(Shunde, Guangdong province) Four Christians from Shengjia Church in Shunde City were arrested on suspicion of “illegal business operations.” Among them were Pastor Deng Yanxiang and three co-workers: Zhu Longjiang, Wang Weicai, and Zhu Qiaoling.
Shengjia Church School raid
On the morning of May 24, police raided Shengjia Church’s education center. Christians were getting ready for the day when several dozen police, national security agents, and staff of the religious affairs bureau and community management office rushed into the center. They searched the whole center, prying open the doors and checking the personal property. Authorities interrogated each Christian and recorded every interview. The search continued until the afternoon. In the end, they loaded all the computers, desks, chairs, books, and all the educational materials into a truck. They dismissed everyone and placed a seal on the door before they left. Officers arrested and detained Pastor Deng Yanxiang and three co-workers after the raid.
Pastor Deng does not return
At around 10:30 AM, police told Pastor Deng’s wife, Shaoting, that they took her husband to the station. She initially thought her husband would be interrogated and released soon after, but that was not the case. Most of the education center staff returned home that same afternoon, but her husband did not. Shaoting went to the police station with several others to find out the status of her husband. Police told her that she would receive a notification within 24 hours.
Official arrest notice
The next morning, she received a notice that her husband had been criminally detained for 30 days on suspicion of “illegal business operations.” The other three co-workers were also criminally detained for the same time and reason. Currently, all four are detained in Shunde City Nanhai District Detention Center.
Reflections from Shengjia Church
One member of Shengjia Church commented on the official arrest of Pastor Deng Yanxiang ”He gave up his business where he made hundreds of thousands yuan a year and became a servant of the Lord.” According to reports, Pastor Den served Shengjia Church full-time for seven years before his arrest. The anonymous Christian commented that Pastor Deng “has been counted worthy of suffering for God.”
~Yu Bing, China Aid Special Reporter
