Church members are reportedly working with the Interior Ministry and the Lao Front for National Construction to notify officials of the ‘Law on the Evangelical Church,’ a new piece of legislation that was passed in December 2019 which allows Christians to conduct services and preach their faith unhindered.

While Christians in the metropolitan area and other major cities can freely practice their faith, this is not the case for rural Christians.

“Christians living in rural areas are considered ‘bad elements’ by other residents and by village authorities. Many Christians have been abused, re-educated, evicted from their villages, arrested, and jailed — mainly because the local authorities did not understand Christians,” a church member involved in the government-sponsored educational initiative told Radio Free Asia (RFA) last week.

“Now we hope that these meetings will improve understanding between the authorities and Christians,” he said, referring to seminars held this month in Bokeo, Bolikhamsai and Savannakhet provinces with similar meetings planned for other parts of the country.

“Before, we had a lot of problems. But now things will start to improve because local authorities and the general public everywhere are being made aware of the law,” another local Christian told RFA.

Source: persecution.org