Government persecution of Christians in China worsened in 2011

The Shouwang Church was suppressed
for 38 continuous weeks in 2011.
Photo: ChinaAid

Government persecution of Christians and churches in China worsened significantly in 2011, reports ChinaAid.

From 2010 to 2011, the total number of people persecuted, detained, sentenced, or abused jumped 42.5 per cent. Compared with the statistics in past ChinaAid annual reports, the trend of worsening persecution has persisted for the past six years, with an average annual increase of 33.1 per cent.

Two major cases are representative of the 2011 practise of targeting influential house churches for persecution: the large-scale suppression of Beijing Shouwang Church for 38 continuous weeks (for more, click here), and the continued strict surveillance and suppression of the Linfen church in Shanxi province since it was banned in 2009 (click here to learn more).

ChinaAid founder and president Bob Fu said, "House churches in China which are committed to the sole headship of Christ in the church and to evangelism must operate as illegal groups conducting so-called 'illegal religious activities,' and consequently must be ready to suffer the administrative penalties inflicted by the state."

Please pray for China.

• Thank the Lord for the extraordinary faithfulness of Christians in China who continue to serve the Lord though they face intimidation, threats and arrest. 
• Pray they will exemplify the love of God through consistent love and prayer for those who persecute them (Matthew 5:43-48). 
• Ask the Lord to continue to grow His church in China.

To learn more about China's suffering Church, visit the China Country Report.

New year brings renewed efforts to prevent worship at Shouwang Church in China

Members of the Shouwang Church were harassed, detained and
prevented from worshipping together on New Years Day.
Photo: ChinaAid

Christian believers at Beijing Shouwang Church, who had arranged an outdoor worship service after the government continued to thwart their efforts to rent premises to worship indoors, were harassed, detained and prevented from worshipping together on January 1, reports ChinaAid.

The church has long been a target for the oppressive government (to learn more, click here). Believers report that at least 49 Christians were taken into custody either before they were able to depart for the outdoor service or as they made their way there. Most believers were sent to 13 local police stations. Many were released home late that night and all were released by January 3.

The church had rented three different locations to conduct indoor worship services, but by the evening of December 31, 2011, all three sites notified the church that they could not lease the space to the church and had to tear up the agreement as the result of government interference and pressure.

Since then, China's state and domestic security have come out in force setting up guard stations and imposing martial law at the plaza where the outdoor service had been planned. Those who had been to the plaza in the past were confined to their homes by security guards, and pastors have been under house arrest.

You can help these brothers and sisters in Christ by praying!

• Please pray that our brothers and sisters at Shouwang Church will be granted the freedom to worship indoors without fear of reprisal or harassment. 
• Pray that these believers will continue to spread the gospel despite these trials as a testament to God's sovereign power and for His glory.

For more information on China's suffering Church, go to the China Country Report.

Chinese pastor sentenced to labour camp

Pastor Shi Enhao, vice-president of the Chinese House Church Alliance,
has been sentenced to two years of “re-education” in a labour camp.
(Photo: ChinaAid)

Earlier this month, we reported the case of Pastor Shi Enhao, the vice-president of the Chinese House Church Alliance. Pastor Shi was first arrested in March and has since faced re-arrests and beatings before being taken to an undisclosed location.

VOM’s partner, ChinaAid, is now reporting that Pastor Shi has been sentenced to two years of “re-education through labour.” This sentence is handed out by police and requires no trial or conviction of a crime.

Pastor Shi, who helps lead a house church of thousands of people who meet in various sites, is reportedly charged with “illegal meetings and illegal organizing of venues for religious meetings.”

Police have threatened the pastor’s wife and three daughters and ordered his church to stop meeting. Musical instruments, choir robes, and 140,000 Yuan (around $20,500 CAD) in donations have been confiscated.

ChinaAid says the case has significance in relation to the events unfolding around the Shouwang Church in Beijing. After being evicted from its rented building in April, the large house church decided to meet publicly outdoors. The congregation has continued to face opposition from authorities (for more information, click here).

Critics of the Shouwang Church say clashes with authorities could be avoided by meeting in smaller groups. However, the results of Pastor Shi’s case clearly demonstrate that this strategy does not guarantee freedom for house church members.

For ChinaAid’s full report, click here.

TSPM officials rebuke Shouwang members

Members of Shouwang Church were
forced to worship outdoors in 2009 also.
(Photo ChinaAid)

VOM partner ChinaAid Association reports that representatives of China’s government-regulated Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) church system have begun participating in police interrogations of detained Shouwang Church members.

