Laos (MNN) – In Laos, poverty pushes people to seek opportunities elsewhere. According to World Bank, Laotian migrants to Thailand increased by 15% from June 2023 to February 2024.
One family was earning very little from their small vegetable farm. The father thought his children would have to find work across the border in Thailand. But with training from World Concern, the family learned how to cultivate mushrooms. Now they have a thriving business.
The father told World Concern:
“I hope to share this success with others as well, so we will all benefit from this. Thank you, World Concern, for giving me this opportunity to help my family. My wife and children love mushroom farming very much…. This is actually a double blessing. First, the mushroom farm helped me in providing for my family. Likewise, our family will stay together in our village. My children no longer need to go to Thailand to earn their keep in the future.”
Photo courtesy of World Concern.
Julia Boharski of World Concern says, “When times are tough or resources are stretched, they now have a sustainable source of income for him and his children.”
World Concern has similarly served the people of Laos since 1983 and over ten thousand Laotians in the last year alone. The organization works with the Laos government and the Ministry of Health to provide more resources to rural communities.
“Our activities that are present there is integrated development, so really focusing on those root causes of poverty,” Boharski says.
Partnering with community leaders, their programs range from improving health to preventing human trafficking. The majority of World Concern’s in-country team are Laotians and other South Asians, many of whom are local to the same areas they serve.
Boharski says, “Really, it’s just an effort of sustainability to learn from the community what their needs are, what are the risks that are posed to them and their children, and how can we just meet them where they are.”
As a Christian organization, World Concern is responsive even as violence has risen in recent years.
But God has not abandoned Laos.
Pray for God to bless and protect vulnerable families and especially the children in Laos. Ask God to keep them from harm and increase their opportunities for the future. May the team of World Concern benefit the lives of many more Laotians and give them hope. Watch this video from Prayercast to pray further over Laos.
Learn more about World Concern and how you can partner with their work at WorldConcern.org.
Header photo shows a mushroom farmer in Laos (Asian Development Bank, Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
