Guangzhou house church releases letter following detention of two church members

China Aid Association


(Guangzhou, Guangdong—July 2, 2014) The Liangren House Church, located in China’s southern Guangdong province, released a letter, below, late last month after two church members were illegally detained on fabricated charges of “illegal business operations” during the early hours of June 23.

Not only did officers not present proper documentation, they were from the neighboring region of Guangxi, making the detention even more unusual (https://chinaaid.org/2014/06/house-church-members-taken-into-custody.html).

A Call to Intercede for Guangzhou’s Persecuted Liangren House Church

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

At midnight on June 23, 2014, while Ma Jiawen, an evangelist of Guangzhou Liangren House Church, was in Hong Kong (Ma and his family members are Hong Kong citizens), a team from the Liuzhou Domestic Security Protection Squad in Guangxi Province burst through the burglarproof door of his home in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, searched his home, abducted his wife, Li Jiatao, and confiscated their computer and some other items, leaving their two little children at home by themselves. The Domestic Security Protection Squad agents who conducted the task did not show a search warrant or notice of arrest, and yet they chased and seized a citizen across provincial borders and broke into civilian’s residence without a warrant.

In the meantime, elder Huang Qiurui of Guangzhou Liangren House Church was also taken from his own residence and transported to Liuzhou at night. As of now, three days after taking him into custody, the Liuzhou Domestic Security Protection Squad still cites various reasons to deny his lawyer’s visit to him, and even yesterday, attorney Wen Yu was kept for a whole day at the Rongjun Road Police Station in Liuzhou.

Since the arrest of two sisters, Chen Jie and Mo Xiliu, who were sent to Liuzhou for missions and church-planting by Guangzhou Liangren House Church on Feb. 18, the Liuzhou Domestic Security Protection Squad has persecuted this church with a vengeance. So far, four core staff members of this church have been taken into police custody, which not only has a great adverse impact on the normal function of the church, but also shows flagrant abuse and violation of citizens’ rights.

At present, the church is facing big challenges, and most core staff members are in detention. Multiple kindergartens and business entities of our church, established in different locations, have been busted or shut down by police. Because the authorities have cut off our sources of income, about ten church staff members are broke. Once again, our church if facing its biggest trial since 2008, but by depending on the Lord, we will be able to survive it.

We believe the detained staff members of Liangren Church are all law-abiding citizens who did not violate any clause of China’s law, yet they were charged with “illegal business operations,” a charge fabricated by the authorities, and illegal detained, which demonstrates the violent, irrational, and anti-Christian nature of this totalitarian regime.

According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Christians have the inalienable right to freedom of religion. For the sake of their religious faith, house church Christians refuse to join the “Three-Self” church system, which is a puppet controlled by the Chinese government, but they have been subjected to chronic persecution and harsh crackdown. Nevertheless, we hold the unwavering faith that tyranny and violence cannot wipe out Christ’s church and that God’s light will eventually overcome the darkness.

House churches in China are a form of non-compliance and non-cooperation by Chinese citizens [against the Chinese government] because God and the Bible command us that “we must obey God rather than human beings.”

We willingly and gladly suffer for the Lord and remain faithful to him to the point of death despite violence and suppression. To make freedom of religion, democracy, rule of law, and constitutional government materialize in China, and for the sake of evangelizing in China, Christians ought to stand firm, persevere, and, as citizens of this country, fulfill the duties and obligations due to citizens.

Let’s kneel down before God and pray in unison. God listens to his children’s prayers. May God’s hand of mercy and grace be on China; may the Lord deliver and protect churches in trials. May the Lord uphold justice, punish evil, and exalt fairness and justice in our country and among our people! Amen!

“For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, ‘til her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch.” (Isaiah 62:1)

Guangzhou Liangren House Church
June 2014


China Aid Contacts

Rachel Ritchie, English Media Director
Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985
Website: www.chinaaid.org
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