(Anhui – August 8, 2025) Li Yunyan, wife of Pastor Chang Shun of Maizhong Reformed Church in Fuyang City, Anhui Province, released an open prayer letter revealing that her husband has been criminally detained since June 29 on suspicion of “organizing illegal gatherings.”
In the letter, Li Yunyan stated that although the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China explicitly stipulates that citizens enjoy freedom of religious belief, her husband Chang Shun, as a Christian, has faced ongoing religious persecution by the authorities since 2021. According to her, Pastor Chang Shun was subjected to multiple administrative detentions and fines in 2021, 2022, and 2024 for his faith. However, all appeals for administrative review or litigation filed by the family were unsuccessful.
Li Yunyan described in detail the events of the day her husband was taken away: on June 29, a group of individuals claiming to be community workers forcibly entered her home and took Pastor Chang Shun away. Friends and relatives who were present at the residence were also taken to the police station for questioning and were not released until late at night. Afterward, these friends and relatives were forced by community personnel to move out, and even had their belongings loaded onto trucks and sent back to their hometowns, and were told not to reside in Fuyang.
Following her husband’s detention, Li Yunyan herself has suffered a series of harassments: the lock on her front door was changed, her home’s water supply was cut off, surveillance cameras were installed at the door of her residence, and a tracking device was placed on her car. She also stated that she is often followed when she goes out, leaving her extremely uneasy and fearful. She expressed particular concern for her two young children, her younger daughter often cries while looking for her father and innocently asks, “Aren’t the police supposed to catch bad people? My daddy did not do anything bad, so why did the police take him away?” This left her at a loss as to how to comfort her child’s tender heart.
Li Yunyan quoted Psalm 34:17: “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.” At the end of her letter, she called on God to execute justice, urged the police to handle the case according to the law, and to restore her husband’s freedom so that her children can have their father back, and so that citizens may enjoy the freedom of belief granted by the Constitution. She earnestly appealed for people from all walks of life to support them through prayer.
(China Aid Association)