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Police in the Shu district of southern Kazakhstan raided four worship gatherings during the months of March and April, resulting in a total of seven fines being laid. During the raids, officers filmed those who were present and demanded that they provide written statements explaining the reasons for their gatherings. These raids affected the worship activities of three unregistered Protestant churches.

For the past five years, Elder Li Yingqiang has been repeatedly subjected to questioning and detention since the Chinese Communist Party began targeting the Early Rain Covenant Church. (For previously published reports on Elder Li, see this list.)

In the most recent incident, Elder Li was taken by Deyang police officers for interrogation on December 15th. They questioned him about a pre-recorded message that was played on December 9th as part of an online event commemorating the fifth anniversary of the government's crackdown on the church. After being summoned again on December 19th, the church elder was detained for another eight hours for further questioning. In addition to warning him against participating in any future online church activities, the authorities confiscated his computer.

Pastor Vyacheslav and his wife Irina Goncharenko
Photo: New Life Church

For several years, the New Life Church in Minsk has faced opposition from the government, including the complete destruction of their place of worship on June 20th. (For more details, click here.) That act of destruction, however, did not stop ongoing harassment from government officials.

Several members of the Early Rain Covenant Church who reside in the Languang Changdao apartment complex have been prevented from entering the building. Around noon on June 6th, families who tried to return to their homes were denied access to their apartments. When they attempted to go into the building, security guards and others assaulted the believers.

On February 18th, a local village official forced his way into a church service in the Indonesian village of Rajabasa Jaya and demanded that the Christians stop worshipping immediately. He claimed that the church was meeting without a permit. Other villagers also joined in the attack and, during the turmoil, one of the intruders attempted to choke the pastor. For more details on the initial incident, go to this page.

A court in Minsk has fined seven young Christians the equivalent of two months' average wages each. The charges were laid against the believers as punishment for talking to others about the meaning of Easter on April 15th, the day before Orthodox Easter Sunday.

A Christian woman and her five children have been forced into hiding after receiving death threats demanding that she convert to Islam. Despite these warnings, Naseem Bibi has refused to abandon her faith, even though it means having to flee home with her five children, who range in age from eight to 22.

Two separate incidents that recently took place in Chengdu, the capital of the Chinese province of Sichuan, demonstrate the effectiveness of the Chinese Communist Party authorities in dividing communities to bring about harassment of Christians and, in particular, members of the Early Rain Covenant Church (ERCC). The first incident involved the wedding of a congregation member from the church.

In 2016, Slimane Bouhafs was arrested and sentenced to five years in an Algerian prison for alleged blasphemy in a Facebook post. After various appeals, the sentence was eventually reduced for the accused Christian man, resulting in his release during April 2018 (read more).

On the morning of March 16th, agents from the religious affairs bureau, along with public security officers, raided the Renai Reformed Church in Guiyang, taking more than ten Christians into custody.

Over the years, the church of less than a hundred members has faced ongoing harassment from Chinese Communist Party agents for refusing to join the government-sanctioned Three-Self Church. In September 2018, they lost their facility after being banned from meeting for worship services. Subsequently, the congregation began holding services in restaurants and hotels where they were raided at least three more times.