The Communist country proves that it is serious about its newest religious restrictions.
A Chinese house church pastor, her daughter, and her young grandson have been arrested, weeks after being accused of overstepping the country’s newly tightened religious restrictions.
Chinese officials warned Xu Shizhen in August that publicly sharing her faith puts her in violation of the government policy. It wasn’t her first run-in with authorities; five years before, her previous church was forcibly seized by officials and given to China’s official Three-Self Patriotic Movement church, according to ChinaAid.
After that, she started Zion Church. By singing, dancing, and preaching in the parks and public spaces of Xianning, Hubei province, Xu’s ministry broke the new law, which confines most faith activities to the walls of registered churches.
Last month, Xu, her daughter Xu Yuqing, and her three-year-old grandson Xu Shouwang were arrested; the two women were transferred to other facilities while the boy was held at the station. Christian advocates in China report that their exact whereabouts remain unknown.
Their detention came just two weeks after China toughened up its restrictions on religious activities. Read More
Your prayers are asked for Xu Shizen, for her daughter Xu Yuqing, for her grandson Xu Shouwang, and for all Chinese Christians caught up in the latest Communist Party crackdown on the free practice of religion in the Peoples Republic of China.
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