On Aug. 17, police arrested six adults and one child from the Xi’an Church of Abundance, aggressively searched their homes, and interrogated them at the police station before sending them home. The next day, the six adults were rearrested and charged with illegal gathering and illegal fundraising.
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Horace Pitkin was an American East Coast blueblood. He was a distant relative of Connecticut’s colonial-era attorney general and also kin to Elihu Yale, founder of the great Yale University from which Pitkin graduated in 1892, at the height of America’s Gilded Age. It was also the era of “muscular Christianity” — a mix of robust physical and spiritual development coupled with nearly unlimited optimism that the new century just ahead would be the Christian century, the fulfillment of the Gospel mandate to all the world. For Yale men like Pitkin — strong, charismatic, and gifted — the arena where all virtues would meet their test was China. Indeed, Horace organized Yale’s first Student Volunteer Band for foreign missions. He then went on to Union Seminary in New York, married Letitia Thomas, and set sail for Hunan Province in central China. Pitkin was an organizer, but not blind to the risks. He was, after all, in charge of the station in Hunan for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. As news from Beijing arrived and the Boxers began to show restless aggression, Pitkin sent his wife and child back to the United States. On Saturday, June 30, 1900,
Read MoreOn April 3, police raided Zion Reformed Church’s worship service. The authorities detained seven Christians, including the respective spouses of the church’s pastor and another member who were detained in late 2021 under the guise of preventing the spread of coronavirus.
Read MoreThey moved to an area of Pakistan known to be influenced by the Taliban. Despite the danger, Chinese citizens Li Xinheng and Lu Ling Lina felt compelled to share the Gospel in the radicalized area. While studying Urdu, the language spoken in Pakistan, and starting a school in one of the poorest parts of the country, they built relationships with their neighbors. But their witness was not welcomed by some in the city of Quetta. In late May, Li and Lu were taking their lunch break when three armed men dressed as police officers forced them into their vehicle. A third woman, also Chinese, was kidnapped along with them, but it is unclear whether she was released because there wasn’t room in the vehicle or because she escaped and called for help. A Pakistani man saw what was happening and tried to help, but he was shot in the foot by the kidnappers. Li and Lu were held hostage for several days before their executions,which were recorded on video. The self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS)claimed credit for their deaths, and the Pakistani government eventuallycarried out a raid on the ISIS hideout. However, by that time the Islamistshad fled. The Chinese government
Read MoreOn the morning of Nov. 1, government authorities detained Dai Zhichao along with his wife and their two sons. Dai, a practicing preacher of Early Rain Covenant Church and the leader of a small group, was about to take his family to another province for a vacation.
Read MoreGovernment persecution against the Early Rain Covenant Church (ERCC) in Chengdu continues. On Sunday, Aug. 22, officials arrested 28 people gathered in a home for a worship service. The leaders of the service spent two weeks in jail and were fined. A week later, ERCC church member Zhang Fan, whose wedding was scheduled for Aug. 28, was forced to find a new wedding venue – twice – after officials threatened the venue’s owners.
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As Kyung-ja drifted in and out of consciousness, her head bloodied by repeated blows from a club, she heard her guard shouting words she had never heard in her 56 years of life: “Bible,” “God,” “Jesus.” North Korean Guard: an unlikely Evangelist Kyung-ja understood why the female guard had interrogated her about her latest trip to China and about her daughter’s defection to South Korea, but she couldn’t grasp why she kept asking odd questions about something called Christianity. “I first learned about Christianity from my torturer,” Kyung-ja said. The guard’s confusing and persistent questioning piqued Kyung-ja’s curiosity. At the time of her arrest, she had no belief system or concept of God, but now she had to know what made this Christianity so dangerous. Kyung-ja had been detained twice before for illegally crossing into China. This time, however, was worse. Instead of serving only a few months of “re-education” at a labor camp, she endured repeated torture, most likely because of her daughter’s defection. After brutally beating Kyung-ja for two months, the guard realized she did not have any ties to Christians within North Korea. She then sent Kyung-ja, now a fragile 63 pounds, to a labor camp, and
Read MoreLiao Qiang and his family, members of the Early Rain Covenant Church, fled to Taiwan in July 2019 after repeated interrogation and harassment by the police. On June 29, the family of six arrived safely in the United States, where they will apply for asylum. Following the government raid of Early Rain Covenant Church on Dec. 9, 2018, Liao and his family were repeatedly interrogated, constantly surveilled, and harassed by police.
Read MoreAlthough prison officials have officially stated that Wang Yi, pastor of Early Rain Church, is doing well in prison, a source familiar with his condition has said the opposite is true. The source shared that prison authorities are holding the pastor in a highly restricted cell. He is not allowed to have visitors or even speak with other inmates, except for two criminal offenders who are charged with watching him.
Read MoreAfter authorities arrested Chen Wensheng on June 19, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities held him under designated residential surveillance for 20 days. During this time, members of China’s Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs and the State Security Department interrogated Chen and attempted to persuade him to stop proclaiming the gospel in the streets.
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