(Linfen, Shanxi Province) The trial of 12 church leaders and members of Golden Lampstand Church was suddenly canceled. No new date has been announced.
Three cancelations
This marks the third sudden cancelation since last year. For two of the previous cancellations, it was later learned that one was due to a prosecutor being arrested for corruption, and another due to a deputy police chief handling the case being arrested. The reason for this latest cancellation remains unknown.
Previous persecution
Golden Lampstand Church is a large house church in Linfen, Shanxi province. It has faced persistent persecution for refusing to join the government-sanctioned Three-Self Church. Since 2004, authorities have repeatedly cut off water and electricity to the church. On September 13, 2009, the notorious crackdown resulted criminal detentions for nine church co-workers, including Pastor Wang Xiaoguang and his wife Yang Rongli. Yaodu District Court charged them with “illegal occupation of agricultural land” and “assembling a crowd to disturb traffic order”. Yang Rongli received a seven year sentence and Wang Xiaoguang received three years. In 2018, local government demolished the Golden Lampstand building with heavy machinery and dynamite. Pastor Wang Xiaoguang was released in 2012, and Yang Rongli in 2016.
12 arrested
On August 7, 2021, twelve Christians, including the couple Wang Xiaoguang and Yang Rongli, were arrested again. To date, six have been released on bail, while six others – Pastor Wang Xiaoguang, Yang Rongli, Li Shuangping, Dong Yongyong, Zhao Guoai, and Huo Zhuangping – have been detained for over three years.
Prayers for the persecuted
The entire Golden Lampstand Church congregation published an open prayer letter. They pray for the church to courageously follow Christ’s footsteps and the example of countless house church predecessors who suffered for the Lord. Also, they requested prayers for the local government in Linfen. Early Rain Covenant Church leaders also issued a prayer letter for the six detained co-workers and the six released on bail.
~Ningmeng, Special Correspondent of ChinaAid
