Wu Wuqing forced to relocate again, water and electricity cut off in his home

(Chengdu, Sichuan Province – August 2, 2024) On July 30, 2024, Chengdu Early Rain Covenant Church revealed the latest situation of the church’s preacher Wu Wuqing being pressured by local police. To force him to move out, the water and electricity have been cut off in his rented house.

The Early Rain Covenant Church disclosed in their prayer letter on July 28, 2024, that Wu Wuqing’s family recently faced forced relocation again. Recently, unidentified individuals threatened them to move out quickly and secretly cut their electricity wires daily, forcing them to live without electricity. After they asked the property management to repair it several times, the management, seemingly under orders from higher authorities, claimed that due to their special status, they would no longer provide maintenance services. The Early Rain Covenant Church expressed gratitude to God for giving Preacher Wu Wuqing’s family a calm and peaceful heart, stating they have experienced such persecution very often in recent years.

As a representative of persecuted house churches in China, Chengdu Early Rain Covenant Church has been long pressured by the government using illegal means since December 9, 2018. As a church preacher, Wu Wuqing has been repeatedly detained, summoned (sometimes for nearly 24 hours), had his car tires punctured, water and electricity cut off, forced to move, and even blocked from entering his residential complex by security guards, with his furniture thrown into garbage stations. To force them to move, his family has experienced multiple water and electricity cutoffs since the fall of 2020.

Preacher Wu Wuqing’s most recent detention was on February 25 this year, which was a Sunday and also the 16th day of the first lunar month during the traditional Chinese Spring Festival. That day, Early Rain Covenant Church held its first offline Sunday worship of 2024 in a rented hotel, including baptism and communion. Two people were baptized, and 10 believers transferred their membership to the church. After the Sunday worship, Preacher Wu Wuqing was taken away by police from the Dongsheng Police Station. Later that day, his family received a detention notice stating that Wu Wuqing was administratively detained for 14 days by the Shuangliu Branch of Chengdu Public Security Bureau on suspicion of “organizing illegal gatherings” and was sent to the Shuangliu District Detention Center that evening.

On July 29, 2024, the property management cut off the water to Preacher Wu Wuqing’s home again, and the door to the water meter room on his floor was locked. Multiple calls to 12345, Chengdu’s municipal hotline, failed to resolve the issue.

Regarding the recent forced relocation, water, and electricity cutoffs, Preacher Wu Wuqing stated:

The enemy knows that cutting off water and electricity like this is illegal, yet they still do it. This is persecution because of our faith, something that every Christian who holds fast to pure faith will encounter, and it’s also an opportunity God gives us to earn rewards!

I don’t want brothers and sisters to feel anger or resentment when they see this message. Instead, I hope brothers and sisters can kneel down and pray for us, asking God to have mercy on us, so that in such circumstances, we can overcome all this by God’s grace!

When you pray for us, it shows that you identify with the hardships we are experiencing as your own hardships, that you are suffering with us! We will surely share in glory in the future! Amen!”