Chinese pastor released!

Zhang Shaojie returned home

Pastor Zhang Shaojie, from Nanle county in China’s Henan province, was released at the weekend, after serving 12 years in prison.

Pastor Zhang, pictured with his 84-year-old mother, was detained in November, 2013, following a dispute with local government authorities over a plot of land that his church had the legally acquired rights to.

He and other church leaders had been planning to have a new church and ministry centre built on the land. The year after being detained he was charged with ‘gathering a crowd to disrupt public order’ and ‘fraud’.

Church members believed the Chinese authorities had targeted him in order to obtain the land and to prevent the ministry of the church from growing.

Announcing his release from prison, Release International’s partner for China said, ‘We rejoice at his freedom, but we continue to pray for him and his family as the Chinese Communist Party has installed a large number of facial recognition cameras around his home and has not allowed anyone to visit.’

Give thanks for Pastor Zhang’s release

Pray for his physical and mental well-being and for his family.