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China

Christian Prisoner Released
The Voice of the Martyrs has received news that Philip Xu (Xu Guoxing) has been released from prison, after serving eighteen months for holding illegal Christian gatherings in his home. To date, Philip has been imprisoned four times, serving almost eight years for his faith. Reporting on Philip's release, his brother Xu Jixing said that Philip was "full of joy and physically well."
Praise God that this servant of God has been released. Pray for the hundreds of others still in prison for their faith. Continue to pray for Philip and his family.
For more information on China and the persecution facing believers there,click here.
House Church Leader Released
Last week, The Voice of the Martyrs reported how house church leader, Zhao Wenquan (60), had been arrested on May 9 in Hegou Town, Anhui Province in east-central China (click here for details). We were pleased to learn that he had been released on May 25, after fourteen days of detention. VOM sources in China say Zhao suffered only "minor beatings" during his incarceration, and was in good spirits after his release. Members of his house church group expressed their thankfulness for international prayer and protest after Zhao's arrest.
Thank you to each of you who prayed on Zhou's behalf. Continue to pray for the many other church leaders still in detention in China's prisons and labour camps.
For more information on the persecution facing the Church in China,click here.
House Church Leaders Arrested; One Dies in Custody
On April 26, Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers arrested Gu Xianggao (28), a teacher in a house church movement known as "Three Grades Servants," in Harbin City in Heilongjiang province, China. The next day, his parents were informed that he had died. According to a letter from his sister to China Aid, a PSB officer told the family that Gu had been a suspect in a murder and died while under interrogation. However, they were unwilling to say who he was accused of murdering or give any details. The officers claimed that Gu had died of a stroke or heart attack, despite being in good health. When the parents confronted the PSB, demanding to see the body and receive a proper explanation of what happened, they were paid 230,000 RMB ($38,000 Cdn.) and ordered to tell no one. They were briefly shown his face, which had obvious bruising around the eyes. They were then dragged from the room and the body was taken to be cremated. The PSB consistently refused to give them documentation explaining the reasons for the large financial payment.

^{Chinese "Re-Education Through Labour" Camp}
On May 9, another church leader, Zhao Wenquan (60), was arrested in Hegou Town, Anhui Province in east-central China. According to a May 25 news release from China Aid, more than four thousand Christians had gathered in the village for a special harvest festival. Since the town's church normally has less than three hundred people, the gathering attracted the attention of the local PSB who raided their meeting. Zhao was arrested when the celebration ended. About a dozen other leaders escaped and are presently in hiding. Zhao was charged with "disturbing the social order" and organizing an "illegal religious gathering." If sentenced, he could face three years of "re-education through labour."
On May 9, another church leader, Zhao Wenquan (60), was arrested in Hegou Town, Anhui Province in east-central China. According to a May 25 news release from China Aid, more than four thousand Christians had gathered in the village for a special harvest festival. Since the town's church normally has less than three hundred people, the gathering attracted the attention of the local PSB who raided their meeting. Zhao was arrested when the celebration ended. About a dozen other leaders escaped and are presently in hiding. Zhao was charged with "disturbing the social order" and organizing an "illegal religious gathering." If sentenced, he could face three years of "re-education through labour."
Pray for the family of Gu Xianggao, as they deal with this terrible loss. Pray that Zhao Wenquan will be released and not sent to a labour camp. Pray for spiritual strength and protection for each of the church leaders in China, facing the fear of arrest, torture, prison or death.
For more information on persecution facing the Church in China,click here.
Priests Arrested As They Prepared to Teach Classes
Just as they were preparing to begin classes on natural family planning and moral theology, Chinese secret police took into custody two Catholic priests. According to a May 17 report in Zenit, Lu Genjun, 42, and Cheng Xiaoli, 40, were arrested on May 14 in An Guo in the province of Hebei.
Lu had just recently been released after serving three years in a labour camp. He is now in the police detention center of Dingzhou, Hebei. The whereabouts of Cheng is presently unknown.
Pray for spiritual, emotional and physical strength for these men, as they suffer for their faith. Pray for a quick release.
Recently released DVDs and books on the persecution of Christians in China are available from VOM (click here). For more information on Christian persecution in China,click here.
Pastor Arrested Following Church Destruction

^{Chinese PSB Officer}
On March 11, authorities in Dong Gang Xi village in Zhejiang Province, China badly damaged a one hundred year old building where an unregistered house church was meeting. The church included about three hundred members and was meeting in the home of its pastor, Liu Fuen. Seeing the destruction, four non-Christian neighbours complained to Wang Tao, the Director of the Religious Affairs Bureau. As a result, they were arrested and held in detention for fifteen days.
Church members repaired some of the damage and continued to meet in the building until March 31 when Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers evicted ten Christians praying inside. Officials then completely destroyed the building, posting notices that this action was taken because the building was being used for illegal religious activity.
Following the attack, Pastor Liu Fuen went into hiding but was arrested on April 9 at the home of his youngest son, Liu Yongsheng. On Easter Sunday, the church met at the home of Pastor Liu's oldest son, Liu Mingliang. Again the PSB raided the service, arresting Mingliang.
Both Pastor Liu and Liu Mingliang are being held under "Criminal Detention," which can last indefinitely.
We encourage Christians to politely voice their concerns to the Chinese government over this and other actions taken against Christians, despite constitutional guarantees of religious freedom. Contact information for Chinese embassies is available (click here).
For more information on persecution facing Christians in China,click here.
Authorities Order Concert Cancellation
The day before the chorus of the China National Orchestra was to perform at the Zhongshan Music Hall in central Beijing, authorities ordered the cancellation of the concert. The concert, conducted by Su Wenxing, was planned for April 17 and was to include the "Easter Chorus," based on Bible stories and written by a Chinese-born Canadian, Huang Anlun. While authorities refused to give any reason for the cancellation, an Associated Press report attributed their actions to the continued growth of Christianity in the country.
Su Wenxing became a Christian in 1996 and is the conductor of the Hebei Orchestra. Last year he led Handel's "Messiah" in two cities; concerts that were initially cancelled by authorities but later allowed to proceed.
Praise God for the continued growth of Christianity in China, despite the work of the authorities to stop it. Pray for continued outreach by Christians in the face of opposition and often prison and torture.
For more information on China,click here. A one-of-a-kind documentary of the persecution facing Christians in China is available from The Voice of the Martyrs, entitled "The Cross-Jesus in China." This four DVD set can be ordered through our online catalog.
Updates on Recent Reports from China

