News

Learning God Provides - Nyotlieng Boarding School
ALO Update Vol 18 No 3

Laos - Nyotlieng is a poor village even by third-world standards. By Western standards this tiny village is beyond description and poor to the point most of us can’t comprehend. Comprised of just a few huts scattered along one of the rare roads in this remote province of Xiengkhuang, Laos, the village has no electricity, no reliable water, and no communication with the world beyond the road on which it sits. It’s a village at the top of a mountain, thus its name: Nyot, which means “top,” and Lieng, the name of the mountain. The weather is harsh, with bone-chilling fog rolling in every morning that lingers for hours but then is replaced by blazing heat, with no haven of shade. The land is infertile, and most living in this region can barely scrape together enough food to survive.

To add to the villagers’ burden of existence, the community is home to a boarding school designed to educate the children of tribal groups scattered throughout the nearby hills and jungles. What began as a school of hope and opportunity for the less fortunate soon became a place overrun with hunger, malnutrition, and disease. Eight children died as a result of the deplorable conditions.

When made aware of the situation five years ago, the Assemblies of God, through Asia’s Little Ones, stepped in and took responsi-bility for these young lives—refusing to let them perish. This year more than 500 children walked to Nyotlieng from the surrounding mountain region, hoping to find an opportunity to study and learn at the boarding school. Most of these children do not speak the national language, do not have proper clothing, and have no support—or even a plan for how they will survive while they study. They simply come.

They quickly learn that God is their provider.

This has been a particularly difficult time for Nyotlieng. As the world experiences financial crisis, even small and forgotten places like Nyotlieng feel the effects. Because of worldwide rice short-ages and declining assistance from world aid organizations, rice—the villagers’ most basic need for good health—had become scarce. Upon visiting the school and seeing Som and the rest of the students, I immediately recognized their swift decline in health from not getting enough to eat. Something had to be done.

After a few strategic phone calls, some reallocation of funds, and partnership with Asia’s Little Ones, we went to the market and bought four tons of rice, placed it on a truck, and shipped it to Nyotlieng. The children ran from their classrooms and jumped up and down when the rice arrived. It was a miracle for them.

Thank you for helping miracles to happen in places like Nyotlieng through your giving to Asia’s Little Ones!

— Paul Burkhart, Laos