How Inthy’s family trusted God for his release from prison
While there are many stories of imprisoned believers, and we are often encouraged to pray for them, there are others whose stories are often left untold; the families of the prisoners, who are left behind to worry and struggle without their imprisoned loved ones.
When Inthy*, a pastor from Laos, was imprisoned in August 2020, his wife Chamchai* and son Kikeo* had to try to survive without him. This is the untold story of a wife who struggled to provide for her family and endured insults from relatives while her husband was in jail. This is the untold story of a son who believed that only God could save his father from prison.
Inthy, Chamchai and Kikeo live in a staunch Buddhist village in Laos where belief in another religion is not just frowned upon; Christians are considered traitors, proponents of disunity and offenders of tradition.
Chamchai is 58 and works as a farmer to support her family. She has nine children – seven boys and two girls. Three of them are married, while the rest still live with her. Her oldest son is 30 and the youngest is just 14.
She is soft-spoken and looks reserved, yet when she is asked about her husband’s imprisonment, her eyes glistened and flash with different emotions. However, her voice remains almost a hush, moderated.
“It was August of 2020, around the end of the rice planting season. While we were planting rice in the field, a church member from one of the neighbouring villages called and informed my husband that their beloved 17-year-old son passed away. They wanted him to attend his funeral.”
“I asked him whether a Buddhist or a Christian ceremony would be held. The boy was not a believer, but his parents are. He replied, ‘I don’t know yet, I’ll find out once I get there. If it will be a Buddhist funeral, I’ll be back around 7 in the evening. If it will be a Christian one, I will stay until the ceremony is over.’ After breakfast, he left together with our neighbour on a motorbike.”
Little did Chamchai know that it would be the last breakfast she would have with her husband until six months later.
“I was waiting for him to return home. It was already seven and I did not hear from him. I gave him a call, but it was our neighbour who answered his phone. ‘The police arrested your husband while we were having lunch. He left his phone with me.’ I was horrified and confused. I kept asking why he was arrested, taking him away as they pleased.” Chamchai learned that Inthy arrived in the other village at noon. The boy’s family served lunch, and while eating, the village chief arrived and invited Inthy to his office where the police were waiting for him.
There, he was handcuffed and chains were put around his ankles. They drove him to the prison.
“When I heard all of this, I felt my knees getting weak and I burst into tears, shaking and crying out to God. I prayed for God to have mercy on him and protect him from violence and harm. I was so worried about him; I was unable to eat or sleep that night.”
The following morning, Chamchai called their neighbour again to speak to the police and ask what crime her husband had committed. She did not get a direct answer. Instead, she was told that he would be released after three days. “Three days was too long. And things got worse when I found out that they were not going to release him after three days. It seemed like the past was repeating itself.”
‘Everything reminded me of him’
It was not Inthy’s first time in prison. Chamchai revealed that it was his third, and each time it was because he was practicing his Christian faith.
Chamchai was frustrated. “Why does this always happen to him? I was so sad and worried about him. Every time he was in prison they treated him horribly; he was once forced to sleep on the ground in a filthy washroom for a month and had to shower with mud water, and they never let him go out for a walk. They would keep him locked up like that for a month because they said he committed serious
political crimes. This was all too much for me.
“I don’t understand why they keep doing this to him. Why can’t they let him be and let him live in peace?
“No matter what I did to keep myself occupied, I could not help but cry every day. I would take care of the cows, buffaloes, and the rice fields but everything reminded me of him. I would be crying all day long, even more, when I needed help and he was not by my side as he usually was. It brought me so much pain
and sorrow.”
In his third imprisonment, it was only after two months that Chamchai was allowed to see her husband. “The police would not allow me to see him at all. When I sent him food, I would have to leave it with the police to bring to him. By the third month, they finally allowed me to see him.
“When I saw him, I wept. He was so pale and skinny. My husband said, ‘I fasted every day and only ate one meal a day at dinner time.’ He said he was praying and fasting ‘for his freedom.’”
Chamchai shares that while her husband was still in prison, she and her family had to deal with unpleasant treatment from their non-believing relatives. “They would ask me why I had to stand firm and believe in Jesus Christ when all it did to us was lead to suffering and persecution. They said, ‘Look at what this faith did to you and your family. Renounce your faith so that you can live peacefully.’”
But Chamchai was firm in her resolve. “I told them I will never abandon my faith because only Jesus Christ can bring me joy and happiness. Nothing can change my mind about my faith now. I will continue believing in Jesus; I will follow in God’s footsteps and will trust in him and him alone.
“With God, everything is possible just like in the Bible with the story of Esther and Mordecai who prayed for Israel’s victory and had their prayers answered. And just like Job who suffered more than me, but he still stood firm in his faith. These two Bible stories bring peace and hope to my heart.”
With a joyful expression on her face, she continues, “I am thankful to God for answering our prayers since he was finally released after six long months. When I went to the prison to pick him up, I was so happy and so emotional when I saw him; I was crying loudly, my eyes were filled with tears.”
Chamchai said God hears and answers prayers and she is grateful that a bigger family of believers supported them and prayed for them and with them, too.
Because of your support, Open Doors local partners were able to minister to Chamchai and her children by providing them spiritual care and support, as well as financial assistance while Inthy was still in prison.
“Thank you so much for your help and support and for always being there for me and my family. Thank you and may God bless you. All of your prayers are much appreciated and have been answered.”
‘I believe what happened to my father is part of God’s plan’
Kikeo, 17, is the seventh son of Chamchai and Inthy. He spoke about how he looks up to his father and has confidence that God will take care of him no matter what. “I believe what happened to my father is part of God’s plan. God wanted to spread His kingdom through my father’s persecution. Each time my father came out of prison, he proclaimed the word of God more strongly. I am a witness to a growing number of believers. Right now, there are seven villages that my father is providing spiritual support to.
“To me, my father is my hero. He would work hard every day to make sure we would be fed physically and spiritually. He is also like the Apostle Paul from the Bible. He is always concerned about satisfying God’s will and would always aim to please God regardless of the persecution he would face. This is the third time my father was sent to prison, but I know God will always take care of his children especially when they are in danger.
“God always looks out for his children; he always does. He did it now with my father the first time, and he will continue to do so in the future. I feel that God is always with us. Even during my father’s absence, God gave my mom the strength to support the family so that we would never go hungry.”
Please pray
- Pray for God to bless Chamchai and Inthy’s new church so that it can be a safe space for believers in their area.
- Pray for God to give Inthy the strength and courage to minister, and for their family to stand firm through any storm of persecution.
- Pray for Chamchai and Inthy’s other children who do not have Jesus in their lives yet, that they too will encounter Him and have a personal and intentional relationship with Him.
One With Them
In the month of June, we are placing a larger focus on praying for Christian captives for One With Them: A Day for Christian Captives. Learn more about how you can get involved here.
