Detained for Attempting to Share the Gospel with the President

Zhou Jinxia smiling and holding her Gospel sign.
Zhou Jinxia
Photo: ChinaAid

A Christian woman in China was detained on February 20th after repeated attempts to share the Good News with Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan. In her latest attempt, the Christian woman, Zhou Jinxia, waited at Beijing's Zhongnanhai Xinhua Gate for the couple to pass by so she could personally share the Gospel message with them. According to ChinaAid, she has visited the gate with evangelistic signs over 50 times in recent years and, as a result, was detained several times.

In 2015, Zhou was detained for ten days, and again in March 2016 for allegedly "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." In 2018, she had been arrested for holding a sign that proclaimed, "God loves the people of the world and is calling out to Xi Jinping." In June 2021, she was driven from her village for her evangelistic efforts in the community.

During the most recent incident, she was removed from the area by police and returned to her hometown of Dalian. There she was charged by local authorities for allegedly causing trouble. Zhou has been described as "an unbreakable, irrepressible Christian woman." She began her campaign after coming to the realization that there will be no solution to the problems facing China unless President Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan receive God in their hearts. For more reports addressing the challenges facing Christians in China, go to our country report.

Praise God for unshakable believers like Zhou who are prepared to put their own lives on the line to share the Gospel message. May the Lord give this Christian woman wisdom and guidance at this present time, as well as in the future, as she seeks to proclaim His Word to all those whom she encounters. Pray that she will soon be released from custody and granted the freedom to resume her ministry work.

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  • 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.

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