Foreign Church Leaders Deported from China

09 March 2005

^{Rev. Dr. Brad Long
Photo from}^www.prmi.org

^{Rev. John Chang
Photo from}^www.gcif.org

On the morning of February 24, a training session for church leaders from across China was raided by Chinese authorities. Eight Americans, one Taiwanese and an unknown number of South Koreans were detained and interrogated. They were then ordered to leave the country within five days.

The training session for about 140 Chinese house church leaders was being held in an office building in a suburb of Harbin city, the capital of Heilongjiang province. According to ChinaAid, the house church leaders were released that night after being interrogated, fingerprinted and required to give their home addresses and house church affiliations. Their cell phones were also confiscated, along with 20,000 RMB (about $3000 CDN). Those deported include Americans Rev. Dr. Brad Long and Rev. and Mrs. John and Susan Chang, and well-known Taiwanese church leader Rev. Lin Yuyuan.

Pray for the continuing training of Chinese church leaders. Pray that the Gospel will continue to spread throughout the country.

For more information on the state of the Church 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.