Recently VOM Media produced the following news regarding our brothers and sisters in China.
In June, police in China arrested house-church leaders and accused them of being “suspects using evil cults to obstruct the enforcement of the law."
China Aid Association (CAA) reports, PSB Public Security Bureau officers told the family members of some of the detained pastors that “any religious activities without permission from the government Religious Affairs Bureau are regarded as evil cult activities.”
“On June 9, 2007, 12 house-church leaders were arrested while they were distributing Bibles in a market in Shaanxi province. Four leaders were released on the same day while the rest were transferred to a detention center without any explanation. The homes of two detained pastors, Zhou Jieming and Niu Wenbin, were searched without search warrants, and Bibles and Christian literature were confiscated,” CAA said.
Church leaders fear the pastors could face up to three years in a re-education camp.
Meanwhile, on June 15, six house-church leaders were arrested while having a house-church service in Zhangba village, Shandong province.
CAA said, “The six house-church leaders are detained in Cao County Detention Center. They are threatened to be sent to re-education through labor camp if they refuse to pay 10,000 yuan ($1,500).”
These recent arrests of Christian leaders come after Christians expressed concern that the persecution of believers in China will increase before the 2008 Olympics.
Pray for Christians in China and ask God to encourage and give them boldness to draw nonbelievers into fellowship with Him.