Pastor Arrested Following Church Destruction

21 April 2004

^{Chinese PSB Officer}

On March 11, authorities in Dong Gang Xi village in Zhejiang Province, China badly damaged a one hundred year old building where an unregistered house church was meeting. The church included about three hundred members and was meeting in the home of its pastor, Liu Fuen. Seeing the destruction, four non-Christian neighbours complained to Wang Tao, the Director of the Religious Affairs Bureau. As a result, they were arrested and held in detention for fifteen days.

Church members repaired some of the damage and continued to meet in the building until March 31 when Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers evicted ten Christians praying inside. Officials then completely destroyed the building, posting notices that this action was taken because the building was being used for illegal religious activity.

Following the attack, Pastor Liu Fuen went into hiding but was arrested on April 9 at the home of his youngest son, Liu Yongsheng. On Easter Sunday, the church met at the home of Pastor Liu's oldest son, Liu Mingliang. Again the PSB raided the service, arresting Mingliang.

Both Pastor Liu and Liu Mingliang are being held under "Criminal Detention," which can last indefinitely.

We encourage Christians to politely voice their concerns to the Chinese government over this and other actions taken against Christians, despite constitutional guarantees of religious freedom. Contact information for Chinese embassies is available (click here).

For more information on persecution facing Christians in China, click here.

China

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.