(Chengdu, Sichuan Province – June 6, 2024) According to the Chengdu Early Rain Covenant Church, Deacon Jia Xuewei has once again been evicted by his landlord in Wenjiang District, Chengdu City due to his identity as a Christian, having lived in the rented house for less than 10 days.
Deacon Jia Xuewei has suffered many hardships for serving the church and is seen as a thorn in the side by relevant government departments. He has been detained, beaten, and expelled many times. Recently, he rented a house in Wenjiang District, Chengdu, but within ten days of settling in, he had to terminate the lease due to police harassment of the landlord and intermediary, becoming homeless and in a state of temporary residence again.
Deacon Jia Xuewei was taken away in Chengdu on the 8th at noon and lost contact with the outside world. The police at the local police station were unwilling to confirm his whereabouts. When Jia Xuewei attended the church’s worker academy graduation ceremony at the end of October, he was taken to the case handling center of Qingyang District Public Security Bureau. During the interrogation, a national security agent dragged him to the toilet and assaulted him, punching and kicking him while using foul language. The police officer seemed to be in a state of frenzy, with an extremely vicious hand. Only after the persuasion of other police officers did he restrain himself. Jia Xuewei’s second rib on the left side was fractured.
In a public prayer letter, the Early Rain Covenant Church said that although Jia Xuewei has suffered persecution for a long time, God has given him a joyful heart and the love and care of the brothers and sisters in the church, so that he can still be joyful in tribulations and see all this as suffering humiliation for Christ.
Another deacon of the church, Zeng Qingtao, and his family have been continuously monitored, followed, and restricted in their freedom of movement since May 12, and even when they go out to buy groceries, they have to be escorted by a police car. Seven or eight police officers are monitoring them, with a police car parked downstairs. Zeng Qingtao is not allowed to go out or downstairs, and only his wife can go out to buy groceries every day. This state has continued for half a month.
On May 24, Zeng Qingtao’s wife, Deng Yan, uploaded a video online, showing four young men claiming to be from the police station sitting on stools outside their door, playing on their phones while monitoring her family. When Deng Yan went out, she asked them to move the stools a little to avoid affecting other neighbors’ walking. One of the men said arrogantly, “So what? The stools won’t be moved because I’m performing my duty. Damn it, you still believe China is a society ruled by law!” Deng Yan said in response, “Do we still believe that China is a society ruled by law? If it is not a society ruled by law, anyone will be ruthlessly crushed by the violent machine. We have not committed any crime. If we have committed a crime, you can take legal documents to detain or arrest us. But without any legal documents, you sit here for half a month like this. These young men can’t find jobs. I believe that if they had better jobs, they wouldn’t come to do this kind of work. This is a society without hope. These young men look like they are only in their early twenties, and their lives are being wasted like this. If they know that they are doing evil, then there is still a little conscience left, but if they don’t even know that they are doing evil, then their conscience is completely gone.”
Zeng Qingtao and his wife are highly committed to the church, and despite the great persecution the church has suffered, they still remain with the church. After the church crackdown on December 9, 2018, they were impacted many times, facing threats such as being summoned and having their car tires punctured. Before the anniversary on December 9, 2023, Zeng Qingtao, along with other pastoral staff of the church such as Elder Li Yingqiang, had unidentified personnel stationed at their doorstep, preventing them from going out.
Both Zeng Qingtao and Jia Xuewei were newly elected deacons of the Early Rain Covenant Church in 2022, and as soon as they were elected, persecution followed. In a public prayer letter, the Early Rain Covenant Church prayed for the two deacons, asking God to rebuke these police and government officials who abuse their power, and also to give Zeng Qingtao and Deng Yan a calm and peaceful heart, so that they may call out to the Lord more deeply.
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