President of Chinese House Church Alliance issues Open Letter to the International Community

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

CHINA (ANS) – Since his conversion to Christianity in 1986, Pastor Zhang Mingxuan has been arrested, beaten and incarcerated 12 times. Most recently, Public Security Bureau and State officials forced Zhang to close the orphanage he had been running with his two sons.

Pastor Zhang Mingxuan

Zhang and the orphans have continued to look for places of residence, but have been refused several times by landlords who have been threatened by officials not to lease to Zhang. Currently, Zhang has been separated from his two sons, who were also forced to move by PSB officials.

Now Zhang Mingxuan, president of the Chinese house church alliance, has issued an open letter to the international community, informing the world of the sufferings and persecutions he has endured at the hands of the CPC.

Detailed in his third open letter are the many hardships and injustices pastor Zhang has had to endure throughout the years since becoming an outspoken evangelist and leader of the house church alliance.

In his first two open letters, Zhang appealed to President Hu Jintao, to rectify the wrongs being done by corrupt Government officials. To this date Zhang has received no response.

In his latest appeal, Pastor Zhang has written to the international community encouraging them to pray for the upcoming Beijing Olympics and to press the Chinese Government to realize true freedom of religion and rule of law.

CAA says it is Zhang’s hope, along with millions of other persecuted Christians, that the World’s attention on the Olympic Games will bring the Chinese Government to realize the wrongs it has done and allow the house church alliance to help build a true “harmonious society.”

To view the complete text of Pastor Zhang’s letter, click here: http://chinaaid.org/2008/02/18/we-want-the-olympics-but-we-want-love-and-justice-more/

To voice your concern over the injustices Pastor Zhang has been forced to endure please contact:

Chinese Embassy in Washington DC
Address: 2201 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., Washington D.C. 20007
Tel:(202) 338-6688, (202)5889760
Fax: (202) 588-9760

More than 40 members of Chinese House Church Alliance detained in Inner Mongolia; South Korean minister also missing

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

XILINHAOTE CITY, INNER MONGOLIA (ANS) – The President of the Inner Mongolia Branch of the Chinese House Church Alliance, Wang Dawei, was detained along with more than 40 co-workers on Wednesday, February 20, 2008.

Wang Dawei

According to China Aid Association (CAA), the leaders were in the third day of Bible study when more than 100 Police officers from the State Security Bureau (PSB) and members of the Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB) disrupted the meeting and detained the ministers.

Police officials also confiscated the offering collection and more than 30 boxes of Bibles and other Christian literature. Security Bureau members then searched the personal residence of Wang Dawei later on in the afternoon. The leader of the meeting, a South Korean minister, was also detained during the incident. His whereabouts remain unknown.

CAA says the intensity of persecution amongst members of the Chinese House Church Alliance continues to increase as the Beijing Olympics draw near.

This latest incident highlights the hypocrisy of Chinese officials who promote a “Harmonious Society” while simultaneously persecuting innocent and patriotic citizens such as Wang Dawei and others. We urge the Chinese Government to release these Christians and remain consistent with its own rhetoric on Religious freedom and rule of law.

For more information contact:

Wang Dawei: 13754197497
Wang Dawei’s Daughter: 13947941911

Chinese Embassy in Washington DC
Address: 2201 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., Washington D.C. 20007
Tel: (202) 338-6688, (202)5889760
Fax: (202) 588-9760

CAA has also learned that Xinjiang businessman Zhou Heng was released on his acquittal on Tuesday, February 19, 2008. Charges against Mr. Zhou have been dropped.

In other recent news, CAA has been informed that, Ms. Dong Shanshan and Ms. Xu Yuanyuan, were released by the Chinese Government in the afternoon of February 21, one day after CAA reported the case to the media.

According to an interview with the two Christian women by China Aid, both were taken away by officers from the State Security Bureau of Nanyang City, Henan province on Feb 18. They were interrogated about their work in the Chinese House Church Alliance. The interrogators told them before their release that they felt pressured because of “lots of international news media reporting about the arrest.” Both of them have returned home safely and thankfully.

China Aid Association, Inc.
Tel: (267)-205-5210
Fax: (432)-686-8355
E-mail: info@ChinaAid.org
Websites: www.chinaaid.org ; www.monitorchina.org
Contact: Daniel Burton- (432) 689-6985

Two female House Church Alliance leaders Detained in Henan

Four leaders sentenced to 5-day detention for distributing religious literature in Zhejiang

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

LUOHE CITY, HENAN PROVINCE, CHINA (ANS) – Two 24 year old Chinese House Church Alliance leaders were detained while awaiting transportation to Beijing.

China Aid Association (CAA) it has learned that at 11pm on February 18 at Luohe train station, Ms. Dong Shanshan and Ms. Xu Yuanyuan, who are both theological teachers within the Alliance churches, were taken away by 12 PSB (Public security Bureaua) officers, and their whereabouts are unknown.

CAA also said that four Christian women were sentenced to 5 days detention for distributing Gospel tracks at a bus station in Shujiang District, Taizhou city, Zhejiang province on January 31, 2008. The officers from PSB and RAB (Religious Affairs Bureau) accused them of “disturbing social order.” They were released on February 5 from Taizhou PSB Detention center. They are now preparing legal actions against the abusive PSB officers.

A news releases from CAA says: “These latest incidents are clear evidence that the CPC is adamant about dismantling the House Church Alliance before the Beijing Olympic Games. The Chinese Government is also trying to alienate the Alliance’s President, Zhang Mingxuan.”

It adds: “The two sisters who were taken, were members of the House Church Alliance. We ask for urgent prayer for them, as their whereabouts are unknown, and they may be facing extreme interrogation, humiliation, and even torture.”

China Aid Association
Tel: (432) 689-6985
Fax: (432) 686-8355
E-mail: info@ChinaAid.org
Websites: www.chinaaid.org/; www.monitorchina.org/