(Xi’an, Shaanxi province) Pastor Lian Changnian, Pastor Lian Xuliang, and Preacher Fu Juan of Xi’an Church of Abundance were held under residential surveillance at a designated location (RSDL) for alleged “fraud.” After six months of RSDL, authorities criminally detained the three church leaders and transferred them to the detention center.
Case of Xi’an Church of Abundance
Pastor Lian Changnian is 69 years old. His son—Lian Xuliang— was anointed as pastor last year, and Fu Juan has been a coworker of the church for a long time. 180 days ago, their families received an update for the first time. According to authorities, all three leaders were involved in “endangering” homeland security and thus prohibited from visiting family members. Multiple human rights lawyers— including Zhang Kai, Zhao Binghao, Liu Anqiang, Ding Junjie, Zhao Wenjing, and Li Chunfu— represented these three defendants.
Pastor Lian Changnian
One of the older-generation pastors of China Gospel Fellowship in Henan, Pastor Lian Changninan began full-time ministry in the late 70s and early 80s. He went through all kinds of persecution in the past few decades, such as being arrested, hit, and imprisoned. Later, he planted the Xi’an Church of Abundance.
China Gospel Fellowship
China Gospel Fellowship was founded in 1988 and originated in the Tanghe region, Henan Province. It is a national house church with 10,000,000 congregants. China Gospel Fellowship has developed and become a national house church system with evangelical and Pentecostal features, consisting of a few hundred pastors, and a few dozen missionary teams, so it is one of the most developed house churches in China. Chinese authorities have persecuted and cracked down on China Gospel Fellowship for years.
Deception
Police summoned and interrogated Christians from the Xi’an Church of Abundance since July 20, 2022. Some Christians’ homes were searched, disrupting their normal lives. According to believers who were summoned, the police officer named Zhang Haibo demanded them to hand in the church’s offerings and tithes by threatening their work and children’s education. He wanted false testimonies to sue pastors for “fraud” and “spreading a cult.” Some police officers even deceived the summoned believers, telling them that the pastor paid himself 50,000 yuan (~$7,266) every month.
Victims of police harassment
On August 17, 2022, Pastor Lian Changnian was taken away for “fraud” by Xi’an Shilipu Police Station and held under RSDL, as well as Pastor Lian Xuliang and Preacher Fu Juan. That same day, police took a 9-year-old to the police station precinct for interrogation, traumatizing him. Afterward, they summoned some women believers multiple times, and some of them were insulted, hit, called names, and threatened. Two days after relentless interrogation, the Xi’an Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs shut down the Church of Abundance.
