World briefs April 2008

Laotian Christian families arrested

Laotian officials deported Christian families in Bokeo district to Vietnam in late February, a day before a court sentenced nine Hmong church leaders to 15 years in prison for conducting Christian meetings that had grown beyond ‘acceptable levels’ for communist officials, reports Compass Direct News.

Sources say the day before the sentencing, Laotian authorities arrived at two villages, hauling away 15 Christian families - nearly 60 people.

“It seems they are rounding up all Hmong Christians from Vietnam to send them back to Vietnam,” said one Christian source who requested anonymity for security reasons. “What will happen to them is greatly feared and unknown.”

Ethiopian church attacked: four dead

Christians gathering at local churches in the southern region of Ethiopia on March 3 were attacked by hundreds of men armed with machetes and clubs. The attackers barricaded the doors to try to prevent people from escaping.

Envoy Ministries says three Ethiopian church planters were killed, with a fourth person dying from wounds six days later. More than 70 people were injured. Hundreds fled the area and are being cared for by Christians in other towns.

President of Envoy Ministries David Hunt says evangelists began flowing into a nearby town and in one day more than 30 evangelists begged to be sent back into the exact area of the attack.

“Yesterday we committed to support the first ten with $60 monthly. Today ten headed back to the area saying ‘We are ready to lay down our lives’.”

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