House Church Raided; Members Fined and Detained

VOM has learned that on November 23, 2003 at 10:00 a.m., ten Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers raided the Sunday service of a house church located at #1, Building #201 Longguang Hutong, Longyan Road, Hexi Street in Longjing City, Jilin Province where thirty Christians were meeting. All of the Bibles, hymn books and benches were confiscated and the house was declared an "illegal religious site." The officials ordered the Christians not to have similar meetings in this house ever again. Mr. Zheng, the director of the Longjing City PSB office, told them that if the believers were found there again, all of them would be formally arrested. Five of the church members were fined 50 Yuan ($10 CDN). Four visiting Christian business men attending the meeting were detained for five days and the wife of the house, Sister Chen Yufeng, was sentenced to 15 days in the local administrative detention centre. Her husband, Brother Liu Guojun was able to escape during the raid and is being sought by authorities. Three days later (November 26), another member of the church who lives in a neighbouring community was arrested and his whereabouts is unknown.

Pray for the release of those still detained as a result of this raid. Pray for the safety of Liu Guojun.

  • Current Ministry Projects

    The Voice of the Martyrs Canada continues to help distribute Bibles to Christians in the country, making it possible for them to have their own printed version of God's Word. Additionally, VOMC works with various mission partners to facilitate a Biblical understanding of persecution and discipleship, while presenting ways to effectively respond and minister within the context of hostility.

    Project Funds: Underground Church, Bible, Relief & Development

  • Country Information

    Population
    1,413,142,846 (2023 est.)

    Ethnicity (%)
    Han Chinese (91.1), ethnic minorities (8.9 - includes Zhang, Hui, Manchu, Uighur, Miao, Yi, Tujia, Tibetan, Mongol, Dong, Buyei, Yao, Bai, Korean, Hani, Li, Kazakh, Dai, and other nationalities) (2021 est.)

    Religion (%)
    Folk religion (21.9), Buddhist (18.2), Christian (5.1), Muslim (1.8), Hindu (< 0.1), Jewish (< 0.1), other (0.7 - includes Daoist [Taoist]), unaffiliated (52.1) (2021 est.)

    Leader
    President Xi Jinping (2013)

    Government type
    Communist party-led state

    Legal system
    Based on civil law system; influenced by Soviet and continental European civil law systems

    Sources: CIA World Factbook

  • Pray for China

    Pray that the Gospel will be proclaimed throughout China without government interference so many more names can be added to the Lamb's "Book of Life." May there also be a spirit of unity demonstrated among the country's growing churches, further strengthening existing believers and spurring them on in their ministry service and evangelistic outreach within the country's numerous communities.

China News