(Zhenxiong, Yunnan — December 12, 2025) In Zhenxiong County, Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province, Thanksgiving Reformed Church (Poji Town) and Peace Reformed Church (Tangfang Town) have been unable to resume any form of gathering for more than a year. Their suspension is closely tied to the experience of a local rural preacher, Chang Hao, who has served in the area for nearly three decades.
After becoming a Christian in 1998, Chang Hao founded and shepherded the aforementioned two house churches in the rural areas of Zhenxiong County. For many years, he preached every Sunday morning at Thanksgiving Reformed Church and then traveled in the afternoon to Peace Reformed Church, regardless of the weather, and without a fixed income. Chang Hao is a rural preacher with a physical disability. According to those familiar with the situation, he adheres to the Reformed Presbyterian tradition and firmly refuses to join the state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement and often addresses issues of social injustice in his preaching and prayers, which has kept him under sustained attention from local authorities.
Multiple church members recall that summonses, interrogations, and short-term detentions had become routine for Chang Hao to the point that even he could no longer recall the exact number of times.
During the COVID-19 lockdowns, the churches moved their services online via Zoom, and in the evenings, all of them would listen to systematic Bible lectures by Pastor Stephen Tong. On the evening of February 28, 2023, while an online gathering was in progress, four officials from state security and the ethnic and religious affairs bureau suddenly barged into Chang Hao’s home and verbally summoned him to the Zhenxiong County State Security Brigade for questioning. According to those present, law enforcement demanded that he cease all online gatherings, uninstall Zoom, and dissolve WeChat groups. Chang Hao did not accept these demands and was sent home that night.
Three days later, after prayer and with hesitation, he chose to resume the gatherings. On April 13, 2023, officials returned. Without presenting any legal documents, they seized a large number of items, including multiple versions of the Bible, Christian books, gospel-themed face masks, two iPhones, an Apple computer, and Chang Hao himself. He was subsequently detained in a detention center for 13 months on the charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.”
On May 14, 2024, Chang Hao was released on bail pending trial and appeared in court. The court announced its verdict that same day and allowed him to return home. The details of the judgment were not made public.
After his release, Chang Hao continued to pastor believers in a non-public manner, teaching on the theme “Looking at Suffering and Imprisonment From the Perspective of the Bible,” covering Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. During this period, 13 new believers (including one pregnant woman) decided to be baptized and join the church after completing the gospel course. At Chang Hao’s invitation, Pastor John Cao from Hunan agreed to come to Yunnan to officiate the baptism.
In the early morning of October 15, 2024, the baptism and communion proceeded as scheduled. According to multiple participants, just after the service concluded and the Lord’s Prayer had been recited, dozens of armed police, along with state security and personnel from the ethnic and religious affairs bureau, entered the site, ordered everyone to sit down, conducted body searches, and confiscated mobile phones. Including Pastor John Cao, more than 40 Christians were taken separately to the county public security bureau’s case-handling area for questioning that lasted until late at night.
After the incident, Chang Hao was administratively detained for 12 days. Pastor John Cao was escorted back to Changsha by Changsha state security officers, while the other Christians were released later that night.
Following Chang Hao’s release, local authorities installed three high-definition surveillance cameras around his residence and arranged for personnel to conduct long-term monitoring of his movements. Multiple church members said they were explicitly instructed not to contact Chang Hao, including by phone or WeChat. They also needed to leave WeChat groups, uninstall Zoom, and were prohibited from participating in any form of online or offline gatherings.
All church property had been confiscated during earlier operations, and both churches were shut down. More than a year has passed, and relevant restrictions have not been lifted. Chang Hao and the churches filed lawsuits regarding the administrative and criminal proceedings, but lost in both the first and second instances.
At present, members of Thanksgiving Reformed Church and Peace Reformed Church remain in a “dispersed” state, unable to gather publicly or maintain a shared faith life through online means. Church members continue to wait “for the day when a way forward appears.”
China Aid Association