The article doesn't mention any name. So, Bao Chao Thao was converted in 1950? The article should name all of those who converted initially and why. Do you two know why? When I met Zam Nob Yaj, one of the 7 Hmong who initially converted to Catholicism and who helped Yves Bertrais develop the Hmong RPA writing system, he gave me the reason for his conversion: the Christian's story about the beginning of the world was much more sophisticated.
That man has died though. Is Bao Chao still alive?
I believe he has died.
I didn't get a chance to talk to my husband yet, but from memory of one of his class...
The American missionaries, Ted and Ruth Andrianoff - it may just have been Ted on this first trip - went up to this village with a Laotion interpreter and wanted to stay and spend some time with the Hmong people. There was an abandon house that belonged to Bao Chao Thao. He as a shaman and a leader in the village. They told the missionaries that they could stay there. The missionaries were very grateful and happily stayed at the abandon house.
All night long, the villagers waited gleefully for the missionaries and the interpreter to run out screaming, to never return... for the abandon house was actually a haunted house... no one could stay through the night in it. However, it was quiet all night long.
The next day, Bao Chao asked the missionaries if they had a good rest in the house. Ted said that he did and thanked Bao Chao for allowing him to stay there again. Bao Chao asked if anything happened during the night, whether they saw or heard anything strange. Ted said no, and asked Bao why he was asking these questions. He explained that the house has been haunted for many years and that no one has been able to spend even a single night in it. He was wondering why the ghosts didn't bothering Ted and the interpreter. Ted explained that he believed in God and his God was stronger than any spirits or demons.
Bao Chao wanted to know more about this God that is could conquer the spirits and ghosts of that house. So, through the interpreter, Ted told Bao Chao about God. He converted and became a Christian. He went back to the village, explained everything to them and the next day, the whole village wanted to convert. Ted led them all to Christ and baptise them that day. He went back to Vientiane and requested for more missionaries to go and help him b/c the neighboring villages also wanted to convert.
That's all I remember... some of my facts may be a little off... I think my husband knows some of the folks that are still alive. Are you wanting to interview them?