Laos: Officials Seize Church Building, Convert It into School

Authorities in Laos forcibly confiscated a church building because the church had not applied for a building permit, Compass Direct News reports. Christians in Laos often do not risk applying for building permits because it can draw unwanted attention and preempt any chance of building a simple structure, and the country routinely denies such applications. Officials have turned the 212-member congregation's building into a government school and have posted soldiers on guard to keep Christians off the property. The church was just built in April, and its seizure puts at risk about 20 other churches without permits in the same province.