(China – December 18, 2024) In November 2024, there were frequent persecution cases against Christian house churches in China. According to the “5 PM in China” prayer meeting group for Chinese house churches, there were eight cases of arrests, detentions, summons, raids, and court trials during this month, detailed as follows: 

1. On Sunday, November 3, 2024, several house churches in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province were simultaneously raided. According to a sister who was present, around 10 AM while an Elder was preaching, over 50 police officers rushed in, including national security agents, religious affairs bureau officials, local police officers, auxiliary police officers, and patrol officers. Without explanation, they handcuffed the Pastor, and later handcuffed the Elder and several female believers, totaling eight people. They were released around 10 PM, but the police threatened severe punishment for the Pastor and the Elder if they gathered again.
2. On Sunday, November 3, 2024, in Changsha, Hunan Province, about 50 public security and religious affairs bureau personnel raided Grace Church’s gathering venue at a hotel. Simultaneously, substantial police forces raided four other Grace Church’s gathering venues. Police dispersed the gatherings and warned against future meetings.
3. On November 4, 2024, in Yinchuan, Ningxia Province, Ma Yan‘s wife Shu Hang and lawyer Mr. Yuan went to the Yinchuan Railway Transport Court to request case filing for Ma Yan. Ma Yan and other believers were arrested during a gathering on August 9 and have been held without questioning or formal charges. The court has ignored the wife’s application for case filing. According to law, November 26 marked the two-month investigation deadline after Ma Yan’s arrest. The investigating police informed Ma’s wife and lawyer that they would send the case to the procuratorate for review and prosecution. By law, the procuratorate will formally prosecute in court by the end of December. Ma Yan, from Zhenxiong, Yunnan Province, was called to evangelize in remote areas of Ningxia Province after graduating from his university and established a church in Yinchuan.
4. From November 5-12, 2024, nearly ten members of the Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu were summoned by their community management personnel for talks. Several were new church members experiencing such persecution for the first time. This followed their participation in the September 1 Sunday service, after which four church co-workers, including Elder Li Yingqiang, were detained. Religious affairs bureau officials pressured Brother Zheng, Brother Song, Sister Li, and other believers to sign pledges not to participate in “illegal religious activities.” One brother signed under deception but later repented. Two elderly sisters faced harassment from police and officials, who threatened their pension benefits and their children’s employment and education. One elderly sister was temporarily expelled from home by her son (she later returned), and family members endured much fear and torment.
5. On November 6, 2024, around 9:30 AM, Pastor Fan Yanmin was taken from his father’s home in Xingping, Shaanxi Province (his 90-year-old father is undergoing cancer treatment). Around 11 AM, police took church computers and two Apple devices from Pastor Fan’s home. Around 5:30 PM, Shilipu Police Station in Xi’an notified Pastor Fan’s wife of his 15-day detention on suspicion of “endangering society by masquerading under the name of religion“, according to “Public Security Administration Punishment Law of the People’s Republic of China.”
6. On November 10, 2024, Puguang Church in Putian, Fujian Province had their Sunday worship disrupted. Three Pastors – Hong Qiuyong, Wu Geshui, Song Zhiguang – and three other co-workers were taken to the police station and released that evening.
7. On November 18, 2024, Shanghai Public Security Bureau arrested Sister Zhang Zhan for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” Zhang Zhan was arrested in May 2020 for reporting on COVID-19 in Wuhan in February 2020. She was sentenced to four years and released in May 2024. Three months after her release, she was re-arrested for helping a Christian in Xi’an. She is currently held in Pudong District Detention Center.
8. From November 19-22, 2024, four Christians from Living Stone Reformed Church in Bengbu, Anhui Province – Wan Changchun, Xue Shaoqiang, Cao Binting, and Wan Chunqin – were tried for “fraud.” Arrested on April 11, 2023, they’ve been detained for over 19 months, exceeding legal detention limits. You Xiulin, Liu Xunzhen and Ma Peipei (the wives of Wan Changchun, Xue Shaoqiang, and Cao Binting), and Qiao Jiezhen and Qiao Wanguo (Wan Chunqin’s children) were barred from attending the trial. The court’s actions are not only illegal but also inhumane – they haven’t been able to see their loved ones for a year and seven months. During the trial, supposed “victims” testified that the four Christians were exceptionally good people who always helped others and could never harm anyone. They were beneficiaries, not victims.

November 2024 is not special; in fact, religious persecution and religious unification warfare have been the consistent position and strategy of the Chinese government for decades, and religious persecution has never ceased.

Over the decades, the Chinese house churches have always held and practiced freedom of religion and conscience according to the Bible and also according to the Constitution, and have always been the representatives of law-abiding Chinese society in a peaceful and patient manner. In spite of the constant suppression by the government, the churches have always strived to preach the gospel of Christ, to love their neighbors, and to be the light and salt of society.

At the same time, for decades, the Chinese government has been trampling on its own constitution and laws regarding religious freedom. This is true not only for Christianity but also for other religions. Transcendent religions, especially the Christian faith, are important in breaking up the Chinese cultural tradition of worshiping idols such as ancestors, power, and money. The Christian faith upholds that everyone is equal under God, and that the Communist Party, instead of being a savior, is a group of sinners in need of God’s forgiveness. And this is one of the reasons why the Chinese government is so afraid of Christianity.

(Reported by Special Correspondent Ningmeng for ChinaAid)