Shouwang Church has been in a 10-week standoff with the authorities regarding a place for the 1000-member strong church to meet. They were left without a building when their landlord evicted them under government pressure.

They began meeting publicly outdoors, which resulted in 160 arrests the first week. Every Sunday since, members attempting to gather have encountered police. Those arrested are usually released within a few hours, but church leaders remain under house arrest.

Recently, personnel from TSPM churches have appeared at police stations attempting to persuade Shouwang members to join the Three-Self church and abandon their outdoor worship.

This tactic represents another phase of Shouwang Church’s struggle as government-backed TSPM church officials use theological reasoning to dissuade the church from meeting publicly. One member said the government interrogator showed a great biblical knowledge. The interrogation focused on the issue of whether Shouwang’s actions are in accordance with the Bible.

“This surprised me greatly,” he said. “Perhaps this will be their approach from now on.”

“I’m really afraid of being tortured, and I’ve heard many stories of that,” another Shouwang Church member told CNN in an interview.

“Personally, I don’t know how long I can last, because the pressure is pretty tense,” she told the CNN reporter.

You can help by praying!

• Pray Shouwang Church’s struggle with the government for a place to meet will end.
• Pray members of Shouwang Church will continue to stand strong in spite of the member losses the church is experiencing.
• Pray they would “consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of [themselves] together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another” (Hebrews 10:24-25).

Why don't Chinese Christians register their churches?

Many in the West ask VOM why Chinese Christians don’t simply register their churches.

Today, our partner organization ChinaAid Association posted an intriguing article that is pulled from the Fall 2010 issue of Shouwang Church’s quarterly, Almost Flowers: “Why We Won’t Join the Three-Self Patriotic Association.”

Writer Sun Yi, writes,

When the question is raised overseas of why not join the Three-Self and thereby resolve the problem of the legality of these existing churches, a natural rejoinder is to ask: 'Do you think your church would be willing to be labelled a Three-Self church if, for instance, you discover one day that the pastor your church selected is no longer allowed to pastor and the Three-Self has arranged for someone whose theology is unacceptable to be your pastor, or the number of people your church baptizes each year has to await approval from above, or you have to wait for permission to evangelize in places outside the church grounds, etc., etc.?'

If you’ve been wondering why Chinese house churches and regular churches have shied away from registering, please take some time to read through Sun Yi’s article, which you can find here.

I’ll leave you with another of Sun Yi’s thoughts.

If a church demonstrates its patriotism by sacrificing its very basis for being, then this patriotism would be worthless because the church’s very existence is already worthless. It is just like what Christ said about the salt that has lost its saltiness: ‘You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men’ (Matthew 5:13). Only by trusting in Christ to stand firm on its foundation as [part of] the universal [Christian] church can a church, out of its faith, demonstrate of its own accord its respect for the secular authorities God has put in place. This kind of respect for the authorities put in place by God, along with love for one’s neighbour, are what should be the real starting points for patriotism and love of the people.

Continue to pray for Chinese churches and believers who remain steadfast in being salt and light throughout their country.

China unlikely to ease crackdown on Shouwang Church

Shouwang Church members were
forced to meet outside in 2009.
Photo ChinaAid

Todd Nettleton with our sister mission VOM USA recently spoke with Mission Network News about the escalating persecution toward a house church in Beijing that has been attracting international attention.

The Shouwang Church in Beijing has been in a battle of rights with China for years, but the struggle has only just come into focus for most. The 1,000-member church was ousted from its building when their landlord was pressured by officials to evict them. For the past six weeks, Shouwang members have been meeting publically outside.

During the first week of meeting, over 160 members were arrested under the auspices of disturbing the peace. Most arrested were released within a few hours, but the church leaders have been on house arrest since.

Each subsequent outdoor Sunday worship service has resulted in dozens more arrests.

While international news investigations have brought to light the issue across the globe, Nettleton says China will likely not be swayed.

"In spite of all of the publicity, in spite of the international outcry, the Chinese government has continued to hold a very firm line: ‘We will not allow this church to meet because they are not registered with the Chinese religious officials,'" explains Nettleton.

Shouwang did attempt to register with China's official Three-Self Patriotic Church, willing to be a recognized church within certain parameters. The church was denied registration—a common happenstance Nettleton says for churches who don't wish to place communism before Christ.

The best-case scenario for Shouwang is that the government would grant registration for the church and allow services to go unhindered. The worst-case scenario is filled with uncertainty.

