Lao Lia Po and his Mother

When I read testimonies such as this one about Lao Lia Po's mother, I wonder what is wrong with me and some other Christians in America who are just afraid of being isolated socially or having someone not like them. We need to be strong and courageous for Christ and never stop telling others about Him.

 “Brother will betray brother to death,
and a father his child;
children will rebel against their parents
and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone
because of Me (Jesus),
but the one who stands firm to the end
will be saved."
Matthew 10:21-22

The story of Lao Lia Po and his Mother

Amidst terraced rice paddies, tea plantations, and blooming hyacinth gardens, the truth of Christ had begun to take root in the hearts of the tribal people in the mountainous Northwest Province of Vietnam. First, a 74 year old Hmong woman had accepted Christ, soon others followed, including Lao Lia Po’s mother. The local authorities had begun to worry and had pressured many to recant the Christian faith and to re-establish ancestral altars.

Rather than follow his mother in faith, Lao Lia Po became angry that his mother had accepted Christ as her savior, so angry in fact that on February 3rd, 2009, he took his own mother’s earthly life.

“…Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” Hebrews 10:17

The mother of Lao Lia Po, in whose life the love for Jesus had begun to bloom, had remained faithful in spite of the pressures to deny Him. Join in prayer for her son Lao Lia Po, that he come to know the eternal truth of Jesus Christ, the one who died for all our sins, and that the family has the courage to reach out to him in love and through the glory of God transfer their grief into the powerful witness of forgiveness. Pray also that all Vietnamese Christians are able to stand strong against the growing thorns of persecution.

In spite of new religious legislation in 2004 and 2005, authorities in the far north are violating Vietnam’s new religion policy, threatening Christians, ignoring complaints and refusing to arrest perpetrators. Although the new legislation has led to the legal recognition of several churches, there continues to be many serious abuses and restrictions of religious freedom in the country.

Laos is currently in the #10 position and Vietnam is #18 on the Open Doors World Watch List of the 50 countries around the world where the persecution of Christians is most severe.

Please pray for the persecuted church and for the strength to tell others  that you encounter about Jesus!
Story from Open Doors USA.

Where in the world is Vietnam anyway?