Church Raids Lead to Arrests and Prison Sentences

ChinaAid Association 25 April 2013

Dennis Balcombe
Photo: ChinaAid

On Saturday, April 20th, a well-known U.S. church leader, Dennis Balcombe, was held by police under house arrest following a raid on a house church revival meeting in the Chinese city of Nanyang (Henan province). The raid took place at about 10:00 a.m., after the commencement of what had originally been planned as a three-day revival meeting.

When the 70 attendees gathered that morning, they all handed over their cell phones to a designated person from the organizing church. This was a security precaution to prevent the phones from becoming tracking devices that would lead authorities to their meeting site. They then boarded a bus to the meeting venue at a retreat centre in the Wolong district of the city.

Not long after the meeting began, several dozen police, Domestic Security Protection (DSP) agents and Religious Affairs Bureau officials swarmed into the room. Without showing any identification, they began filming and photographing the event. The DSP agents then proceeded to finger print and palm print each person at the meeting. Every one of the attendees was interrogated (while a written record of the questioning was taken) and mandated to sign police documents.

"This latest wave of religious persecution shows that the situation for religious freedom in China continues to worsen," states ChinaAid founder and president Bob Fu. "We urge the Chinese authorities to immediately release Pastor Dennis Balcombe and his two coworkers from Hong Kong. The officers who abused their powers by raiding a peaceful prayer service should be held accountable."

Another incident of concern took place on April 1st in Pingdingshan (also within the province of Henan), where seven house church leaders were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three to 7 1/2 years on cult charges. More information about persecution in China can be found at the China Country Report.

May these Chinese believers and their church leaders remain steadfastly committed to the Lord who has promised to be "an ever-present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1). Pray that He will swiftly intervene, revealing His power and might not only to each of the believers personally, but also to their persecutors...so that many more names will be added to the Lamb's "Book of Life."

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.