Chinese Authorities Storm Church Service, Ransack Church Property

             

     

Last Wednesday, Mt. Olive Church in Chongqing was raided by more than 30 government officials, taking away all the properties of the church without any warrant. Two Sundays ago, China Aid reported that the authorities led by the Yuzhong District Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau, had stormed the church in the midst of an ongoing service and drove away its members. Consequently, the head pastor Zhu Dong, and other church leaders were taken away to the police station.

Mt. Olive Reformed School, an establishment of the church was attacked in January 2018 and was equally sealed. China Aid believes the present attack on house churches, especial the reformed ones, are a way to celebrate the forthcoming Communist Party 100th anniversary. The Chinese government is known for its hostility against Christian institutions. It will be recalled that in the pandemic, crosses and churches were destroyed.

Another case of Christian persecution in the communist nation occurred on February 28 when authorities stormed the Chongqing Living Fountain Church in an ongoing Sunday service. In the process, two of its members were arrested. The reason the authorities gave after confiscating one of the church’s computer was that the church is not registered and there is also a possibility of spreading corona virus.

In January, a house where homeschooled children of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu were playing together was raided by education bureau officials, urban management officers, police officers, and national security officers.

According to Open Doors USA, an organization which observes persecution in over 60 countries, estimated that the number of Christians in China is about 97 million. Many of this number worship in churches the government tags as illegal. 

In the list of countries where Christians are being persecuted, China is the 17th-worst country in the Open Doors USA’s 2021 World Watch List. China has been labeled by the U.S. State Department as a “country of particular concern” for “continuing to engage in particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”