(Hohhot, Inner Mongolia – July 22, 2024) On the morning of July 17, 2024, several Christians from the Xuan’en Church, a house church in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, were forcibly interrupted during their Bible study by a joint law enforcement operation involving the United Front Work Department, National Security Brigade, Religious Affairs Bureau, local police station, and community office. Multiple personnels suddenly entered the gathering venue, recorded the names and phone numbers of the Christians present, and ordered them to stop the gathering. The police and officials accused them of illegal assembly and demanded they attend only government-sanctioned Three-Self churches. They stated that since this was a first offense, they would only issue a warning, but it should not happen again.
In recent years, persecuted house churches have spread throughout various provinces and areas in China, with minority regions like Hohhot being no exception. Hohhot has seen another case targeting Christians recently, where nine Christians, including Wang Honglan, who is nearly 70 years old, were charged with “illegal business operations” for helping others buy Bibles at a discounted price, despite it being a completely non-profit endeavor. They purchased state-approved Bibles from the Three-Self Church in Nanjing at a 5% discount and sold them at a 25% discount, actually losing money in the process. Nevertheless, they were arrested in 2021 on charges of “illegal business operations.” The nine Christians involved experienced varying degrees of coerced confessions while in detention. The case, which began on November 20, 2023, lasted nearly 50 days, with the lengthy trial concluding in early January this year. Four of the Christians involved, Ji Heying, Ji Guolong, Liu Wei, and Zhang Wang, were released on bail on the morning of April 14, 2024. The other four, Wang Honglan, Wang Jiale, Liu Minna, and Yang Zhijun, remain in custody with no verdict announced yet. One Christian pleaded guilty and was directly sentenced to 5 years in prison by the court.
The Xuan’en Church in Hohhot has issued a prayer request letter, asking God to give them strength to hold fast to their faith, and to face persecution with grace and strength from Christ, so that they may witness to the power of the Lord’s gospel.
