(Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province) On October 31, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials
raided Daoen Presbyterian Church during Sunday service. They took Pastor
Fang Xiaojun and four Christians and recorded personal information of the
congregants in attendance.
Daoen Presbyterian
Church, a reformed Presbyterian church, was established in 1992. The local
government shut down the church because believers refused to join the
government-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Church or register with the Bureau
of Ethnic and Religious Affairs. Daoen Presbyterian continued to gather secretly,
but police raided them after discovering their religious activities.
Fang
Xiaojun, the lead pastor of the church, described himself as a “prodigal son.” He
admired violence when he was a middle schooler, and he was well-known in his
area for fighting. He was criminally detained as the primary suspect of a
robbery at the age of 21. Fang repented in prison and has been involved in
ministry since 1990.
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| Christians attending Daoen Presbyterian Church (Photo: ChinaAid source) |
Since August
12, 2018, agents from the Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs regularly disrupt Sunday gatherings, labeling their crimes as “organizing illegitimate
religious events.” The cycle of being shut down, continuing to gather, being
raided regularly, and being arrested becomes normal to house churches in mainland
China.
~Yu Bing,
ChinaAid Association Contributing Reporter