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China: Three Church Leaders Arrested While Leading Congregation’s Children In Worship

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – As China’s ruling Communist Party continues its crackdown on Chinese Christian families and house churches, police on Jan. 18 arrested three believers from the Fuyang Maizhong Reformed Church as they led children in the congregation in singing hymns and prayer, China Aid reports.

This report from the China Aid Christian rights group comes in the same time frame as a report by the Release International humanitarian organization earlier this month asserting that Chinese Christian parents are being pressured by the government not to teach their children about Jesus Christ and the Gospel message of salvation.

The Fuyang Maizhong Reformed Church is a family church in Fuyang, Anhui Province. The congregation has been targeted by the authorities for refusing to join the state-approved Three-Self Church which requires members to preach loyalty to the Communist regime and to promote Chinese secular culture.

According to a request for prayer received by China Aid, on January 18 at 10:00 am police from the Fuyang Economic and Technological Development Zone Sub-bureau arrived at the Fuyang Maizhong Reformed Church and arrested Christians Dai Chuanli, Wang Dandan, and Ma Jiahui from the Fuyang Maizhong Reformed Church as they led children in worship. The believers’ homes were searched the next day, and they were each sentenced to a 15-day administrative detention without trial.

The Economic and Technological Development Zone Sub-bureau of Fuyang Public Security Bureau issued an administrative penalty decision stating: “Upon investigation, it is found that from December 2023 to the present, Dai Chuanli, Wang Dandan, Ma Jiahui, and others have been conducting activities in the name of “Fuyang Maizhong Reformed Church on the 2nd floor of Building 4 in Wanbei Mechanical Equipment Center in Fuyang Economic and Technological Development Zone.” The decision also asserted that the church has been banned.

“This marks the third time Christians from this church were detained on the same grounds since September 2023,” China Aid said in its report. “Other believers from the church also frequently face harassment from community management office personnel, including forced prying open doors and pressuring landlords to compel them to move.”

China ranks 19th on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.