(Chengdu, Sichuan province) On the morning of October 28, 2023, police interfered in the graduation ceremony of Early Rain Covenant Church’s “Workers’ College”. Some Christians were taken away. Watch a portion of the raid here.
Raid
At 10:00 AM, the church held a graduation ceremony for the Workers’ College in a conference room of a hotel near the Jiangxin Building. Over 30 church members attended the ceremony.
In the midst of the worship service, more than officials from the Political Security Bureau (formerly known as State Security) and the Civil Religion Bureau suddenly entered the room. More than 20 individuals, including police and community officials, interrupted the ceremony and declared the gathering illegal.
Detained Christians
By the afternoon, nine Christians were taken to police stations. Some were in Cao Shi Jie Police Station: Elder Yingqiang Li, Shuqi Ding, Xuewei Jia, Yingshi Liu, Benli Li, and Bo Nie. Police took others to Qingyang District Xiyouhe Police Station, including Hao Guiru, Shu Qiong, and Pastor Caleb Zhang.
At about 5:00 PM., Elder Li Yingqiang was sent back to Deyang in a police car. So far, five male believers have been taken to the Huangtianba Case Center to make statements. At the time of this report, nobody has heard any news.
Early Rain’s history
Early Rain Covenant Church is a leading house church in mainland China. Under the leadership of Pastor Wang Yi, the church upholds the vision of worshipping God in public. It established the “Prisoners of Conscience Fellowship,” and set May 12 to June 4 as the “Prayer for the Nation Month,” which has greatly increased the church’s visibility to the government. At specific points in time, the church’s public prayer meetings were often impacted. Police would station themselves at the entrance to their building to prevent believers from entering. In other instances, authorities stake out the homes of important members to prohibit them from leaving their homes. Pastor Wang Yi was personally restricted in his home or detained. However, he saw this as an opportunity to evangelize to the police.
Crackdown in 2018
At the end of August 2018, Pastor Wang Yi drafted and initiated “A Declaration for the Sake of the Christian Faith”. He wrote it in response to the Chinese government’s implementation of the new Religious Affairs Regulations (RAR). Wang Yi called on pastors to come forward, publicly state their beliefs, and refuse to sign the new regulations. At one point, Pastor Wang Yi even publicly called on Xi Jinping, the highest head of state in China, to repent.
On December 9, 2018, the famous “129 Crackdown” took place. More than one hundred church elders and co-workers were arrested. Early Rain was disbanded, and the rest of the congregation was forcibly repatriated. Pastor Wang Yi was arrested and charged with “inciting subversion of state power” and “illegal business operations”. The Chinese government sentenced him to nine years in prison.
Continued persecution
Since the crackdown nearly five years ago, police have continued to harass Early Rain. Officers stand outside Christian’s homes, follow them, disperse their gatherings, and monitor them closely. Last year, authorities even disrupted a wedding by forcing the wedding venue to cancel at the last minute.
Continued ministry
To this day, the persecution has not ceased against Early Rain, but neither has the public worship. Members continue to evangelize and host worker training. Many foreign Christians and teachers have even been attracted to the church and moved to Chengdu. This may be the reason why the graduation ceremony was raided.
Prayer
In response to the recent onslaught, Early Rain Covenant Church issued a public prayer:
The Lord’s love is in China, the Lord’s love is in Chengdu, the Lord’s love is in the fall rain, and the Lord’s love is among us. During these five years of great persecution, although the synagogue was blocked and the pastor was imprisoned, brothers and sisters were fruitful in patience and gladly equipped themselves to serve the church.
Pray that the Lord would watch over each of the brothers and sisters who were taken to the police station, and give them courageous hearts, which You have given them for their graduation, to see the Eternal Savior in the midst of persecution and fire. Pray also for mercy on our nation and government officials, who continue to persecute the Lord Christ and His Church, not realizing that this is the only way of life that can save them from death.
~Lemon, Contributor to ChinaAid
