23 May 2009

Church ordains first Laotian national pastor

The Adventist church in Laos will mark May 23 as a special day to remember. On this day the first Laotian national pastor was ordained. Several officers and department directors of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Southeast Asia (SAUM) with headquarters in Singapore joined with Pastor Rungsit Satyavaksakool, ministerial secretary for the church in Thailand, to take part in the ordination of Pastor Bounpranee Vannady, one of the full time pastors in Laos. His wife, Khounmy, and two daughters, 7 year-old Martha and 2 year-old Malee, joined him in the ordination service.

God’s work in Laos was started in 1957 by Pastor Richard Hall and family. After the fall of the country to Communism, the work in Laos was halted until 1991. Now there are three full-time ministerial workers and about 15 lay pastors.

One of the largest churches in Laos is the Ban Huay Hae Church in the Muankon District. This church was started with funds raised by Mrs. Judy Aitken of the Adventist Southeast Asia Projects (ASAP) and completed with funds from the Laos Projects Fund.

After the ordination service, the group of visiting ministers visited the Ban Huay Hae Church, where more than 300 worshippers meet each Sabbath.[SHINING LIGHT IN THAILAND, July issue]