Saturday, March 14, 1998

ACU grads have personal stake in fate of arrested Christians

By LORETTA FULTON / Abilene Reporter-News

The fate of 13 Christians who remain jailed in Laos after a Jan. 30 arrest for holding a religious meeting is being monitored closely by members of the Church of Christ, particularly those associated with Abilene Christian University.

About 40 people meeting in a private home were arrested, and all but 13 have been released. Among those incarcerated, and later released, were three Americans associated with Partners in Progress of Little Rock, Ark., a non-governmental organization that provides health care and other humanitarian assistance.

One of those associates was Kenneth Fox. His wife, Jean, was out of the country at the time or she, too, most likely would have been arrested.

The Foxes are parents of three ACU graduates, Kenneth, Class of '84; Danny, Class of '86; and Keith, Class of '93 and husband of former ACU women's basketball coach Suzanne Fox.

Among the thousands of people worldwide keeping up with the situation via the Internet and e-mail, are people in the missions department at ACU.

Missionary-in-residence Ken Sinclair, who is from Asia, said the situation is a topic of much conversation in his department.

"We've been talking and praying about it for over a month now," Sinclair said.

Sinclair said he knows the Foxes personally and had met with them at Asian mission forums.

On Jan. 30, a group of about 40 people, including the three Americans, were taken into custody in Vientiane. All of them, except Lao nationals directly involved with Christian ministry, have been released, according to Jerry Canfield, one of the American aid workers.

According to information from *Religion Today website, about 70 people attended the Bible study, which included a week of nightly meetings hosted by Lao church leaders.

On the final evening, 30 provincial police and immigration officials entered the private home and broke up the meeting. The U.S. State Department interceded on behalf of the three Americans and is also working to secure the release of the jailed Lao Christians.

According to Sinclair, the Americans were accused of unlawful religious assembly, creating dissention between the people and the government, and giving out restricted religious materials.

"Almost everybody who was at the meeting was a Christian," Sinclair said.

The arrests were suspect, he said, became religious meetings are lawful in Laos and the police knew of the meetings long before they made the arrests Jan. 30. However, evangelism is not well received in Laos.

"The government wants everyone to stick with the religion they already have," said Sanra Oudkirk, a U.S. State Department spokesperson.

People who want to send an e-mail to the Laotian Embassy expressing concern for the 13 Lao Christians who remain jail are urged to use a pre-written letter found in the Religion Today website.

The address is http://www.religiontoday.com/laos.cgi