Authorities Abolish House Church in Sichuan; Christians Request Prayer

SICHUAN, China, July 31 /Christian Newswire/ -- Authorities abolished the Christian Church of Huaguan Town, a house church in Huaguan town, Nanbu county, Sichuan province, and arrested three church members on June 29, 2009. Since then, house church members have faced heavy persecution and are asking Christians around the world for prayer.



The church service started in 2002 in a member's house, and has been gathering at a church building built with the help of Christians from Zhejiang province since August 2006. On March 23, 2009 the church was raided by six Public Security Bureau (PSB) and government officers who confiscated both the property of the church and a check with more than 10,000 yuan which was the believers' offerings.



The PSB officers covered the Chinese characters "God Loves the World" on the top of the gate with iron plates. Authorities accused the Christians of being a cult, Falun Gong and a reactionary organization.



Three church leaders, Mr. Chai Yongwen, Ms.Yang Huimin and Mr. Ma Deyan, were taken away for interrogation. Later, Mr. Cai Yongwen received 15 days of administrative detention, and Ms. Yang Huimin received five days of administrative detention.



The Christian Church of Huaguan Town sent a statement to the international community in which they made the following request for prayer, "We hereby request the brothers and sisters to pray for the expansion of the Gospel in the disaster areas of Sichuan, and we implore God to give us His wisdom and strength while dealing with these rulers!"



Contact the Chinese embassy and ask that Christians of the Christian Church of Huaguan Town be allowed to meet freely.



Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong

3505 International Place, NW, Washington, D.C. 20008

Tel: (202) 495-2000

Fax: (202) 588-9760