Pastor Chang Yuchun’s Unimaginable Suffering Under Torture and Imprisonment
(Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China – March 10, 2025) According to Chang Shengyi, the son of Pastor Chang Yuchun (later renamed Chang Yuguang), a Christian pastor who was sentenced to seven years in prison in Xi’an for printing Christian books, they recently visited their parents and learned that their father, Chang Yuchun, was tortured while living under residential surveillance and was not allowed to sleep or go to the restroom for 14 consecutive days.
14 days later, he took his pants off and ripped off the skin from his thighs. In prison, he was also bullied by the jailer for a long time and was beaten to the point of losing his teeth. Pastor Chang Yuchun and his wife Li Chenhui were sentenced to seven years in prison together. Their children implore you to pray for their parents, asking God to strengthen them to face the attacks of the evil one, the unceasing stirring, temptation, and violent coercion, may the glory of God be revealed, and may they know that they are but human!
On Thursday, March 6, 2025, Chang Sheng Yi and his siblings visited their father, Chang Yuchun, in prison, and learned several pieces of news that caused them much pain and concern.
Inside the Harrowing Conditions of Pastor Chang Yuchun’s Imprisonment and Torture
Pastor Chang Yuchun began his glorious path of suffering for the Lord as early as July 21, 2020, the day he was taken away for residential surveillance by a coalition of six departments led by the National Security Department.
On March 6, Pastor Chang Yuguang disclosed to his son that upon entering the designated place of residence, these case officers unlawfully coerced confessions out of Chang Yuguang and Li Chenhui. This included keeping them alive with a very small daily diet, no talking, no sleeping, no bathing, and so on. However, this was only the beginning of the abuse.
After that, they tortured Pastor Chang Yuchun for 14 days, not allowing him to sleep for the first six days, shining an interrogation light on him around the clock, and interrogating him in shifts in order to get him to admit that he was “inciting subversion of national power”. However, the Bible says, “I am forced to restore what I did not steal”, and Chang Yuguang did not compromise.
Therefore, the case officers did not allow him to go to the toilet for 14 days. It was not until 14 days later that Chang Yuguang was allowed to go to the toilet for the first time. He said he saw clearly in the bathroom mirror that his entire leg and buttocks were black, and that as he slowly pulled down his pants, a layer of skin was ripped off. Chang Shengyi said he couldn’t imagine how much pain his father was in.
After the official verdict came down, Mr. and Mrs. Chang were sent down to prison, and Pastor Chang encountered jailbirds and dark forces extorting money from him, demanding that he pay 4,000 yuan a month for protection, which Pastor Chang refused to do. They then connived with the prison cell leader and his six henchmen to beat up Chang Yuguang, causing him to lose two of his upper left teeth and being threatened, “Throw it away!” However, this was not the end of it. After this came years of continuous bullying and beating, and even when the cell leader and the remaining two were transferred, the other remaining men continued to sneak up on him in such a persistent manner.
In the face of such violence, Pastor Chang Yuchun did not choose to fight back and throw punches in his flesh, but rather tried to protect himself as much as possible from getting hurt. But this cell group leader had become even more unscrupulous by virtue of his protective shield, and had even once killed a prisoner only needing to pay compensation of one hundred thousand dollars to solve the problem. Now he had similarly set his eyes on Pastor Chang Yuchun.
Chang Yuchun personally told Chang Shengyi that the purpose of these people was to get him and his wife, Li Chenhui, to sign a letter of confession and repentance, and to get them to renounce their faith. This included an attempt on the morning of March 7 to get Pastor Chang to renounce his faith. Because the district superintendent said, “Our society does not like Christians.” Hearing this, Pastor Chang’s father, who went with him to visit the prison, said, “We are all Christians, we will not give up.”
