(Linfen, Shanxi Province – November 21, 2023) On November 16, Li Shanshan, the wife of imprisoned Pastor Li Jie of Linfen Covenant House Church, came to outside of the Yaodu District Detention Center to pray for her husband, who was arrested on August 19, 2022 due to his Christian faith.
He was later prosecuted by the Linfen City People’s Procuratorate under the charge of “fraud.”
Li Shanshan said, “My husband, Li Jie, is a pastor. He is currently detained in Yaodu District Detention Center behind me. I came here today to pray for him. I cannot visit with him, but I can pray for him. We share the same faith and the same belief. He was arrested on August 19, 2022, under the charge of “fraud”, simply because he is a pastor and believes in Jesus. This is a completely fabricated charge, as he has never defrauded anyone of their money. Moreover, as a couple, we never consider material possessions important, and we have no need to defraud anyone of such unimportant things. We have never lacked anything because God sustains us just like he sustains sparrows. I am here today to pray for him. We also believe that God is our judge. He is a righteous judge and the ultimate judge.”
A Hymm Of Praise For Her Husband
Li Shanshan also sang a hymn of praise outside the detention center: “Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.‘”
She continued, “My husband Li Jie, has been detained for 1 year and 4 months. Linfen People’s Court do not hold any trial, and they do not release him. We understand that this is God’s will because any authority is given by God. Whether there is a trial or a release is all in God’s plan. I am certain of God’s calling on our entire family. I also believe that God has His beautiful purpose in keeping Li Jie inside. I am willing to continually pray for Li Jie, and I ask everyone to pray for us because prayer is very powerful.”
BACKGROUND On The Persecution
On the evening of August 19, 2022, Linfen Covenant House Church held an outdoor family event, but it was interrupted by more than 100 police officers. Church congregants and children were sent to the police station.
Pastors Li Jie, Han Xiaodong, and co-worker Wang Qiang were charged on suspicion of “fraud.” The case was initially filed as a public security incident, leading to administrative detention, and later converted into a criminal case. Han Xiaodong, Pastor Li Jie, and his wife Li Shanshan, were put under “residential surveillance at a designated location” (RSDL) by the Linfen Public Security Bureau. Li Shanshan was later released on bail pending trial. Subsequently, Li Jie and Han Xiaodong were criminally detained on charges of “fraud” and held in the Yaodu District Detention Center. In early November, co-worker Wang Qiang was also criminally detained after 7 days of RSDL.
Linfen Yaodu District People’s Procuratorate once returned the case for additional investigation. On March 26, 2023, the case was submitted to Linfen City People’s Procuratorate for review and prosecution. On April 13, 2023, some lawyers acting on behalf of the case visited Linfen City People’s Procuratorate and communicated with the prosecutor.
They believe that Li Jie, Han Xiaodong, and Wang Qiang could not constitute the crime of fraud. Later, the case was transferred from the Yaodu District People’s Procuratorate to Linfen City People’s Procuratorate.
Learning The Law Of God
Li Jie once wrote a letter to his wife Li Shanshan, mentioning that the people inside the detention center have a very low level of education, mostly having only completed elementary school or junior high school, and many come from problematic family backgrounds.
These people only learned the law of the country but they have not learned the law of God. They are only aware of court trials but unaware of God’s eternal judgment. The so-called reeducation in the detention center can only curb their wrongdoings but cannot bring about a genuine awakening from within. Li Jie stated that those in detention all claim they are innocent, while people who go to church acknowledge being “sinful”, creating a big contrast. He himself had moments of weakness, but later, God comforted him. He told his wife that freedom is not about where the body is; it is about holiness and sins.
A truly free person is someone who can resist sinful desires. Please believe that I am free. The detention center is where I encounter God and His grace!
Ningmeng, China Aid special reporter
