Conditions Still Tight

Posted on 12 April 2009.

"For more than 50 days he was tortured in the most inhumane ways. He was forced to lie naked on the floor for 13 days and nights while he was tortured with electric shock batons and toothpicks were used to pierce his sexual organs. He wrote, ‘The electric shock baton was put all over me. And my full body, my heart, lungs and muscles began jumping under my skin uncontrollably. I was writhing on the ground in pain, trying to crawl away. Wang (one of the interrogators) then shocked me in my genitals'." - extract from a China Aid report about Christian human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng

"I was sentenced to two years in prison as a hostage by the Public Security Bureau. During my imprisonment, the PSBs of Beijing went to my prison interrogating, threatening and harassing me numerous times. They even directed other prisoners to take off all of my clothes and forced me to stand alone outside in the evening without letting me sleep. Seven prisoners kept watching me in turn. I was not allowed to move even when the mosquitoes bit me or I would be slapped on my face and poked on the veins on my hands. I still had wounds that were unhealed on my hands. The PSB officers even forced me to drink my own urine. They threatened me not to tell anyone about the tortures I experienced." - quote from 79-year-old house church Christian Shuang Shuying

The above two horrifying reports from the China Aid organization may not be typical of the average Chinese Christian's experiences, but they do show the lengths to which some police officers in China can go. The Beijing Olympics may be over, but the situation for Christians remains tense. Raids on unregistered churches continue. According to a Compass Direct report, the government is quietly gathering data on church growth, with surveys at universities and workplaces specifically asking whether respondents were Christians. Communist Party officials have called meetings at various institutions in Beijing to discuss the supposed dangers of foreign religious influence. House church leaders in Beijing said that conditions now seem even tighter than in the period leading up to the Olympic Games.

Pray for Christian human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, arrested once again on 4th February and whereabouts currently unknown. Pray too for his wife and two children who recently fled to the United States.

Pray for Shuang Shuying, released from prison on 8th February, just one day before the death of her husband. Her son, Pastor Hua Huiqi, and his wife are still being followed wherever they go.

Pray for all Christians in China who face threats and persecution from those in authority. Pray for strength, for protection, for encouragement and for the Lord's peace to reign in their hearts.