Washington, Sep 18 (SocialNews.XYZ) Christians held prayers in Dallas for the pastors, preachers and family members of China's house churches who have been detained, sentenced or placed under surveillance, a report has detailed.
The "Fasting and Prayer Day for the Persecuted Churches in China" prayer meeting was held in Allen in the Dallas area of Texas and was live-streamed on Zoom and YouTube. The prayer meeting was organised by Early Rain Covenant Church/Early Rain Ministries, Zion Church, Harvest Chinese Christian Church, China Aid, and other churches and Christian organisations and hosted by Trinity Chinese Church and Everlight Institute. This monthly '9th‑day fasting and prayer for the persecuted churches in China' started in January this year, with churches in different cities taking turns to host it, a report in Bitter Winter stated.
Last October, Zion Church pastors and coworkers were arrested by police in China. As many as eight pastors and coworkers - Gao Yingjia, Yin Huibin, Wang Lin, Wang Cong, Liu Zhenbin, Lin Shucheng, Wang Zhong, and Wu Qiuy, were detained for nearly 11 months, according to the list published by Zion Church reported by Bitter Winter.
In his message, Beijing Zion Church’s acting senior pastor, Long Jiang’en, urged Christians who were facing persecution to be courageous and said that such courage is not hatred or violence but steadfastness of faith and conscience under pressure, according to Feng Reng, who writes about the persecution of Christians in China. He urged the church to maintain unity amid persecution and pray for those who carry out persecution.
During the prayers, the participants spoke of the harms faced by the families of those detained. Elder Wang Zhong’s father fell ill and passed away while he was in detention, and he was unable to see his father of the last time, the report detailed.
The participants also prayed for Pastor Wang Yi of Chengdu Early Rain Covenant Church, who was arrested on December 9, 2018, and sentenced to nine years in prison on December 30, 2019, for “inciting subversion of state power” and "illegal business operations." Wang Yi is serving his sentence in Sichuan, and his release date is December 9, 2027, Feng Reng mentioned in a report in Bitter Winter. During the prayers, participants mentioned about Preacher Yang Rongli of Linfen Golden Lampstand Church in Shanxi, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2025.
Earlier this month, US-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that more than 12 cities in China in the first half of 2026 have introduced measures encouraging or rewarding people to report religious activities that the Chinese government considers "illegal", has said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the 'Sinicisation of religion' policy in 2016, which included the government enforcing rules to increase controls over religious life. However, Chinese authorities recently continued to increase surveillance over people's religious activities.
Source: IANS
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