In Laos, my team served as an Unsung Heroes team. This means we weren’t connected with an existing organization. Instead, we were sent to Laos specifically to find contacts.
Sounds exciting, right?
It is exciting! But there’s more to it than that. See, Laos is a closed country. Although Christianity is allowed, it is unpopular and closely watched by the government. As Christians, especially foreign ones, we were forbidden to actively share our faith.
That makes things a bit more complicated.
I’ve never been in a situation where I had to be careful about demonstrating my faith, so my month in Laos was definitely a time of heightened awareness. When we prayed over meals in restaurants, was anyone paying attention? Did anyone notice us walk into the church that we found? Was it obvious that we fumbled for words when fellow travelers asked us why we were in Laos? Freedom of religion exists in Laos, but there is still very little openness for Christianity. Local Christians may have churches and meetings as long as they register them with the government. Anyone hosting unregistered Christian activities risked being investigated by the government, and potentially arrested and deported.
We knew that if we were chosen to be a UH team, we would have to operate a lot more on faith, but we hadn’t expected the extra complications imposed by all of the restrictions we faced in Laos. We were looking for anyone who was running faith organizations in the area, but no one was advertising. Organizations with websites had to present themselves as non-religious humanitarian efforts.
How do you serve God when you can’t say His name? How do you tell people what you believe when it’s forbidden? How do you serve for a month in a country where it’s illegal to be a missionary?
Well, first off, you pray. A lot. You learn to stop thinking, talking, and planning so much, and start listening. You do things that are out of your comfort zone, or that seem crazy, because that’s where God is leading you. Our first full day in Laos, we followed a lead that brought us to a community of believers that welcomed us with open arms. Although it didn’t ultimately end in new contacts for WR teams, it was a wonderful time of fellowship and a much needed encouragement for us that there were other believers to be found. If we had worked with them on a regular basis, though, we would have drawn too much attention and ultimately put them in danger.
Our second day in country, we spent the morning in prayer for our day and what it would look like. Each of us intentionally asked for direction for the day, then compared notes and began walking around the city in whatever direction we felt we were asked to follow. In my group, I had felt led to invest in some of the neighborhoods, one of my squad leaders was called to dark alleys, and the other was looking for kids to make friends with. For a while we just walked around the city. I was praying quietly over it. We didn’t find anything in particular, but there’s power just in speaking the name of Jesus throughout a city that doesn’t welcome Him. As we were headed back, my squad leader and I both noticed a little side alley so we headed down it. At the other end, behind the city buildings, was a bustling neighborhood. A bustling neighborhood full of children. In the space of a few minutes we had found all three of the things that had been put on our hearts to seek out.
We didn’t do any intense ministry that day. We walked through the neighborhood and smiled a lot. We said Sabaidee (hello) which is one of two things we know how to say in Lao. The houses here are built up on posts almost like stilts, and there are usually platforms built under them for the families to hang out in the shade. There were a lot of people out and about on this day, sitting under their houses or talking with neighbors beside the road. There were kids running throughout the street giggling and playing. Nearly every person we passed greeted us with a big smile, a wave, and a hello.
Although it doesn’t always feel like real ministry, there’s value in these interactions. There’s value in praying over the city as we wander around it. There’s value in going off the beaten path and acknowledging the people who spend their lives in the less-traveled places. And when you smile and say hello to a stranger instead of just walking by, you’re showing that he or she is worthy of being noticed.
Even if the whole Unsung Heroes month consisted of nothing but walking around neighborhoods, praying and smiling, it would be worth the trip. Carrying the Holy Spirit into these places, and speaking the name of Jesus where it might never have been spoken, is worth our time even if we’re never able to tell a single person exactly why we’re there and what we believe.
