(Chengdu, Sichuan province) Early Rain Covenant Church revealed that nine members of the church were taken to Qingyang District police station on October 28. Police assaulted two of the arrested members.
During the interrogation, a national security agent dragged deacon Jia Xuewei into the bathroom and violently assaulted him. He also insulted Jia with filthy language. He kept beating Jia up until other police eventually stopped him. Preacher Ding Shuqi was dragged and beaten up when police took him away.
Deacon Jia Xuewei
After the massive crackdown against Early Rain Covenant in 2018, Jia Xuewei suffered from national security agents’ 24-hour surveillance for over a year. His landlord evicted him after immense pressure from the authorities.
Another time in 2020, national security agents became aware that Jia led a Bible study group. Officials ordered his landlord to terminate his lease. However, his landlord was a Christian of Early Rain, and refused to end the lease. As a result, police asked the apartment complex to cut off his water, power, and natural gas. Jia had to go to restaurants to read books, and go to fellow Christian’s homes to eat and clean himself. Police threatened anyone who accommodated him. All the while, Jia Xuewei was summoned to the police station frequently.
Graduation Ceremony raided
On October 28th at 10 AM, more than thirty believers held a graduation ceremony for the “servant college” in a hotel’s conference room. Suddenly, over twenty national security agents, police, staff of the religious affairs bureau, and community workers broke into the room. They interrupted the ceremony and claimed the gathering was illegal. Everyone attending was required to register their personal information.
One national security agent scolded all the Christians aloud and called them traitors. He said he wanted to catch all of them and parade them through the street. Then police removed Elder Li Yingqiang, preacher Ding Shuqi, deacon Jia Xuewei, and six other co-workers. Many believers and family members waited outside the police station. At around 2 AM, police explicitly told them Ding Shuqi, Jia Xuewei, and Hao Guiru would not be released that night.
Reunited
Ding Shuqi, Jia Xuewei, and Hao Guiru returned to the church at around 11 AM when the church was holding a Sunday service. Hao Guiru’s fiancé is a believer from a church in Guangdong province. She was attracted by Hao Guiru’s devotion to his Christian belief and moved to Chengdu to date him. In the morning she went to the police station to wait for Hao. At around 10 AM, Hao Guiru was released from the police station. They hugged each other and burst into tears. All nine arrested Christians shared their difficult experience in the police station but also how they witnessed God’s grace.
WATCH: Hao Guiru’s emotional reunion with his fiancé
~Ningmeng, ChinaAid Special Reporter
