(Fuyang, Anhui Province – March 21, 2024) On March 10, Fuyang Maizhong Reformed Church was raided by local police during a gathering at a restaurant. Eighteen Christians were taken away, with eight of them administratively detained for 13 days. Elder Chang Shun was administratively detained for 15 days. This marks the third time he has been detained in the past six months.
On Sunday morning, a group of police officers wearing uniforms but not presenting any identification suddenly stormed into a restaurant. Without providing any reason, they began to interrogate the Christians present. The Christians repeatedly requested the officers to show their credentials but were refused. Later, personnel from the local religious affairs bureau and national security agents also entered the restaurant, walking around and taking pictures. Christians from Maizhong Reformed Church also took out their phones and tablets to take pictures and videos. During the conversation, one individual who was not wearing a uniform and did not present any identification forcefully took a tablet from a sister who was recording a video and shouted loudly at other Christians present. Subsequently, the room where the Christians were gathering was searched. Despite Christians repeatedly requested them to present legal documents for the raid, they refused to show any document.
Finally, without any document, plainclothes police officers took 18 individuals, including 2 children, to the police station, where they were subjected to targeted and guided interrogation. During the interrogation, Elder Chang Shun’s wife, Li Yunyan, also repeatedly asked the reason for their detention and requested the police to show their interrogation documents, but the police did not provide a reasonable response.
The interrogation lasted until after 2 o’clock in the morning. Finally, the police imposed administrative detention for 13 days on eight of the Christians, and Elder Chang Shun was given a 15-day administrative detention under the charge of “carrying out activities in the name of an illegal social organization”. This marks the third time Elder Chang Shun has been detained since September of last year.
Fuyang Maizhong Reformed Church is a house church located in Fuyang, Anhui Province. The leader of the church had participated in signing the “Joint Statement by Pastors: A Declaration for the Sake of the Christian Faith” by Pastor Wang Yi of Chengdu Early Rain Covenant Church in 2018, insisting on the church’s position as a house church and openly refusing to join the Three-Self Church. As the government’s crackdown on house churches intensified across all over the country, Fuyang Maizhong Reformed Church continued to gather persistently until it was eventually banned by the government.
History of Persecution
On October 9, 2021, while participating in prayer and Bible study with fellow Christians at a believer’s home, Elder Chang Shun was forcibly taken away and detained for ten days by local police. Due to his lack of COVID vaccination at the time, the detention was postponed until September 18th, 2023. During this period, Chang Shun had applied for administrative reconsideration multiple times, all of which were rejected. The reasons for the refusal were never disclosed when consulted.
On the evening of October 21, 2023, six or seven Christians from the church were studying the Bible in an office building when they were raided by multiple departments including the local police station, community management office, and religious affairs bureau. They confiscated the Christians’ books and computers without providing a list of items impounded. Several male believers were also taken to the local community management office and detained until after two o’clock in the morning before being released.
On November 4, 2023, Elder Chang Shun, co-workers Han Xuri, and Han Meng, were once again penalized by the Economic and Technological Development Zone Branch of the Fuyang City Public Security Bureau for their gathering. They were administratively detained for 10 days and fined ￥500 (~$70 U.S. dollard) yuan each.
On the morning of January 18, 2024, while leading children of Fuyang Maizhong Reformed Church in singing hymns and praying, Dai Chuanli, Wang Dandan, and Ma Jiahui were taken away by police from the Economic and Technological Development Zone Branch of the Fuyang City Public Security Bureau. On the following day at noon, their homes were searched, and they were each administratively detained for 15 days. Other believers of the church also frequently face harassment, such as prying open their door locks by community management personnel, threats to landlords to compel them to move out, and other disturbances.
Request for Prayer
On March 13, Li Yunyan, the wife of Elder Chang Shun, sent out a prayer request letter. At the beginning of the prayer letter, she quoted John 15:20, ” Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” She also cited John 1:5, ” The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Li Yunyan expressed her deep concern for her husband, and stated that the children missed their father terribly. That evening, when their children saw that neither of their parents had returned home, they cried and wanted to find their parents, questioning why their father was being arrested again, saying, “Why do they have to take Daddy? Daddy is not a bad person!”
Elder Chang Shun’s mother, upon learning that her son had been arrested again, also expressed deep concern, saying she missed her son very much. Recently, Li Yunyan has been experiencing back pain, and at this time, she needs her husband’s care, but he has been taken away, leaving her responsible for taking care of everything both at home and outside.
At the end of the prayer letter, she requests brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for Fuyang Maizhong Reformed Church. She says:
As citizens of the People’s Republic of China, we have the freedom of religious belief. As Christians, it is our duty to gather for worship on Sundays. However, our brothers and sisters are being treated in this way. May brothers and sisters pray for them, asking the Lord to strengthen those imprisoned, and give them courage and peace; and comfort their families! May we bear witness for the Lord in the world!
