Chen Wensheng’s arrest and trial

Chen Wensheng was intercepted at Shanghai airport on August 29, 2023, while attempting to board a flight to Jeju Island, South Korea, where he planned to share the gospel. After being sent back to Hengyang, he was taken to the police station and given a 15-day administrative detention.

Upon completion of his administrative detention, the Shigu Branch of Hengyang Public Security Bureau criminally detained Chen on charges of “organizing and funding illegal gatherings” under Article 290 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China and held him at Hengdong County Detention Center in Hengyang. On October 25 of the same year, Chen was formally arrested on the same charges and detained at Hengdong Detention Center in Hengyang.

On the morning of April 18, 2024, the case was tried at the Shigu District People’s Court in Hengyang. That day, police deployed significant manpower to block roads outside the court, with several security guards in black clothing pushing away Chen’s supporters who wanted to attend the hearing, even preventing them from approaching the courthouse. The courtroom had only about a dozen seats available for observers, with only four relatives of Chen – his wife, son, elder brother, and sister-in-law – being allowed in, while the remaining seats were filled by unidentified individuals. Chen’s second brother couldn’t enter, and Chen’s 86-year-old mother was restricted to her home by community management officials. The verdict was announced on the morning of June 20, 2024, with Chen sentenced to 1 year and 7 months in prison. 

The main criminal facts alleged against Chen Wensheng include: 

1. Chen Wensheng was administratively detained nine times for evangelism: once for 10 days and eight times for 15 days each, totaling 130 days, showing he refused to change his behavior; 
2. Chen Wensheng had organized group or individual evangelism activities multiple times in places such as markets, intersections, shops, and ethnic minority areas, which affected residents’ lives and disrupted social order. 

On April 5, 2025, Chen Wensheng posted on his WeChat Moments: “ 

Hallelujah! Praise the Lord Jesus!  

Thank you very much to my family for your prayers! Thanks to God, I was safely escorted from Deshan Prison to a hotel in Hengyang city yesterday. Thanks to God, today my wife and I have been arranged to travel and evangelize for free again. Please continue to pray for us.  

Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. (Philippians 1:12-14)” 

Physically, Chen Wensheng appears much thinner than before his imprisonment, but his mental state is good, smiling and full of joy. He revealed that he continued to evangelize during his time in prison, with more than 300 fellow inmates praying with him and three being baptized. 

Based on Paul’s words in Romans 1:14-16: “I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile,” he summarized four points: 

1. He knows he owes a gospel debt, 
2. He is willing to use all his strength to preach, 
3. He is truly not ashamed of the gospel; 
4. In this way he will surely experience the gospel as God’s power! 

(Reported by Special Correspondent Ningmeng of China Aid)