Case update – Pastors released from prison in Laos 01/03/2012
In some wonderful news from Laos, Pastor Wanna and Pastor Yohan were released from prison in January after being imprisoned for a year.
The pastors were arrested along with nine others in January 2011, when police forced a group of eleven Christians into a vehicle at gunpoint and transported them to Khammouan prison. They were arrested because officials viewed their meeting as a “secret meeting”. Pastor Wanna and Pastor Yohan were reportedly told throughout their imprisonment that they would be released if they renounced their Christian faith. They repeatedly refused.
Pastor Wanna’s wife told CSW sources how her husband’s imprisonment had affected the family: “Since their father has been in prison, my children have been teased at school and in the village. Other parents told their children not to play with my children because their father is a bad man. But it doesn’t matter what happens to us, we will hold to our Christian faith.”
Please join us in giving thanks to God for their release and please continue to pray for the pastors as they adjust to life outside prison. Please also pray for Pastor Wanna, who is reported to be in poor health.