Editors note: These urgent prayer updates (below) are directly from Early Rain Covenant Church seeking prayer and help from the watching world, especially followers of Christ. At the time of this post, there are 29 updates, ranging from December 9, 2018 to March 2, 2019. Special thanks to Brent Pinkall for translating these updates and helping make them available to the public. Please pray and share with others.

According to incomplete statistics gathered through contacting those whom we could contact (this is only the tip of the iceberg), more than three hundred people have been unlawfully taken to the police station. Eight Christian families have lost their homes. The employers of ten Christians have been spoken to and pressured by authorities. Two of these Christians have lost their jobs. Around one hundred Christians have been sent back to their hometowns.

Members and leaders of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, China

Early Rain Covenant Church Prayer Update #29

“‘Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.’ (1 Cor. 16:13-14)

Early Rain Covenant Church deacon and Christian journalist Zhong Guoqing has been missing for a number of days. Today we learned that authorities have placed him in criminal detention on charges of ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble.’ He is being held at the Chengdu City Detention Center.

After the ‘12/9’ persecution began, brother Zhang Guoqing was paced under house arrest by authorities at his home and cut off from the outside world. A while ago, Brother Guoqing wrote an article about Pastor Wang Yi’s wife Jiang Rong titled ‘Jiang Rong Is a Woman of Talent and Virtue.’ After publishing this article, brother Guoqing went straight to the police station, bringing with him a bag he had prepared to take into prison. On February 24th, Pastor Wang Yi’s nearly 74-year-old mother was humiliated and violently beaten by officer Zhang Junhu (officer ID: 075557) of the Wang Jiaguai police station. Brother Guoqing, spurred by his conscience and his journalistic instincts, published an article condemning these abominable acts. He then disappeared until we received news about him being charged with ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble.’

Day after day throughout this persecution, brothers and sisters have been persecuted by authorities in ways that no ordinary person could endure. They have been harassed, beaten, humiliated, and locked up without cause. They have been monitored, followed, and threatened 24/7. Authorities have broken down their doors and barged into their homes. They have been visited, photographed, and warned every day. They have been called to the police station at random for questioning. Authorities have pressured landlords and employers, causing these Christians to lose their jobs and their homes. They have been forced to move back to their hometowns. The list goes on.

According to incomplete statistics gathered through contacting those whom we could contact (this is only the tip of the iceberg), more than three hundred people have been unlawfully taken to the police station. Eight Christian families have lost their homes. The employers of ten Christians have been spoken to and pressured by authorities. Two of these Christians have lost their jobs. Around one hundred Christians have been sent back to their hometowns. Nine Christians have been beaten by police from the Caojiaxiang Police Station, the Taisheng Road Police Station, the Xiyuhe Police Station, and the Jianshe Road Police Station. Nine Christians have been verbally or physically humiliated. For example, brother Wang was slapped in the face by officers from the Caojiaxiang Police Station and severely injured and humiliated multiple times by officers from the Jianshe road Police Station; sister Tang, who is nursing, was beaten for around twelve hours by police from the Caojiaxiang Police Station while holding her child in her arms. Police have forcefully separated two nursing mothers from their children for more than six hours. A total of eight nursing mothers have been locked up. More than thirty children under fourteen years old have been locked up at the police station (on average, they were locked up for more than eight hours, the longest time being seventy-two hours; the youngest child was not yet one year old).

Of the twenty-five Christians who have been placed in criminal detention, twelve still remain locked up. Of the twenty-three Christians placed in administrative detention, eleven remain locked up. One person has disappeared.

The twelve Christians in criminal detention:

1. Pastor Wang Yi (inciting to subvert state power, 12/9/18, in secret detention)
2. Pastor’s wife Jiang Rong (inciting to subvert state power, 12/10/18, in secret detention)
3. Elder Li Yingqiang (picking quarrels and provoking trouble, 12/11/18, detained at Chengdu City Detention Center)
4. Elder Qin Defu (illegal business operations)
5. Elder Su Bingsen (picking quarrels and provoking trouble, 12/15/18, detained at Chengdu City Detention Center)
6. Deacon Ge Yingfeng (illegal business operations, 12/9/18)
7. Sister Li Xiaofeng (illegal business operations, 12/9/18)
8. Brother Liang Huali (illegal business operations, detained at Chengdu City Detention Center)
9. Brother Ding Shuqi (originally lost contact for a long time, now we have confirmed that he has been detained)
10. Brother Dai Zhichao (picking quarrels and provoking trouble, 12/19/18, detained at Chengdu City Detention Center)
11. Elder Li Zihu (picking quarrels and provoking trouble, 12/12/18)
12. Brother Zhang Guoqing (picking quarrels and provoking trouble, 2/24/19)

The eleven Christians in administrative detention:

1. Brother A-Xin (2/24/19, detained for 10 days)
2. Brother Zhang Jianqing (2/24/19, detained for 14 days)
3. Sister Yu Zhixue (2/24/19, detained for 14 days)
4. Brother Hou Hongen (2/24/19, detained for 14 days)
5. Brother Luo Zhipeng (2/24/19, detained for 14 days)
6. Sister Yang Duli (2/24/19, detained for 14 days)
7. Brother Zhu Xiaoguang (2/24/19, detained for 14 days)
8. Brother Zhang Guanya (2/24/19, detained for 14 days)
9. Brother Huang Guangtai (2/24/19, detained for 14 days)Brother Zhang Qi (2/24/19, detained for 14 days)
10. Brother Tang Chunliang (2/24/19, beaten by police, condition unknown, detained for 14 days)

The one who has gone missing:

Brother Yang Jian (2/24/19, possibly placed in administrative detention for 10 days, but we have received no notice; his family has visited the detention center and could not find him)

Please pray for those brothers and sisters who are locked up and for those who are being continually monitored and mercilessly harassed. Ask that they would rely on the Lord for strength, endurance, and faithfulness and that they would not lose hope in the gospel! May we look to the one who gave his life for us, who redeemed us, who rose from the dead, who ascended into heaven, and who will come again in glory—the Lord Jesus Christ!

Ask the Lord to help us to love our enemies as the Lord Jesus loved us and to pray for those who are persecuting us!

Please pray for those police officers, community officers, employers, and landlords who are doing their duties, that they would act according to their consciences and the law. Those who do their duties while violating the law and their consciences will fall into the pits they have dug and will get caught in the snares they have laid.

Early Rain Covenant Church
Saturday, March 2, 2019”

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