I have just returned from the groundbreaking ceremony for the Laos Peace Center. Whenever I think about traveling to Laos, I hesitate because getting there requires so much time and energy. Yet a good mission field always gives us something in return—something to learn, something that moves our hearts, and something that challenges us.
From Vientiane, the capital of Laos, I took a small propeller plane to Savannakhet and went directly to the groundbreaking ceremony upon arrival. Because Laos is a communist country, the official ceremony contained no explicitly Christian elements, and even the name of the church was not mentioned. Still, it was a wonderful celebration attended by residents, ten village leaders, and representatives of the country’s officially recognized Protestant church body. An hour before the public ceremony, local missionaries and church leaders gathered privately for a service of thanksgiving.
Once the Peace Center is completed, it will provide programs to help young women become more self-reliant. We are also planning to operate a guesthouse as part of our vision for developing a self-sustaining mission.
The Education Center, built primarily through the efforts of the Korea-Laos Mission Council, is already providing excellent educational programs for children and youth. When the Peace Center is completed, I pray that we will witness what the book of Acts describes—a new generation in which children prophesize and young people see visions.
When I visited in January to help with the purchase of the land, I was deeply moved to see neighborhood children spot the missionaries from a distance, run toward them, and jump into their arms. When I returned this time, the Education Center had received official government approval and was fully operating. In the evening, I saw many children gathered there, studying together.
It was simply beautiful and deeply encouraging to see young people in their thirties and forties devoting themselves to God’s Kingdom in this difficult land near the border between Laos and Thailand.
They asked me to say a few words to the children. So, I wrote on the blackboard: “Your best is yet to come.” Then we read the words aloud together.
Today, Laos may be one of the poorest countries in the world, a place where the future can sometimes seem uncertain. But the best days for these children are still ahead.
I prayed that the small seeds of the Gospel we are planting today will one day grow and bear beautiful fruit in this land.