Across Laos, Christian families are daily counting the cost of following Jesus. Despite their struggles to survive, these seven families expelled from their homes are not giving up their most precious good – their Lord and Saviour, and their eternal home.

In a small safehouse live six families, with much in common. With little space to move around, and even less money to purchase a bigger home, they share everything – above all their faith in Jesus, the reason why they’re here now.

Earlier in 2025, each family was exiled from their village in northern Laos for converting from their traditional practices to Christianity. Their choice immediately aroused the anger of the local authorities – even though the constitution of Laos supposedly upholds freedom of religion or belief for all.

The families were invited by the village elders for interrogation. There, an ultimatum was given.

“We’ll give you two options,” said the village chief. “Leave your faith or leave the village.”

Renouncing their faith would have clear, instantaneous benefits: “Anyone who recants their faith now will receive presents of timber to build their home, and a piece of land with rubber trees in it.”

But choosing to stay faithful also had its consequences. “If they stay in Christ, their houses will be demolished and they will leave the community with an empty hand.”

Faced with a near-impossible choice, the believers decided to keep following Jesus. Thirty of them, young and old, gathered their belongings and prepared to leave their birthplace.

The families now live in a rented safehouse – a tiny room to accommodate 14 adults, 4 teenagers and 10 children. It was hard to get enough food to feed them all.

Hearing of their situation, Open Doors local partners visited the believers, bringing financial support, food and much-needed encouragement.

The families hope to move out soon with what they have saved from their labour – but that hope seems distant given the high price of land. Local partners continue to stand with them, supporting them spiritually and practically.

Rejected by their own 

Elsewhere in Laos, another family has also faced expulsion from their home by a family member.

Keo* and Dean* are a young couple with four children – three boys and a girl. Their family is one of only three Christian households in the village, all of whom came to faith at the end of last year.

Earlier in 2025, Keo was suffering from chronic bleeding – eight months of pain that did not abate despite help from clinics, hospitals and doctors. At her mother’s suggestion, she even made offerings to a shaman, with no success. Her condition worsened with each day.

“I was lying in the house, waiting to die,” she recalls.

Then, her uncle, Pan*, came to visit. He was a Christian and longed to see change for his niece. “I saw her suffering for months,” Pan says. “I wanted her to be healed.”

So, he began to share the gospel with the whole family, visiting them regularly and encouraging Keo to put her faith in God. After hearing the gospel several times, Keo and Dean decided to accept the Lord.

But it was no longer just about healing – it was about relationship with God. “I told myself, whatever happens, whether I am healed or not, I will continue to follow the Lord.”

That night, everything changed. “I was able to sleep, and my body was no longer hot,” Keo testifies. “My bleeding finally stopped.”

Joy mingled with sorrow 

Despite her new-found joy, Keo was soon met with fierce opposition from her mother who demanded that the family renounce their faith.

“My mother kept complaining about my beliefs. She told me, ‘If you won’t renounce your faith, you must leave the house,’” Keo shared.

Under strong pressure from her mother, Keo and her husband decided to leave the house to avoid further conflict. However, the situation became even more difficult when her mother refused to give them any share of the rice they had grown and harvested together. Feeding themselves each day was an increasing challenge.

In God’s grace, help arrived in the form of local believers and leaders who quickly came to aid the family. “They helped build a small shelter for them,” says Mr Lamthan*, a local partner of Open Doors. Along with a new home, food was provided for the family.

Now, Keo, Dean and their four children live in a small house on a farm. A nearby pond supplies water for their daily needs, but drinking water must be bought from the local village.

Partners were again able to visit, bringing encouragement and packs of relief aid. Plans to help them access clean water more easily are underway, but conditions remain difficult.

“Please continue to pray for them,” shares Mr Lamthan, “that they would find the means to have food on their table and access to clean water.”

Stand with exiled believers in Laos 

The case of these families is a common experience for believers in Laos. Christianity is viewed as a foreign religion and a threat to the ways of traditional village life.

Any freedom believers have is left to the discretion of local authorities and communities. In the face of such opposition, many followers of Christ are forced from their homes to practise their faith underground, out of sight of persecutors.

What makes all the difference for underground believers is knowing that they aren’t alone. Your prayers and support can remind them that they share their faith with a global church family – and that their heavenly home is a treasure worth more than any home on earth.

*Names changed for security reasons. Culled from www.opendoorsuk.org.

At Kingdom Times, we bring to the awareness of fellow Christians and all humanity the plight of many in the world who are going through pain and anguish just for their faith in Jesus Christ. Please remember them in your prayers.