Sunday, February 24, 2013

China: Presbyterian Church Raided, Pastor Beaten by Police

Vicious Persecution of Churches in Heilongjiang and Shandong, Presbyterian Federation of Beijing Calls for Prayers

ICC Note: On Tuesday Chinese police raided a Presbyterian church in the far Northeastern Province of Heilongjiang, harassed the church members, and physically attacked the pastor who subsequently had a heart attack. She was rushed to the hospital for treatment. Earlier this month a new report was released claiming that China is currently implementing a three-phase plan to eliminate house churches. Pressure on Christians has increased substantially in the last year.

2/21/2013 China (CA) -Presbyterian Federation of Beijing has made an urgent appeal for prayers for the persecuted church in Heilongjiang and for assistance in hiring lawyers to intervene according to law. Prominent Christian Lawyer Li Fangping has agreed to represent the church in this case.

At about 7 p.m. on February 19, two police officers from Youhao District of Yichun City of Heilongjiang suddenly broke into Youhao Church (photo on the above). Under the guise of fire-code compliance inspection, they viciously harassed the members who were serving at the church. The chief pastor of the church, Sister Sun Wenxian, said that the officers didn?t give any acceptable reasons for their action. Further, one of the officers had a strong smell of liquor and was in a drunken state.

Pastor Sun Wenxian denounced them to their face for their unreasonable conduct and demanded that they show their identification papers. For this, the two police officers became furious and called her bad names and threatened to seal off Youhao Church. In addition, they became physically violent and beat her. In the physical conflict Pastor Sun Wenxian was injured so severely, both mentally and physically, that she had a heart attack.

Sister Hao, who serves in the church, told us that during this time they phoned #110 for police several times but none came. However, in comparison, these two police officers called, and within five minutes a large group of agents from Domestic Security Protection Squad (DSPS) of the Public Security Bureau entered the courtyard of Youhao Church. Sister Hao said that only when they saw Pastor Sun Wenxian was having a heart attack, they didn?t dare to do whatever they had intended.

After that, Pastor Sun Wenxian was rushed to a local hospital for treatment, where she is reported in a stable condition. In her telephone call, Pastor Sun Wenxian called on various churches to pray for Youhao Church and for the rulers.

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[Full Story]

Source: http://www.persecution.org/2013/02/22/china-presbyterian-church-raided-pastor-beaten-by-police/

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