(Chengdu, Sichuan province) Dayi County police recently searched the home of Early Rain Covenant Church member Shen Bing. They took him and his wife Li Xiaofeng to the local station. The Christian couple leads the Dayi branch of Early Rain.
Taken to the police station
On May 8, 2023, Dayi County police dropped Shen Bing and Li Xiaofeng off at their home after three hours of interrogation. Shen Bing shared the experience on social media. “Police wanted to know everything about our church’s Dayi branch,” he wrote. “We refused to sign any paperwork. Thank you, brothers and sisters, for your prayers. They just dropped us off at our home. We had peace throughout the whole process.”
Renowned Christian couple
Both Shen Bing and Li Xiaofeng’s dedicated service to Early Rain made them long-term targets of persecution. As requested by the police, the couple left Chengdu for some time and lived in another city. They moved back to Chengdu in early 2021, sharing the gospel with police and government officials.
Li Xiaofeng
Li served as the librarian of Early Rain, managing thousands of books. On the infamous evening of December 9, 2018, the power suddenly went out in the couple’s apartment. When she and her husband went to the hallway to look, more than twenty plainclothes officers arrested them. Li was imprisoned for six months, longer than any other woman during the “129” crackdown.
Shen Bing
At the time, Shen Bing was not yet a believer. Police administratively detained him for five days for no reason. He accepted Jesus as his Savior after his release. Later he was criminally detained for one month for appealing for his wife and defending his Christian belief on social media. After his release, he was placed in residential surveillance at a designated location (RSDL) for six months.
Dai Zhichao, Early Rain leader
When he and his wife returned to Chengdu, Shen was baptized. They quickly joined Tashui, a small group of Early Rain led by Dai Zhichao. Police regularly summoned, detained, and beat Dai. National security agents placed him and his family under long-term surveillance. Other group members underwent similar persecution.
Police pushed Shen Bing and Li Xiaofeng into a police car (ChinaAid source)
Unlawfully confined
Shen and Li visited Dai Zhichao, and a group of unknown people unlawfully confined the group inside. All the Christians tried to educate and convert the unidentified individuals. In the evening time, the police arrived and forced Shen and Li to return home. However, Chengdu authorities had already expelled the couple out of their home, so they stayed at a deacon’s house. Nobody could escape the harassment. District police forcibly moved into the deacon’s home and monitored Shen and Li.
Early Rain residents harassed
On May 12, congregants of Early Rain who live in Blue Light Long Island International Community were harassed again. Police threatened the Christians to leave by shutting off the electricity for seven households.
Tactics from authorities
Shutting off power, water, and gas is a normal procedure for departments in Chengdu City. They obstruct door locks and graffiti the doors to evict Christian renters. Other Christians of Early Rain have faced similar harassment over the past several years.
Pressure to leave
Congregants of Early Rain Covenant Church who rent at Blue Light International Long Island Complex have been pressured to evict since February. Departments of Shuangliu District jointly threatened the landlords to evict a few families living in the complex. The landlord already terminated some of the leases arbitrarily. A family reported that their door was stuffed with a nail, and another claimed their tire was slashed.
~Yu Bing, ChinaAid Special Reporter
