They are welcome to assist in translating the church service for other foreigners, however they are not invited to participate in any other way. Churches in Other Provinces There are many LEC churches throughout the provinces, with no exact number at this time of how many churches there actually are. Major cities generally have at least one LEC church. However, in many parts of the country foreigners are advised not to attend the church services. If you are tourist generally speaking you will not cause any problems if you pop in a church service on a Sunday morning, however for foreigners that are living in Laos attendance at countryside LEC churches can raise suspicions of intentions to mislead the local church against the country and authority. Foreigners living outside of Vientiane who wish to attend an LEC church in their area should check first with other foreigners living there or with the pastor of the church to find out whether attendance would be welcomed or would cause problems. Memberships At this time only Lao citizens may become official members and become ordained through the LEC. Due to government restriction towards Christianity there have been no allowed foreigners to become members or ordained ministers through the LEC. Partnerships The LEC has been a member of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) since 1967, but did not have contacts with CCA from 1975 to 1990 due to the political situation in the country. Ever since the LEC was allowed to relate with overseas Christian bodies, it became an active member of CCA. The LEC also partners with NMS (Norwegian Missions Society) and also with Mission OneWorld. Training The LEC has its own training center for lay leaders and pastors, however the training is very little and inadequate for solid theology and leadership development. The LEC has been able to provide training through partnerships that have been able to support a few of its leaders to receive education from seminaries overseas. LEC Members who seek Theology education on their own without LEC official, their education will not be accepted. One of the greatest concerns stated from LEC is foreigners taking their youth and training them in "their way". The response of these groups is that there are issues with LEC Training and Education is that it is exclusive and majority of Christian's who are interested in taking on a leadership role do not