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On January 24, local police raided a house church worship service in Zhangchong, Anhui, according to a January 26 report from China Aid Association. Eyewitness reports claim that officers from the Public Security Bureau (PSB), the local police station, the criminal police squad and the Religious Affair Bureau broke into the house at approximately 10:00 a.m. All of the Christians present were photographed and asked to give their names and identities. The police confiscated Bibles, hymn books and various other church items, such as sound equipment, without any legal procedure. Three church leaders were taken to the police station and interrogated. They were released after being warned that their church is not allowed to meet without registering with the government.
On January 26, a well-known church activist, , and his 76-year-old mother were attacked by the local police in Beijing, according to a January 27 report from China Aid Association. Hua and his mother were walking near a 2008 Olympic hotel site at approximately 8:00 a.m. when police stopped them, threw them to the ground and started kicking them. When Hua asked the police to explain the legal grounds for their detention and to release his ill mother, they beat him repeatedly. To add to his misery, the police poured freezing cold water poured over him in the frigid weather before he was taken to a detention center.
The following day, the police contacted Hua's wife by telephone and told her that her husband had been sentenced to one month of criminal detention. Hua's family has yet to receive official notice regarding his detention.
Along with being active house church Christians, Hua and his wife also assist persecuted Christians and oppressed lower class peoples who travel to Beijing in order to appeal for justice from the central government.
Pray that Hua will be released. Ask the Lord to heal him and his mother of their injuries. Pray that members of the raided house church will be encouraged to continue to meet together despite increasing government opposition (Hebrews 10:23-25). Pray that those who persecute Christians in China will know Christ's love, forgiveness and blessing through the lives of His followers (Romans 12:14, 21).
For more information on the persecution facing Christians in China, click here.
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