Multiplying disciples and churches in Laos
In a bustling café in Bangkok, Peter and John sat down to discuss their remarkable journey in Laos—a Southeast Asian nation where the gospel is advancing against incredible odds. Together, they have spent 50 years fostering movements that multiply disciples and churches.
Peter’s journey began in the 1990s. He trained and discipled local believers, leveraging people of peace to spread the gospel through their networks. By the early 2000s, local believers had baptized thousands of new disciples in multiple streams and provinces and saw many dozens of simple churches formed. All of this in a nation still under Communist rule.
In 2009, John started into the work of forming an apostolic band, and with Peter’s guidance, he embarked on the challenge of making disciples among a remote and unreached people group in one of Southeast Asia’s most closed countries.
Despite the progress, the work faced significant obstacles:
1. Competition for Leaders: Traditional denominations and development organizations often lured away key leaders with offers of salaries, education, and leadership roles. This introduced competing philosophies and ministry approaches that then undermined the sustainability of the indigenous movement. Some of the best pioneers were drawn away; others were discouraged.
2. Persecution: Opposition began within families and escalated to include local and national authorities. Believers faced threats, fines, beatings, eviction from their homes, houses being dismantled, imprisonment, and even death.
Professional assassins executed a leader in front of his teenage son. His wife, now a widow, was no stranger to suffering for Christ. As a young girl, she witnessed her father leave his role in the government and turn to Jesus, only to be convicted of treason for believing in Jesus. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his faith. She grew up without a father and now has lost her husband to the cost of following Christ.
3. Cultural Barriers: The majority of the population is Buddhist, with strong cultural and religious traditions that pose significant barriers to the gospel. Reaching the Buddhist-majority Lao people remains a major challenge, with second and third-generation churches among Buddhists being rare.
4. Traditional Denominational Influence: The introduction of centralized seminary programs risked disrupting the indigenous movement by imposing a more structured and less adaptable approach to disciple and church multiplication.
Despite these challenges, Peter and John partnered with Lao leaders to launch a new team in a new location among an unreached people group. This effort resulted in hundreds of new disciples and churches, reproducing to the second and third generation.
When the evangelical denomination introduced traditional seminary programs. Peter and John met with the denominational leaders to share what God was doing and explain why preserving a simple, Biblical approach to disciple and church multiplication was critical.
To their surprise, the national church leaders not only embraced the vision but invited them to train all their leaders in movement principles and practices. The Holy Spirit moved powerfully, and those passionate about multiplying disciples were empowered to proceed. For those who hesitated, the message was clear: “We are going to do this.” Leaders who resisted were replaced.
At the center of this transformation was a 70-year-old patriarch of the church. God stirred his heart, and he dedicated his remaining years to seeing multiplying churches planted among every people and place in the country.
Since 2017, over 50,000 new disciples have been baptized, and 1,200 churches have been planted across Laos. In 1990 the Christian population was 0.2% then grew to about 2% by 2007, today it is over 3%.
Over 100 people groups—mostly animists—have been engaged by near-culture or same-culture disciples. Movements are thriving among minority groups, but reaching the Buddhist-majority Lao people remains one of the greatest challenges. Second and third-generation churches among Buddhists are still rare.
But that’s not the end of the story . . .
