The prison food is very bad; there is little nutrition to sustain hard labour. Each prisoner starts his day with only a bowl of porridge. Lunch and dinner each consists of a bowl of poor quality rice, supplemented with dry fish.

Thong Chan is now weak, sickly and unable to walk without help; tragically, he faces another impossible 11 years in prison. The dire predicament of this 53 year old, Christian pastor from Oudomxay began when authorities arrested him after his house church started growing in numbers. Laos is a Communist country where for nearly thirty years nothing has changed. In the capital city of Vientiane, a few modern hotels cater for the growing tourist trade. In contrast, the houses are old and unpainted, depicting the daily struggle for the less than six million inhabitants of Laos to make basic living.

Laos is not only a poor country but also a place where Christians are severely persecuted. IN the late 1990s, persecution significantly increased. Churches have been destroyed, pastors and evangelists imprisoned and believers put under surveillance. Pastor Boonmy Kindawong was the pastor of Louang Pra Bang church from 1970 until he was arrested in August 1999. He was jailed for three years and one month, and released in September 2002. The 56 year old pastor is also the father of nine children. Late last year one of his daughters married a Christian man. The police went to the couple and told them that they could live together as husband and wife only if they deny their Christian faith. The couple decided to live separately rather than renounce Christ. In another story, Voice of the Martyrs learned of a Laotian army captain who was converted to Christ in April 1996. Captain Khamtan then attended worship not in an underground church but in an open and registered church. After attending on only two occasions, the authorities jailed the Christian convert in the Hua Phanh Province prison, 600 kilometres from Vientiane. Sengdala is the 19 year old daughter of Pastor Thong Chan, the pastor from Oudomxay now in poor health from his sentence to hard labour. Sengdala was converted in 1998, one year before her father was arrested. Fearing for her safety, Sengdala moved to Vientiane where she is attempting to educate herself in the use of computers in the hope of getting a reasonable job. She dreams also of learning English, to open up greater opportunities to serve the Lord, but her dream is dependent on earning enough money to pay for the course.

Sengdala's mother is Sengchan, a 43 year old woman who owned a small delicatessen in the market place. The income was just enough to buy food for her family. But the Communist authorities closed the shop after her husband, Pastor Thong Chan, was arrested.

Sengdala has three brothers: Bouthavy, 27 years of age, Sysoanthong, 25 years of age, and Chanthasou, 22 years of age.

Bouthavy graduated in architecture from Vientiane University and he worked in an office of the Department of Building and Development of Oudomxay. After his father, Pastor Thong Chan, was put in jail, Bouthavy was removed from his position in the department and made to do heavy work as a labourer, earning a mere $A20 per month. The authorities said: "If Bouthavy rejects his faith in Jesus, we will put him back in the high position." But Bouthavy refuses to compromise his faith. Like their brother, Sysoanthong and Chanthasou must also labour at heavy work, earning only $A15 a month. They have no ability to choose alternative work unless they deny their faith.