"The worst-case scenario is that we see this continued string of arrests—more and more people arrested, detained, held maybe on administrated detention for 15 days, maybe some will be locked up away for longer periods of time," says Nettleton. "Really, the worst-case scenario is that it just goes on and on indefinitely, without the church getting the rights that they're promised—without any kind of an end in sight."

Pray that this would not be the case.

Amid turmoil, ongoing persecution and blatant obstructions of religious freedom, the church in China continues to grow. Pray that the Lord would use even this scenario to bring more to His Kingdom.

Persecution of Shouwang Church members continues for fifth Sunday

The church-state confrontation between one of Beijing’s largest house churches and the Chinese authorities continued for a fifth straight Sunday, reported ChinaAid Association.

On May 8, police detained at least 13 members of Shouwang Church who attempted to congregate and hold an outdoor worship service, as well as at least one Christian from another house church who turned up at the designated outdoor meeting site in a show of solidarity.

Authorities also continued rendering church members homeless by pressuring their landlords to evict them. This tactic was employed just days after the first outdoor worship attempt on April 10.

ChinaAid sources also reported that, as in past weeks, many Shouwang families were confined to their homes and not allowed to go to the designated meeting site in Zhongguancun, in northwest Beijing’s Haidian district.

Please pray for the house church members as well as evicted families.

Escalation expected in Shouwang Church suppression

Members of a Chinese house church
gather to worship.

Our partner mission, ChinaAid Association, is issuing an urgent call for prayer after learning that China’s top leaders have decided to take new measures in the coming days against one of Beijing’s largest house churches—measures that are entirely different from tactics thus far implemented against Shouwang Church and which could completely change the nature of its clash with the authorities.

ChinaAid asks all Christians worldwide to pray.

The developments of the past four consecutive weeks have clearly shown that there are no signs of the Beijing regime tolerating or imminently tolerating Shouwang Church’s holding the bottom line of religious practices and acting for purely religious reasons.

ChinaAid strongly urges all churches and Christians worldwide to join the ranks of those who are praying for and supporting Shouwang Church and its brothers and sisters. Even as Shouwang Church is scattered, the church in China will be like a lamp burning ever bright in the darkness, bringing boundless hope to the Chinese people.

Please join us in praying for Shouwang Church members and Chinese believers across the nation of China.

Chinese authorities continue crackdown against the independent Beijing Shouwang house church

For the fourth Sunday in a row, Chinese police detained dozens of members of the Shouwang house church in Beijing, continuing a severe crackdown on one of the capital's largest house churches, according to confirmed reports obtained by ChinaAid Association.

By late yesterday morning, at least 31 members of Shouwang church were detained and taken to different police stations.

All of Shouwang church's leadership have been under informal house arrest since April 9 when the church was forced to have its first outdoor worship service. Many of the church's more than 1,000 members had been prevented from leaving their homes each Sunday starting April 10.

Last Sunday, more than half the church members were confined to their homes. 

Pray for strength and a continued assurance of God's presence for members of the Shouwang church. Pray those arrested will be released. Pray Chinese Christians will be equipped with everything they need, so that they may do work which is pleasing to the Lord Jesus.

Police round up pastors, Christians again

Photo by ChinaAid

This past Sunday, police again detained church leaders in Beijing and Shandong and rounded up nearly 50 Christians trying to attend an outdoor service, reported ChinaAid Association, via the South China Morning Post.

On the previous Sunday, police detained 169 worshippers of the Shouwang Protestant Church, as they tried to worship outside a commercial building. They had been evicted from their usual premises.

The recent crackdown on Shouwang, one of the largest house churches on the mainland, and a few smaller churches prompted fears that a fresh crackdown on unregistered churches was under way.

Church members who were taken into custody most recently said large numbers of police officers were deployed near the building where Shouwang members planned to worship. They said police shoved them into buses and took them to different police stations for interrogation. They were still in custody as of Monday.

Pastor Jin Tianming, who was taken away by police on Saturday night and interrogated for nearly 12 hours, said about 50 people in his congregation were detained. Many were among those detained last week.

Pastor Li Xiaobai and his wife were also taken away for a few hours on Saturday night, and Pastor Zhang Xiaofeng had been removed from a restaurant near the planned place of worship Sunday morning, church members said. Jin and Li remained under house arrest.

Beijing police refused to make any comment.

In late 2009, the church bought a 1,500-square-metre office space in a commercial building for 27 million yuan ($3.96 million CAD), but the property's management was pressured by the authorities not to hand it over, even though the church had paid in full.