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Raid on the Church of Ark Photo courtesy of China Aid |
Shortly after Christmas, Jin Tianming, the pastor of at least nine house churches in Haidian District, was detained by police for questioning. Dozens of other leaders from his churches were also questioned by authorities.
On January 4, 2006, a house church in Dayinjia Village, Changchun City, Jilin Province was raided by five officers who declared the gathering illegal and ordered the forty believers there to move to a government-sanctioned TSPM church. The pastor, Cui Guojun, was interrogated for three hours before being released.
On two consecutive Sundays, January 8 and 15, officers from the Public Security Bureau raided the Church of Ark, a well-known house church in Beijing. According to a report from Gao Zhisheng who was present at the meetings, a plain clothes officer roughed up several of those present, grabbing the video camera of a foreign journalist who was present at the time. The officers claimed the meeting was an illegal religious gathering and disturbing the neighbours.
The January 4 edition of the Persecution & Prayer Alert reported that five Christian leaders remained in custody following a raid on Christmas Day in Ma Na Si County. China Aid Association reports that these men have been released, but none of the confiscated property has been returned.
Pray that the body of Christ in China will continue to grow in number and in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Pray that Pastor Jin and his colleagues will know the peace of Christ. Pray that the Lord will enable them to maintain a consistent testimony. Pray that the believers in the house churches recently raided will continue to stand up for the truth of God's Word. Thank God for the release of the five Christian leaders. Pray for them as they continue to make Christ's name known.
For more information on persecution in China, click here. Video footage from China is also available on VOMC's multimedia website, www.vomcanada.com.
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