(Chengdu, Sichuan — January 8, 2026) On January 8, 2026, a pre-recorded video circulated online showing the message left in advance by Elder Li Yingqiang (李英强) of Chengdu Early Rain Covenant Church (成都秋雨圣约教会) and his wife, Zhang Xinyue (张新月), for their two children. In the video, they say to their children:
“Carson, little brother, if one day you do not see Mom and Dad anymore, remember the hymn we sang together today.”
They then sing the hymn As the Mountains Surround Jerusalem, with the lyrics: “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people.”
What the video reveals is the couple’s preparation for the possibility of losing their freedom and even being separated from their children.
Just two days earlier, Chengdu police launched a new round of large-scale arrests targeting Early Rain Covenant Church. Elder Li Yingqiang and Sister Zhang Xinyue were both detained. Their two children, the 14-year-old older sister, Carson, and her 11-year-old younger brother, were also taken to the police station, where the siblings huddled together and spent the entire night.
On the same day, several core members of the church were also taken away. As of now, a number of individuals remain detained. This marks another large-scale arrest operation targeting this church, seven years after the mass arrests of December 9, 2018.
The “12.9” Mass Arrest Seven Years Ago
On the afternoon of December 10, 2018, church elders, co-workers, and more than a hundred Christians, including Pastor Wang Yi, were simultaneously taken into police custody and were unreachable. For the more than 500 members of Early Rain Covenant Church, almost every household had heavy police deployment stationed outside their doors.
According to pre-arranged plans, Elder Li Yingqiang went into temporary hiding. At 5:00 p.m. on December 10, while on the run, he published an open letter to all church members on Facebook, calling on them to prepare for the impending persecution. He wrote:
“Thanks be to the Lord! At the end of 2018, he granted us this great 12.9 persecution as a reward.”
On behalf of the church, he reaffirmed the bottom line of their faith stance: Early Rain Covenant Church will not register with the Religious Affairs Bureau, nor will it join the “Three-Self” church. Even if we can only worship outdoors, we will persist in public worship, unless every member of the church has lost their freedom.
He exhorted the elders who were still free to take up responsibility for shepherding the entire church, emphasizing:
“Small group gatherings are the church’s final bottom line. If there is still any possibility for the whole church to worship together, we will not retreat to small groups. If even worship in small groups or in individual Christian homes is to be interfered with, we are willing to pay a greater price… Even if two hundred, three hundred, or five hundred people are arrested and imprisoned, let the whole world know that we are willing to endure such persecution for our faith.”
Arrest, Detention, and Ongoing Persecution
At 2:00 a.m. on December 11, 2018, Elder Li Yingqiang was arrested by police in Chengdu and placed under criminal detention on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” held at the Chengdu Detention Center.
As the criminal detention period was about to expire, authorities formally arrested him again on the charge of “illegal business operations.”
On August 16, 2019, due to the “expiration of the detention period with the case still unresolved,” Li Yingqiang was released on bail pending trial and returned to his hometown in Hubei that day.
On August 14, 2020, after the bail period expired and bail was lifted, Li Yingqiang and his wife, despite the likelihood of continued persecution, immediately returned to Chengdu to continue serving the church. After that, they repeatedly faced police summonses, threats, water, electricity, and gas cutoffs, forced relocation, detention, and even being forcibly driven by police in a car out of Chengdu.
A Family Separated Again
On the eve of the “12.9” mass arrest seven years ago, Elder Li Yingqiang had also recorded a video in advance for his children, telling them, “God may be sending Dad on a long journey. You both must listen to Mom.”
At that time, Carson was 7 years old, and her younger brother was only 4. That time, Li Yingqiang was detained for eight months, and their mother remained by the children’s side.
However, both parents have been arrested this time, leaving the two children without their parents’ care. They are currently being looked after by their grandmother. There is widespread concern that Sister Zhang Xinyue, who has long suffered from depression, may face serious risks to her physical and mental well-being under police fatigue-style, high-pressure interrogations and threats.
Ningmeng, Special Correspondent for ChinaAid