(Kunming, Yunnan – July 18, 2024) According to the Chengdu Early Rain Covenant Church, church members Wang Song and Shu Qiong, a married couple, were recently prevented from leaving the country at the Yunnan border despite having valid passports and visas.
In July this year, the Wang Song and Shu Qiong family planned to travel abroad for a period during their children’s summer break. When they attempted to take a train to Laos with legal passports and visas, they were followed by six cars in Yunnan, then intercepted by multiple people and taken to a police station. Subsequently, eight national security agents and police from Chengdu arrived in Yunnan, restricting their exit from the country and requiring them to tour Yunnan for a few days before returning to Chengdu, with constant surveillance throughout their trip.
Shu Qiong began attending Early Rain Covenant Church in late 2018. Just as she was about to be baptized, the church faced the “12/9” persecution, with Pastor Wang Yi, Elder Qin Defu, Elder Li Yingqiang, and over a hundred elders, deacons, co-workers, and members arrested. In 2019, Shu Qiong resolutely decided to move from Panzhihua to Chengdu, allowing her son to receive Christian education and sharing in the church’s tribulations. Shu Qiong often cared for persecuted members. Due to her enthusiasm and courage, she also faced many persecutions herself.
On January 14, 2021, at 7 am, Shu Qiong’s home, along with those of two other church members, Liang Huali and Sun Ailun, was raided by police. These members lived in the same community and had young children being homeschooled and learning together. Their homes were surrounded by large numbers of police, national security agents, education bureau officials, and urban management officers. The rooms where the children studied and played were also searched. Police confiscated numerous books and personal items, including Shu Qiong’s laptop and twenty boxes of books belonging to another Christian stored at Liang Huali’s home.
On January 15, 2021, Shu Qiong sent an open letter to Chengdu Mayor Wang Fengge, describing the illegal treatment she and other church Christians had endured for over two years, asking the mayor to stop the unlawful persecution of Christians by public authorities. She concluded her open letter by quoting Romans 13:3: “For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended.” Shu Qiong was summoned by police less than a day after her open letter spread on Twitter, Facebook, WeChat groups, and Moments. Police demanded she promise to stop participating in Early Rain Covenant Church’s illegal gatherings and send her child to public school, which Shu Qiong refused. She expressed willingness to bear the consequences. On January 16, 2021, Shu Qiong was summoned by the Jinyang Police Station in Wuhou District and released in the evening.
On the morning of October 28, 2021, police from the Jinyang Police Station in Wuhou District, Chengdu, raided Shu Qiong’s home. Despite warnings, they forced entry by breaking the lock. Due to excessive force, Shu Qiong, her husband, and their child were all injured by the police.
On September 18, 2022, Shu Qiong’s father passed away in Chengdu. The memorial service held by Early Rain Covenant Church for her father was disrupted by Chengdu police. Many church Christians’ homes were guarded in advance, preventing them from attending the funeral. The police even used epidemic electromagnetic alarms that would sound if doors were opened. Before Shu Qiong’s father died, he was hospitalized and extremely weak. When he was on his deathbed, Chengdu’s epidemic prevention regulations prevented Shu Qiong’s family from saying their final goodbyes at the hospital. In response, Shu Qiong posted a video on WeChat Moments criticizing the government’s rigid control measures. This led to cyberbullying in the community’s WeChat group, with organized community office personnel taking turns to mock, abuse, and threaten Shu Qiong with vulgar language. She was eventually kicked out of the community’s WeChat group.
On the afternoon of September 30, 2022, Shu Qiong’s husband received a call from a community worker asking their family to move out as soon as possible. That evening, Shu Qiong herself received a message from her landlord stating that the house could no longer be rented and asking her to move out early, offering to refund the breach of contract fee and rent. When Shu Qiong asked about the reason for the early termination, the landlord vaguely mentioned some unexpected circumstances and alternative use for the house. When asked if he had been threatened, the landlord denied it.
On the morning of March 17, 2023, when Early Rain Covenant Church’s preacher Ding Shuqi was taken away by police, Shu Qiong took her child to visit Ding Shuqi’s home along with Elder Li Yingqiang and his wife Zhang Xinyue. Three police officers from Wenjiang Public Security Bureau arrived with a summon and took Shu Qiong away, citing “suspicion of participating in activities of the banned Early Rain Covenant Church” as the reason. That night, both Shu Qiong and preacher Ding Shuqi were administratively detained for fourteen days for “participating in activities in the name of a banned social organization.”
On March 21, 2023, Shu Qiong again received a “Termination of Housing Lease Contract” notice from her landlord. Multiple departments including political security, police stations, and community offices in Shuangliu District joined forces to evict couple Wang Song and Shu Qiong, couple Xiao Leibiao and Chen Yan, and faith seeker Xu Jiali from their homes in the Languangchangdao International Community.
Throughout the process of continual beatings and forced relocations, Shu Qiong’s husband, Brother Wang Song, was also baptized and converted to Christianity. Her father was baptized in the church and passed away in the faith. While there have been many beautiful testimonies in their family, they continue to endure enormous pressure from persecution.
In a public prayer letter, Early Rain Covenant Church asked God to protect Brother Wang Song’s family, watch over their two children, and grant them peace despite all they have experienced. They also prayed for God to rebuke those who act unlawfully, violating Christians’ freedom, breaking their own laws, preventing them from living peacefully and worshipping within the country, and depriving them of their right to free movement. They asked God to watch over Brother Wang Song and Sister Shu Qiong, helping them to love each other and remain united, and for God’s blessings and peace to be with them wherever they go.
