In May, I went to Laos for 5 days to explore ministry opportunities among some of the tribal groups there. During a period of fasting and prayer earlier this year, I felt God placing an increasing burden upon my heart to begin working among these peoples, particularly several Tai groups known as the Red Tai, Black Tai (pictured left), and White Tai tribes. Over 99% of the population of these Tai ethnic groups have yet to hear of Jesus and are considered to be among the people groups in the world that are the least reached by the Gospel. Over the past few years, we have been able to develop relationships with several key national leaders in Laos and the purpose of my trip was to strategize with these leaders about reaching these Tai tribal groups with the Gospel.
I was joined on my trip by two young, aspiring missionaries - Johana Vargas from Mexico and Brandon King from the US. We began our trip from the capital city of Vientiane, joined by a Thai pastor friend, who partners with me in our church planting efforts, and two Lao brothers. We drove for 3 days along mountain roads in northern Laos, stopping to visit churches and pastors along the way. Besides meeting Black Tai and Red Tai believers, we also visited churches among the Khmu and Hmong tribal groups. In every place, we heard tales of the persecution faced by the believers there - church members' homes being burned, families being forced out of their ancestral homes by government restrictions, beatings, and even murder at the hand of local authorities. It was such an awesome sight to see the local pastors' hearts strengthened and encouraged as our team ministered to them!
During our trip, I was able to hear the Lao leaders' national vision for their churches and discuss how we could partner with them to open new churches among the Tai tribal groups. They told me that, due to intense pressure from local authorities in the tribal areas, their greatest need is to establish regional leadership training centers outside of the heavily persecuted areas. These training centers will allow them to train Christian workers from these ethnic groups who can then begin the work of bringing the Gospel to their people and opening life-giving churches among them. These training centers will also serve as small businesses, providing a cover for the leadership training and supporting the ministry activities of the Lao churches.God is beginning to do an awesome work among the peoples of Laos and I'm excited about the opportunities we have to be a part of it. I'll be raising funds this year to assist the churches there establish 2 leadership training centers. If you would like to contribute to this project, contact me at ccocran76@yahoo.com . Thanks again for all your prayers and financial support as we work together to see the Kingdom of God established in the nations of IndoChina. God bless.
Chad, Nan, and Sam Cocran
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