{"id":5528,"date":"2026-02-19T08:07:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T08:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T08:07:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T08:07:06","slug":"early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Early Rain Church Targeted in New Crackdown"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On Jan. 6, 2026, members of the Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, China, were subjected to a large-scale crackdown that involved searches of multiple church sites and homes. According to information released by the church and verified by multiple sources, several church elders, preachers, deacons and their family members were detained. The whereabouts of some individuals has been preliminarily confirmed while others remained unreachable. Among those arrested or detained are elder Li Yingqiang and his wife, Zhang Xinyue; preacher Dai Zhichao; the family of Brother Ye Fenghua; elder Yan Hong; preacher Wu Wuqing; and deacon Zeng Qingtao. Local police officers also appeared at a school operated by the church and ordered the landlord to clear the facility. Since the crackdown began, other church members have been temporarily detained, and family members of those arrested have been harassed and displaced.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/globalprayerguide\/china\/\">Click here<\/a> to find out about Christian persecution in China and learn how to pray.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.icommittopray.com\/request\/2944\/church-members\/\" target=\"_blank\">Post a prayer for church members on iCommitToPray.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Jan. 6, 2026, members of the Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, China, were subjected to a large-scale crackdown that involved searches of multiple church sites and homes. According to information released by the church and verified by multiple sources, several church elders, preachers, deacons and their family members were detained. The whereabouts of some individuals has been preliminarily confirmed while others remained unreachable. Among those arrested or detained are elder Li Yingqiang and his wife, Zhang Xinyue; preacher Dai Zhichao; the family of Brother Ye Fenghua; elder Yan Hong; preacher Wu Wuqing; and deacon Zeng Qingtao. Local police officers also appeared at a school operated by the church and ordered the landlord to clear the facility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":181,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[15],"class_list":["post-5528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-i-commit-to-pray","tag-china","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Early Rain Church Targeted in New Crackdown - Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Early Rain Church Targeted in New Crackdown - Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On Jan. 6, 2026, members of the Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, China, were subjected to a large-scale crackdown that involved searches of multiple church sites and homes. According to information released by the church and verified by multiple sources, several church elders, preachers, deacons and their family members were detained. The whereabouts of some individuals has been preliminarily confirmed while others remained unreachable. Among those arrested or detained are elder Li Yingqiang and his wife, Zhang Xinyue; preacher Dai Zhichao; the family of Brother Ye Fenghua; elder Yan Hong; preacher Wu Wuqing; and deacon Zeng Qingtao. Local police officers also appeared at a school operated by the church and ordered the landlord to clear the facility.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-19T08:07:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"vomtechsupport\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"vomtechsupport\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"vomtechsupport\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5ff286fd5505fccd2d5ebfd9d4203216\"},\"headline\":\"Early Rain Church Targeted in New Crackdown\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-19T08:07:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":169,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/VOM-Stories-iCommit-PlaceholderV2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"China\"],\"articleSection\":[\"iCommitToPray\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\\\/\",\"name\":\"Early Rain Church Targeted in New Crackdown - Stories\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/VOM-Stories-iCommit-PlaceholderV2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-19T08:07:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5ff286fd5505fccd2d5ebfd9d4203216\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/VOM-Stories-iCommit-PlaceholderV2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/VOM-Stories-iCommit-PlaceholderV2.jpg\",\"width\":978,\"height\":640},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Early Rain Church Targeted in New Crackdown\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/\",\"name\":\"Stories\",\"description\":\"VOM\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5ff286fd5505fccd2d5ebfd9d4203216\",\"name\":\"vomtechsupport\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/56abf41aaad92dceb4cfa25e0a29cb1f744b86aceb206be3435e6e45da62f65a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/56abf41aaad92dceb4cfa25e0a29cb1f744b86aceb206be3435e6e45da62f65a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/56abf41aaad92dceb4cfa25e0a29cb1f744b86aceb206be3435e6e45da62f65a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"vomtechsupport\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.persecution.com\\\/stories\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Early Rain Church Targeted in New Crackdown - Stories","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Early Rain Church Targeted in New Crackdown - Stories","og_description":"On Jan. 6, 2026, members of the Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, China, were subjected to a large-scale crackdown that involved searches of multiple church sites and homes. According to information released by the church and verified by multiple sources, several church elders, preachers, deacons and their family members were detained. The whereabouts of some individuals has been preliminarily confirmed while others remained unreachable. Among those arrested or detained are elder Li Yingqiang and his wife, Zhang Xinyue; preacher Dai Zhichao; the family of Brother Ye Fenghua; elder Yan Hong; preacher Wu Wuqing; and deacon Zeng Qingtao. Local police officers also appeared at a school operated by the church and ordered the landlord to clear the facility.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\/","og_site_name":"Stories","article_published_time":"2026-02-19T08:07:06+00:00","author":"vomtechsupport","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"vomtechsupport","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\/"},"author":{"name":"vomtechsupport","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/5ff286fd5505fccd2d5ebfd9d4203216"},"headline":"Early Rain Church Targeted in New Crackdown","datePublished":"2026-02-19T08:07:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\/"},"wordCount":169,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VOM-Stories-iCommit-PlaceholderV2.jpg","keywords":["China"],"articleSection":["iCommitToPray"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\/","url":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\/","name":"Early Rain Church Targeted in New Crackdown - Stories","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VOM-Stories-iCommit-PlaceholderV2.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-19T08:07:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/5ff286fd5505fccd2d5ebfd9d4203216"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VOM-Stories-iCommit-PlaceholderV2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VOM-Stories-iCommit-PlaceholderV2.jpg","width":978,"height":640},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/early-rain-church-targeted-in-new-crackdown\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Early Rain Church Targeted in New Crackdown"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/","name":"Stories","description":"VOM","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/5ff286fd5505fccd2d5ebfd9d4203216","name":"vomtechsupport","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/56abf41aaad92dceb4cfa25e0a29cb1f744b86aceb206be3435e6e45da62f65a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/56abf41aaad92dceb4cfa25e0a29cb1f744b86aceb206be3435e6e45da62f65a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/56abf41aaad92dceb4cfa25e0a29cb1f744b86aceb206be3435e6e45da62f65a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"vomtechsupport"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}