Arrests of Church Leader and Four Other Christians
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Arrests of Church Leader and Four Other Christians

Huang Yizi is speaking with a microphone.
Pastor Huang Yizi
Photo: ChinaAid

Pastor Huang Yizi is a well-known house church leader in China's Zhejiang Province. For more than a decade, he has encountered repeated harassment and imprisonment for his Christian faith. In 2014, the pastor was arrested and sentenced to one year in prison after publicly protesting the government's campaign to remove crosses from church buildings across the province. He was arrested again in September 2015 and held for five months in a "black jail," where he had been forbidden from contacting his family and legal representatives. In 2021, Pastor Huang reported that he was being constantly monitored by the authorities and subjected to random interrogations (read more).

On June 26th, 2025, the church leader was once again taken into custody by local police and placed in detention. According to his wife, the authorities also searched the Christian couple's home and confiscated several items. At around the same time, four other believers were reportedly arrested as well. Following Pastor Huang's detention, lawyers attempted to visit the detained church leader but were denied access and told to return in 48 hours. A complaint has since been filed against the detention centre for violating the pastor's right to receive proper legal representation.

Pastor Huang has allegedly been accused of conducting "illegal business operations," a charge frequently used by Communist authorities to target religious dissidents. For other reports addressing Christian persecution in China, go to our country profile.

  • Pray that Pastor Huang's legal team will be granted wisdom, favour and full access to their detained client so they can effectively represent him.
  • During this time of incarceration, may God sustain this Christian leader with supernatural strength, endurance and hope.
  • In addition, prayerfully uphold this imprisoned church leader's wife, asking that she too would sense the Lord's comforting presence with her daily.
  • As Pastor Huang awaits vindication, pray that he will receive divinely appointed opportunities to serve as a testimony of the Lord's love and grace to those around him.
  • 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.

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China News

  • Arrests of Church Leader and Four Other Christians
    Huang Yizi is speaking with a microphone.
    Pastor Huang Yizi
    Photo: ChinaAid

    Pastor Huang Yizi is a well-known house church leader in China's Zhejiang Province. For more than a decade, he has encountered repeated harassment and imprisonment for his Christian faith. In 2014, the pastor was arrested and sentenced to one year in prison after publicly protesting the government's campaign to remove crosses from church buildings across the province. He was arrested again in September 2015 and held for five months in a "black jail," where he had been forbidden from contacting his family and legal representatives. In 2021, Pastor Huang reported that he was being constantly monitored by the authorities and subjected to random interrogations (read more).

    Read more...

  • Long-Awaited Trials for Pastoral Couple
    Yang Rongli is smiling. She is surrounded by group of people, many of whom are holding cameras.
    Yang Rongli (light jacket) upon her 2016 release.
    Photo: ChinaAid

    Yang Rongli and Wang Xiaoguang are a pastoral couple who have been subjected to ongoing persecution from the Communist government for many years. In 2009, they were sentenced for allegedly disrupting public order. As a result, Yang spent seven years in prison, while Wang served three years. In August 2021, the couple had been arrested again. This time, they were accused of fraud in relation to the donations received by the church from its members. After almost four years, both cases have finally gone to court, through which the husband and wife were each tried separately.

    Read more...

  • Young Children Detained for Participating in Bible Lesson
    A girl has a small child on her back. The older one is smiling at the younger.
    Photo: PxHere

    A Bible lesson for young children that had taken place at a private home in Fuyang, Anhui, was raided by police on April 29th. In total, ten children between the ages of five and six, along with five adult teachers, were taken to the police station where they were detained for several hours. Some of the youngsters appeared to suffer severe emotional distress during the detention; and, throughout that time, the police only checked on them once.

    Read more...

  • Christians Sentenced for Alleged Illegal Business Activities
    Wang Honglan and her coworkers
    Wang Honglan and her coworkers.
    Photo: ChinaAid

    During April 2021, Chinese authorities arrested ten Christians in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, for allegedly running an illegal business operation. In their efforts to get Bibles into the hands of as many people as possible, the believers had legally purchased copies of God's Word at a retail price and resold them for a fee well below the original cost. (For more information on the charges against these church members, go to this report.)

    Read more...

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