(Xuzhou, Jiangsu province) Daoen Presbyterian Church revealed that police summoned Ms. Yan, a church co-worker. She was evangelizing in the street, which led to questioning and a five-day administrative detention. Authorities charged Yan with “organizing events in the name of a banned organization”.
Chinese House Church
Daoen Presbyterian Church is a reformed church, established in 1992. In September 2018, the local government shut it down because they refused to join the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. The leaders would also refuse to register with the Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs. Daoen Presbyterian continued to gather secretly, but police raided them after discovering their activities.
Pastor of Daoen Presbyterian Church
Fang Xiaojun, the lead pastor of the church, described himself as a prodigal son. He admired violence when he was a middle schooler and was well-known in his area for fighting. When he was 21, authorities arrested him as the primary suspect in a robbery. Fang repented in prison and has been involved in ministry since 1990.
Raids and persecution
The church has been raided by the government several times. On August 12, 2018, agents from the Tongshan District Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs disrupted the Sunday service. They rebuked believers for “organizing illegitimate religious events” and issued administrative punishment notices to Pastor Fang Xiaojun and Ma Ben.
Police raided the central branch on June 9, 2019, registering every believer’s personal information. They took the deacon away for interrogation and pressured the landlord to terminate the church’s lease with Daoen church and ask believers to move out in three days.
On June 26, 2019, Tangshan District Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs imposed an administrative punishment of 100,000 yuan（~$13,742） against Li Ming and Li Mingde, real estate property owners of Daoen Presbyterian Church’s south branch.
Pandemic persecution
Pastor Fang Xiaojun led a service at a believer’s home on August 2, 2020. Many believers attended online due to the pandemic. Suddenly police raided the believer’s house and took pastor Fang to the police station. They released him later that day.
On October 31, 2021, Daoen Presbyterian Church’s Sunday service was raided again. Police took away pastor Fang and another four believers. They also registered every believer’s personal information.
~Ningmeng, ChinaAid Special Reporter
