A magazine on religious liberty and human rights
Read the Severe Persecution of Christians in China.
The label xie jiao, reserved for banned “heterodox teachings,” is now increasingly applied to “normal” house churches.
After the detention of four leaders, the authorities decided to liquidate the popular house church.
Qin Sifeng and Su Minjun are in jail in Shandong after they tried to evangelize in Yunnan, a reminder of the “zero tolerance” policy for house churches who operate outside of their area.
Chen Lijun was detained in August. His wife reports he is still in jail, and his family is in desperate conditions.
Hao Ying claims that the authorities refuse to schedule an appeal trial for her husband, Pastor Geng Zejun.
Pastor Lian Changnian, Brother Lian Xuliang, and Sister Fu Juan remain under detention after two months. Church members have been beaten.
After the August 19 raid, the leaders of Linfen’s Covenant House Church were placed under arrest on September 30.
In Beijing, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Jilin, and Sichuan police raids targeted churches that refused to join the CCP-controlled Three-Self Church. Orders came from Xi Jinping himself.
Pastor Geng Zejun, the popular house church preacher, has been punished for his stubborn refusal to join the state-controlled Three-Self Church.
After 30 years of existence, the theologically mainline church is accused of fraud and of being a xie jiao or a “cult.”
