 (Photo: ChinaAid) |
Police placed at least 500 members of the Shouwang Church, in Beijing, China, under house arrest in an attempt to prevent them from holding an outdoor Easter worship service on April 24. The arrests did not stop other members from showing up at the designated worship site, however. Several went to the site, a plaza, where they were met by police and police vehicles and then herded onto a bus. Other church members were able to assemble in small groups in nearby restaurants, where they proceeded to hold their worship service. Police reportedly detained 34 of the believers. Twenty-four were known to be held in various local police stations, eight were in transit, and at least two were unaccounted for at last report. This is the second time in less than a month that the Shouwang Church, which has approximately 1,000 members, has been targeted by authorities, as they were also prevented from worshipping and detained in mid-April (click here for more information).
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.
You can learn more about Chinese Christians standing firm in their faith at great cost at the China Country Report.
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