A Tribute to Sister Vongvaly

Vongvaly was a life-giver. Born in Hanoi and orphaned by the US \”Christmas bombing,\” she and her sister were adopted by a couple on the rise. Her adoptive parents raised her in the atheistic communist culture to prepare her for leadership. They would become the founders of the Lao Democratic Republic, carrying the torch of the atheistic communist culture to a land of hundreds of tribal cultures with the common ethic of hating the United States and its culture for all the bombs dropped upon their children.

Vongvaly graduated with a master’s degree from the University of Moscow. Her pathway to leadership in the culture was set before her. Orphaned by the Christian West, patriated at the highest level of the emerging Communist East, her life had been touched by one fellow student who spoke life and forgiveness. A little light had touched her heart.

Coming to Laos as a member of the ruling family, she was deeply moved by the poverty of a nation that had received more tonnage of bombs than all of Europe in World War 2. Each explosive had dropped from a plane with markings of the United States as the bombers returned to their bases just over the Me Kong River in Thailand. Villages decimated, jungles defoliated, families destroyed, this was the nation to which her parents were called to rebuild.

Sister Vongvaly cried out to God for life for her adopted country. She wept for the women. She challenged the men. She spoke to leaders at the provincial level, and she spoke to nations far and wide, asking for help.

Brother Hubert Chan of Singapore shares when he first met Vongvaly:

It was a very hot and humid day and my friend, Lawrence and I had just crossed the border from Nong Khai, Thailand, to Laos. We had just passed immigration when I heard a voice call out to me. I turned to look and it was Pastor Phon. He was in a van with some visitors from Ethnos Asia – a ministry group that works with the unreached in Asia. I asked where he was going and he said that the next day he was going to be handing over a medical clinic, that had been built through the help of a mission group called Mission Possible, to local leadership and invited me to join them.

My friend happened to be a doctor and it was his first time in Laos, so I thought, “why not?”

So, early the next morning we got up and went to a village that was slightly north of Vientiane. The medical clinic was situated on a hill. When we arrived there, I told the people in charge that my friend was a doctor. They also happened to be my friends, so they said, ‘let’s put him to work.” So, Dr. Lawrence Ng saw patients for the whole day. If the medical advice didn’t work, the people would come to me, I would pray, and the Lord would heal them.

During this time, Dr. Sylavine, a dentist, pastor, and director of Campus Crusade for Christ at the time, asked if I wanted to meet Mother Siphandone. Mother Siphandone was the former First Lady of Laos who happened to be the VIP in this outreach. Sure enough, I got to meet her. With her was a younger lady who was introduced to me as her daughter, Dr. Vongvaly Viravogsa. The year was 2008. That was the beginning of an amazing journey with her until she went back to the Lord.

Brother Hubert Chan then introduced Sister V, as we lovingly call her, to Mark Geppert, founder of SEAPC. It was risky for her to approach us because of the hate felt in the nation of Laos for anyone from the United States. But she felt that the life they brought in the name of Jesus could overcome the spirit of hatred that bound her people in poverty.

They met at the only 5-star hotel buffet in Vientiane; Sister V, Mother Siphandone, her sister, Hubert, Mark, and a couple of members of the international group. From that meeting, the Lao International Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (LIFPA) was born. This was just one of many risks that Sister V took to bring the life and love of Jesus to the people of Laos to bring them out of the bonds of poverty and hatred.

Hubert shares, “I remember her as a woman who loves Jesus and even the government officials are afraid and respect her and she would take the time to minister to them. I became her pastor in 2010 and every time she wanted to evangelize to her friend, she would bring me along so that I would follow up on the new convert. There are a lot of amazing stories about her and I want to share one recent story that was to be the last until we see her again in eternity.

About three days before she went home to the Lord, the Lord took her to heaven and showed her around. Previously, she had been in pain and could not talk much, but after she returned to her body, she woke up and shared with everyone about Jesus and things pertaining to heaven. This lasted for many hours. The next day, she breathed her last.

Sister Vongvaly Viravongsa was and is a true woman of God. When a person becomes a memory, that memory becomes very precious.”

On May 12, 2021, Sister V entered the gates of heaven to join in the rejoicing before the Lamb. She was a nation changer. She was a life-giver. She will be missed at Friends Around the Table.

Please pray for Laos, for Sister V’s family, the Garden of Hope, and the many people in Laos whose lives were changed because of the love that our dear sister has for Jesus.