A Desperate Family Seeks to Reunite Amidst Ongoing Persecution
Pastor Chang Yuchun said to the children,
“Children, hold on to our faith, be godly, love the Lord through every day, and may God bless you!”,
and then said in a heartfelt tone,
“Father will not compromise; Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked. (Proverbs 25:26 ESV)”
Upon hearing this, the children could not help but shed tears.
On March 17, they will also meet their mother, Li Chenhui (the Lord’s name for her, Li Jingruo), whose situation is poorly understood by the outside world. It has been difficult to visit her since late 2023. Li Chenhui is being held in a strict prison cell. She was ordered to copy the prison rules until her right hand became tenosynovitis.
Prior to her transfer to the strict supervision area, she had fainted frequently due to the heavy labor in the kitchen, but she has not been able to receive medical treatment, let alone medical parole!
In the entire year of 2024, the family was only allowed to talk twice, and even phone calls lasted only five minutes. The family has repeatedly requested a videotaped meeting, but all they have gotten is a warning: “You know what the nature of your case is, we won’t give you a pass, so don’t apply again.”
Chang Shengyi and his family have consulted with five different lawyers in three places, all of whom have received threats from the courts and officials. To their gratitude, Attorneys Liu and Huang wrote the complaint for them.
Pastor Chang Yuchun and his wife Li Chenhui were arrested in July 2020 for printing Christian books and sentenced to seven years in prison the following year for the crime of “illegal business operation,” with fines totaling 500,000 yuan. Pastor Chang Yuchun is serving his sentence in Fuping Prison in Xi’an, and Li Chenhui is serving her sentence in Shaanxi Women’s Prison.
The children are living in Beijing with their maternal grandparents, who are 73 years old and suffering from advanced breast cancer; she did not have surgery and is becoming weaker by the day, and is now bedridden, eating only one meal a day. Grandpa had a lung perforation during the epidemic, had surgery, the body is also very weak.
Chang Shengyi said that the two old people can still live on their own, and that the family has money for food and rent, and that grace is enough. Chang Shengyi himself quit his job at a church school because it was too far to travel, he had to live in the school, and the family needed his help. He is now involved in a Christian homeschooling system on line and has some income. He is attempting to bring his two younger siblings who are in public school, and so far has not received approval from the school.
The Inspiring Faith of a Family Under Pressure
The following are two letters from Brother Chang Yuchun to his children:
This morning I spoke briefly with you on separate phone calls, and within my heart I was missed, touched, and comforted! I especially entrust you into the hands of the Almighty, and wish you many blessings under the care of grace and love! May your love for the Lord grow and grow, and may you be rooted and built up in Him, glorifying the precious name of the Lord Jesus!Recently, we have been in some weaknesses and difficulties, and we hope to be revitalized and strengthened through the prayers of the people and His gracious help! May He give us grace to reunite our family and friends soon. May you all grow in faith and love and care for one another! May you also make great gains in your studies and in your physical exercise and temperance! And may the two younger ones obey their two older brothers and live, learn and progress under the guidance of His principles. Daddy loves you all!“Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die!But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,will give thanks to you forever;from generation to generation we will recount your praise.(Psalms 79:13 ESV)”Love you all and mom dearly.~ From your Dad who is looking forward to a reunion soon
Sunday, February 16, 2025
My dear sons, Shengyi and Shengxin,There’s a nice little bit of a story from a novel that I’ll share with you:“Hours before Pastor Haipai and his wife, Ruth Li, were about to be marched to the execution ground to be executed by firing squad, they were confined in two rooms separated by only one thick plank wall.Although they couldn’t see each other, they could hear each other singing in unison. When Haipai sang, ‘The way of the cross is to sacrifice, to give all to God,’ Ruth Li sang loudly in response, ‘Let everything be laid on the altar of death, and there the fire will appear! Then they choked back tears and sang in harmony, ‘This is the way of the cross; will you walk this? Will you take all for your Lord?’ And so they, the afflicted couple, sang hymn after hymn that they loved to sing both!”February 21, 2025
(Reported by Special Correspondent Ningmeng for ChinaAid)
