In the early 2000s, many unregistered churches enjoyed some freedom from government intrusion and harassment, despite their illegal status. However, in recent years restrictive religious regulations and persecution have increased significantly. Hundreds of churches have been forced to close, pastors and church members have been arrested or detained, and the online sale of Bibles has been prohibited.
According to reports, on Sunday 5 January, an evangelical house church in Nanchang experienced serious disruption during their Sunday worship service.
The worship service was forcibly halted, and at least ten church co-workers were taken to the police station for questioning and detention. Among them, three Christians were detained for more than 24 hours.
In a prayer request letter, the church stated:
“We are simply a group of Christians gathering on Sunday to worship our Lord. We have not broken any laws – this is merely an excuse the government needs to persecute the church. We pray that God will give peace in the spirits of our brothers and sisters and that God will especially work on pastoring our church.”
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