China Aid
Reported in Chinese by Qiao Nong. Translated by Brynne Lawrence. Edited in English by Ava Collins
(Wuhan, Hubei—Oct. 12, 2015) Members of the religious affairs bureau and Three-Self Patriotic Movement raided a 70-member house church in China’s central Hubei province on Oct. 4 and threatened to close the gathering place if the Christians did not join a government-sanctioned church.
The raid on Jinshuixia Church in Wuhan, Hubei, on Oct. 4 is the second such attack this year. The church was previously raided on Aug. 16, and both events involved pressure to register with the Three-Self church and threats that the church would be closed if it did not comply. There were forty church members in attendance at the time of the August raid.
Jinshuixia Church’s pastor, Li Yongguang, was gone on a business trip at the time of the most recent raid. A church member surnamed Zhou told China Aid’s reporter Qiao Nong that there were four officials from the religious affairs bureau. “One was a liaison officer, one was an office chief, and the two others I did not know. They said our church needed a certificate—needed to register. If we didn’t get a certificate, our church would be closed down. They said they would arrest me if I did not listen to them. I told them I had committed no crime.”
China Aid works to expose abuses of the law and religious freedom throughout China, such as the abuses seen in this case.
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