June 16, 2015
A government demolition programme targeting churches continues
apace in coastal Zhejiang province, with the destruction last week of a new
megachurch.
Yanxia Church, a state-recognised church in Wenling city, was
pulled down, soon after its completion, apparently to make way for a new road.
Church leaders had reportedly agreed a compensation deal with officials,
although reports suggest they were pressured into an
agreement.
Elsewhere in the province, in Pingyuan, a Christian named Zhao
Lizhong has been missing for more than a month since he was detained for
defending Pingyuan Church’s cross. At least 425 churches are known to have been
affected by the local government’s ongoing ‘Three Rectifications and One
Demolition’ campaign.
Meanwhile, in Guiyang, Guizhou province, a house church was
raided twice in a fortnight. Eleven Christians were detained during a raid on
May 24; when other members sought advice from their lawyer, they too were
detained and beaten. All have since been released.
Please
pray now for an end to the local
government campaign targeting churches in Zhejiang. Pray that congregations in
this province – and across China, including Guizhou – will be like ‘a town built
on a hill’, whose light cannot be hidden (Matthew 5:14).
(Source: China
Aid)
