Church targeted for third time in a month

(Guangzhou, Guangdong—July 17, 2018) On Sunday, 30-40 government agents broke into a Bible Reformed Church in China’s southern Guangdong province for the third time in a month, taking a number of the Christians into questioning.

The church’s pastor, Huang Xiaoning, told a ChinaAid reporter at 11:00 that morning, “We had just begun [a church service] when 30-40 personnel from the State Food and Drug Administration, the cultural law enforcement brigade, as well as the police came and raided the venue where we gather. We had to stop our worship. Now, I have to go with them. People from the religious affairs bureau found me to question me.”

An hour later, Huang made contact again, saying that the officials finished interrogating him, but that there were still five or six Christians detained.

As the officials raided the church, they asked to see the IDs of everyone gathered there and sealed the refrigerator and a closet that stored utensils. On the same day, Huang received a “Notice Demanding Rectification” that ordered the church to stop religious activities.

Likewise, on June 10, more than 10 agents from the local police and street management department arrived at the church during a worship service and took Huang and another Christian, Wang Chuanjun, to the street management office for questioning that lasted several hours. The authorities also accused the church for operating illegally, since it is not one of the churches registered with the government, which are subjected to censorship. 10 days later, the local religious affairs bureau fined the church 50,000 yuan [$7,453.75 USD], and on June 24, two police came to the church to take pictures. Despite the fact that the church does not run a school, the local education bureau, public security bureau, and religious affairs bureau demanded that it stop conducting “illegal education.”

Bible Reformed Church was founded on Sept. 12, 2010, and currently has around 100 attendees every week. Since its founding, the police have consistently asked the church to become a registered, state-run church, but its members have refused.

ChinaAid covers Bible Reformed Church’s story to expose the abuses of the Chinese government and stand for human rights, religious freedom, and rule of law.

ChinaAid Media Team
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