Taiwan Church News 3877 Edition 15 ~ 21 June, 2026 Weekly Topical As China Persists to Persecute the House Churches, Prayer and Fast Assembly Held to Stand by the Suffered Reported by Lin Yi-ying from Taipei A prayer and fast assembly, entitled as “Burnt but not consumed, let’s stand up to witness –prayer and fast assembly for the house churches persecuted in China”, was held at PCT Chi-Nan Church of Chi-Hsin Presbytery in the evening on June 9. Nearly 2,000 people participated the assembly in chapel or virtually online to care and concern the House Church Christians, who had been sentenced, imprisoned, charged and temporarily bailed across China. On June 14, some church members of the Early Rain Covenant Church were reported bring arrested. The prayer and fast assembly held on June 9 was co-sponsored by several churches, including Zion Church, Early Rain Covenant Church, Faith Chinese Baptist Church, China Aid Association, The Nicodemus Club, Trinity Church Dallas, New Light Christian Church(Chicago) and Starlight Christian Church(New York) and other units. The PCT Church and Society Committee and Chi-Nan Church also joined to host the assembly. Rev Bob Fu, president of the China Aid Association, briefed the historical backgrounds and major events of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of house churches. He pointed out that on May 18 and 19 in 2026, the cross of Yar-Yang House Church in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province was forcibly demolished, and more than 20 church members were arrested by CCP and charged in the crimes related to “violence and vice.” As the house churches were deliberately slandered as a criminal group, indicated Rev Fu, CCP could arbitrarily dismantle the cross, prohibit children to receive Christian teachings, and prosecute preachers and their co-workers. Rev Fu also reported that Rev Yang Rong-li, pastor of Jin-Deng-Tai Church in Lin-Fen County, Shanxi Province, was sentenced to 15 years. Rev Chen Biao, pastor of Early Rain Covenant Church, shared why he was repeatedly arrested by CCP and the reasons why Rev Wang Yi and his nucleus staff were sentenced and imprisoned; Mrs Liu Chun-li, wife of Rev Ezra Jin Mingri of Zion Church in Beijing, explained online that she was arrested in 2018 in refusing to install the face-scanning-camera in the church. She expressed the big clamp down came on Oct 9, 2025: CCP launched a grand arrest of 27 pastors and co-workers of Zion Church across 12 cities and 8 provinces/counties in China. Later, 18 church members, including Rev Ezra Jin Mingri, were officially arrested in the charge of “illegal use of internet platforms” on Nov 18 in 2025. After the persecutions of house churches were reported, hosts of the prayer and fast assembly called the audience who concern and care for the suffered brothers and sisters to carry on their intercession and support. According to Rev Loukuo Zheng (Facebook account as ‘Loukuo Zheng’), when it was 11:00 a.m. on June 14, more than 50 Chinese police and armed securities broke into the gathering of Chengdu Early Rain Covenant Church at Jiangyou City, Mianyang County, Sichuan Province, brutally arresting church members and children and drove them away by bus in batches. It is known that Elder Yan Hong and Mr Wu Woo-ching were taken to police station for interrogation together with many church members. Up to the deadline of reporting this news, outside world still cannot confirm whereabouts of these persecuted church members. Later, the China Aid Association issued an emergent statement, affirming that the Early Rain Covenant Church is a faithful representative of urban house church in China. The statement of China Aid Association indicated that the unstoppable universal truth, causing Chief Pastor Wang Yi sentenced to nine years in prison by the China government in a baseless charge of “inciting subversion of the state” and “doing illegal operation”, is just that he insisted the church should be independent of the state and fearlessly criticized CCP’s reckless and violent oppression of religious freedom. Rev Bob Fu condemned CCP’s armed securities persisted to persecute the Early Rain Covenant Church, as these barbarous assaults seriously violated religious freedom, trampled the principles of universal human rights, ridiculed the sacred ideal of ‘rule of law’,and exposed the CCP’s incessant hostility and brutal suppression of various religious faiths in China. Rev Bob Fu called on the international communities, democratic countries, universal human rights institutes and citizens to care about religious freedom, closely concern this religious persecution in China, and speak out for the suffered in public. He is specially invited to deliver an urgent report on CCP’s persecution of the house churches across China at Thai-Peng-Keng Maxwell Memorial Church of Tainan Presbytery at 2:30 p.m. on June 26. Translated by Peter Wolfe |