Outskirts Press, INC.

Renewing Hope Amid Desperation

When Communist Pathet Lao Forces liberated Laos in 1975, Professor Pheng and three tenured colleagues were dismissed from their university teaching positions and sent to work on a communal farm. Soon his coworkers were arrested and sent to a remote northern province for re-education. Pheng knew then that he was next. So, on a moonless night, he pushed the pirogue carrying his wife and five daughters off the Lao shore toward Thailand. In the hot, crowded Thai refugee camp, Pheng heard about God’s love and accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. The night before he left camp to emigrate to Canada, he brought his wife to the Kaetzel’s home to say good-bye. With moist eyes, he said, “Missionary, if we’d never had to leave Laos, we’d never have met Jesus.”

Ding a-ling, a-ling. Prompt as a bell, the rickety squid cart rolled down the pot-holed lane outside our dining-room window. We squinted to see who pushed it and what their mission might be. It was December 1974 and the political situation in Laos was very tenuous. A coalition agreement between the Royal Lao Government and Communist Pathet Lao forces had been signed. Now this suppertime intruder invaded our family's mealtime tranquility. Who was he? Why did he stop for just a moment and then continue on down the dusty lane ringing his bell? Was he a spy?