. He claimed that Laos is the second closed nation after North Korea.

Laotians speak Thai with some accent.

I also met with Dr. Man Gap Kim, a Korean missionary focusing on appropriate technology (AT) in various countries. He served in Mongolia and Cambodia. He came to Laos a couple of years ago and set up the compound. He is known quite well in the AT field, but has experienced frustration in BAM and wanted to learn about what SfK Ministries does. We had fruitful conversation, but could not reach any concrete conclusion. We agreed to follow up. He also talked about Kyrgyzstan. We had a meeting at a Vietnamese-built 5-star hotel that had a sky lounge on the 25th floor. The panoramic view was magnificent.

We drove by the Mekong River which was quite muddy, but pretty wide. It is a life line to many countries that passes through, including Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

We had Laos noodles for lunch together with Ki Soon Chang, who is a missionary to Laos for 10 years.

We returned to Udonthani in the afternoon by crossing the border again on a chicken bus, hot and humid.

I was not sure how we may develop a presence in Laos for SfK Ministries. Lord willing, an opportunity will come and the door will open. I trust. I felt grateful to Missionary Cho who made the trip to Laos with me. - Jeffrey