^{Bishop Jia Zhiguo}
(a) On April 14, the Persecution and Prayer Alert reported on the arrest of Catholic Bishop Jia Zhiguo on April 5 (click here for more details). Praise God that he was released on the afternoon of April 14.
(b) On March 31, VOM reported that key Chinese leaders were meeting with the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva to report on the atrocities committed by the Chinese government against Christians. (click here for more information).
Based on these testimonies and others, the United States sponsored a motion to censure China for its human rights record. In response, China introduced a "no-action" motion to block discussion. This tactic was approved, with twenty-eight members voting with China and only sixteen voting against. Click here for a list of member countries and their vote. It is significant to note that the majority of countries who voted with China are those with less then stellar human rights records. Click here to check out VOM's country reports.

^{Lin Bocheng}
This was the eleventh time that China has defeated such a motion since 1990. In response, the vice president of the government-authorized China Foundation for Human Rights Development, Lin Bocheng, said that the US-led resolution had disregarded the "remarkable progress" China had made in human rights. Spokesman for The Voice of the Martyrs, Glenn Penner, remarked, "I am somewhat puzzled by what the Chinese governments means by 'progress.' Given the rise of reported cases of religious persecution in the last year, I suspect most Christians in China would define it rather differently."
Pray that international pressure will continue against the Chinese government. Pray that the day will come when Chinese Christians will be free to worship without government interference.
For more information on persecution in China,click here.
Imprisoned Pastor Fears for His Life
Pastor Gong Shengliang told his sisters during a short visit on April 12 that he will not survive much longer if he is not transferred to a different prison. Unable to walk, Gong was carried into the visiting hall by four other prisoners. When one of the sisters asked a guard to explain his injuries, she was told that he had fallen while washing windows. Supposedly Gong was washing the inside of the windows but somehow fell outside of the building.
For the past 411 days, Gong has had his arms and legs in chains. Everywhere he goes, he is accompanied by two guards. When his sisters asked him why he had stopped writing letters, Gong told them, "I don't have the strength to write. When I pick up my pen, there are lots of troubles."
When one of the sisters complained to the prison director, Sun Wenquan, about his injuries, she was told that he was a model prisoner, except that he refuses to denounce his faith or stop praying and preaching. The sisters were told, "He is so into the Bible that he has lost touch with reality."
The Voice of the Martyrs encourages people to contact the Chinese government to protest the treatment of Gong and to request a prison transfer without which he may not survive many more weeks. Contact information for Chinese embassies is available at here.
Letters of encouragement can also be sent to Pastor Gong at:
Gong Shengliang
Prison Section Four Te Yi Hao
Hongshan Prison, Miaoshan Development Zone
Jiangxia District, Wuhan City, Hubei Province
People's Republic of China 430223
Pray for physical healing for Pastor Gong. Pray that the mistreatment will stop. Pray that the Chinese government will listen to international pressure and that Gong will be acquitted of the false charges against him.
For more information on persecution facing Christians in China,click here.
Catholic Bishop Arrested On April 5, security police raided the home of Jia Zhiguo, the underground Catholic bishop of Zhengding, Hebei, and took him away, saying they were following orders from their superior. Jia is sixty-nine years old and has previously served roughly twenty years in prison for his faith. He was last detained for three days in March 2002. His home, where he looks after approximately one hundred handicapped orphans, has been under surveillance for many years.
According to the Cardinal Kung Foundation, there are no further details on the reasons he was arrested or his present location. Pray for safety and strength for Bishop Jia. Pray that his whereabouts will be found soon and that he will be released unharmed. Pray for safety and adequate care for the orphans he was ministering to.
For more information on persecution in China,click here.
Elderly Christian Prisoner Crippled for Evangelizing
Chen Jingmao is a seventy-two year old South China Church leader, in prison since July 2001 for his ministry, including the "active recruitment of evil cult members." The main evidence of his "crime" was sending his granddaughter for Sunday School Teacher's training.
According to a March 29 report from China Aid, the imprisoned Chen was seriously beaten and crippled on February 6 as a punishment for leading fifty of his fellow inmates to faith in Jesus Christ. Both of his legs were broken and he must now be carried everywhere he goes.
"This news is heartbreaking," says Bob Fu, president of China Aid and China Analyst for VOM. "The sentence was unjustified, and the brutal beating illegal and inhumane, especially to a 72 year old man."
Pray for healing and strength for this elderly saint. Pray that his faith and love will continue to show to those around him.
Concerned readers are encouraged to politely express your concerns for Chen by writing the prison authority at Section 3, Sanxia (Three-Gorge) Prison, Wanzhou, Chongqing City, 404023. Letters of encouragement can also be sent to his relatives at Group 9, Gaofeng Village, Longjao Town, Yunyang County, Chongqing City, China.
For more information on the situation facing Christians in China,click here.

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