[Today’s Prayer] Chinese Christian human rights activist arrested for 'inciting disturbance'

A Christian co-founder of a special needs school in China who was a human rights activist has been arrested on charges of “inciting trouble.” A church leader who had been incarcerated since August 2023 for printing Bibles has been granted bail.

The Christian Post (CP) in the United States reported, citing human rights media outlet Bitter Winter, that “the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau’s Haidian Branch reportedly indicted Zhu Bin, co-founder of the Beijing Special Children’s School, on September 29 (local time) on charges of ‘inciting trouble’ and is currently detaining him in the Haidian Detention Center.”

“Authorities have repeatedly raided and harassed Mr. Zhu’s school,” Bitter Winter said. “He is a social justice and welfare advocate who has made significant contributions to charities since the COVID-19 outbreak, raising funds for patients and disaster victims.”

The Shunde District People’s Court in Guangdong Province granted bail to Elder Zhu Longfei of the Shunde Shengjia Church on October 8 after 14 months in prison. According to human rights group China Aid, he was accused of “running an illegal business” by printing Bible study materials for use in the church. Zhu and others have been leading underground churches free from the control and interference of the government-licensed Three-Self Patriotic Movement Church.

Zhu Longfei was arrested on August 9, 2023. More than three months before his arrest, on May 24, 2023, Shunde police and officials raided his church and arrested Pastor Deng Yanxiang, Deacon Zhu Longjiang, Deacon Wang Weicai, and congregation member Zhu Qiaoling on charges of “illegal business operations.” More than 100 people raided two Bible study sites and took away a large number of books, desks, and chairs.

According to ChinaAid, on November 30, 2023, the Zhu Longfei case and the cases of Pastor Deng Yanxiang, Deacon Zhu Longjiang, Deacon Wang Weichai, and Church member Zhu Zhu Aoling were consolidated into one case and indicted by the Shunde District People’s Procuratorate. The procuratorate defined the printing of religious materials (Daily Bible Commentary) by churches internally as “illegal business activities,” and defined it as “the act of printing and distributing illegal publications that seriously endanger social order and disrupt market order, especially serious circumstances.”

Bitter Winter reported that Yang Rongli, a female evangelist from the Sola Fide network of churches who is currently being held in the Yaodu District Detention Center in Linfen City, Shaanxi Province, has turned 66. She is awaiting trial on charges of “fraud.”

Aside from the five who were released on bail, Pastor Yang, her husband Pastor Wang Xiaoguang, and six others were formally arrested by the Yaodu District Procuratorate, and the case was transferred to the Linfen City Procuratorate for review and prosecution. Their trial was scheduled to be held on October 22. Pastor Yang, who suffers from diabetes, said his health was deteriorating due to lack of treatment.

On September 13, 2009, more than 500 Linfen City police surrounded the site and the Gospel Shoe Factory there, injuring about 100 Christians, and on October 11, 2009, Yang was arrested on charges of “illegally occupying farmland” and “gathering a crowd to obstruct traffic.” On November 25, 2009, she was sentenced to seven years in prison and a fine of 30,000 yuan (about $54,000).

China ranks 19th on Open Doors' 2024 list of countries where Christians are most persecuted.

Source: News

Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 3:7-8)

God, we hear that the Christian co-founder of a school for special needs children, a human rights activist in China, has been arrested on charges of “inciting a disturbance. We pray that You will forgive the wickedness of a country that considers printing Bibles an illegal business activity and persecutes the church.

We see that the time of the last tribulation is imminent, as we see arrests that gravely threaten the social order and disrupt the marketplace. Lord, in this time of persecution and tribulation, please raise up more Christians in China and Christians in the world church who are strong and bold in their courage!

We lift up the churches in China into Your hands as they face challenges with arrests and trials for simply believing in Jesus. We ask for strength for the Chinese workers who are physically weakened in the midst of this process. We declare that there is only one judge on earth, God! There is nothing for us to fear but God! The rulers of the world will fall at Your feet.

The Chinese church will rise up as a holy million-strong army that fears not even death! Allow them to triumph over the end times! Let the mission of the million missionaries in China be fulfilled, so that Your gospel may be comfortably witnessed in China and all the earth!