(Beijing – October 25, 2024) On October 21, 2024, Pastor Jin Mingri and the pastoral team of Beijing Zion Church issued a prayer letter revealing that multiple church branches in Beijing were simultaneously raided by police during Sunday worship the previous day. Several pastoral staff and believers were taken away, and Elder Qin Guoliang from the Guomao branch was administratively detained for 14 days under the charge of “organizing illegal gatherings.”
Around 10:00 A.M. on Sunday, October 20, 2024, while multiple branches of Beijing Zion Church were conducting normal worship services, police and religious affairs departments from Beijing’s Chaoyang District, Fengtai District, and Shijingshan District mobilized 20-30 police officers and numerous vehicles, and simultaneously forced their way into multiple branches of Zion Church, including Guomao, Wangjing, Yizhuang, and Shijingshan, interrupting ongoing Sunday worship services. They registered the identities of all believers present and forcibly took away 12 people, including Elder Qin Guoliang from the Guomao branch. The property management company sealed off the church’s rented premises.
By 8:00 P.M. last night, while most detained believers had been released, Elder Qin remained at the police station. After Elder Qin had been detained for over 24 hours, his family inquired at the police station and learned he had been put under 14 days of administrative detention for “organizing illegal gatherings.”
In recent months, multiple Beijing Zion Church branches have faced continuous Sunday raids. On July 5, 2024, Senior Pastor Jin Ming, who had been under exit control for 5 years, was again intercepted while trying to leave the country through Macau customs.
On July 10, 2024, the Haidian branch’s Sunday gathering was raided. Zhou Sirui, a young female preacher, was sentenced to 14 days of administrative detention at the Haidian Detention Center for “conducting activities under the name of a deregistered social organization.” This branch mainly serves university students, who were subsequently questioned by their schools and police stations.
On September 22, 2024, the Haidian branch was raided again, with Zhou Sirui detained for 15 days, and Elder Cai Jing and Wu Qiong detained for 14 days each.
In their prayer request letter, Pastor Jin Mingri and the Zion Church pastoral team noted that since 2024, the Chinese government’s control and suppression of Chinese house churches has become increasingly severe. They call on all God’s children to pay attention and pray:
- For the Lord to comfort the questioned brothers and sisters and grant them peaceful hearts!
- For the Lord to watch over Elder Qin Guoliang in his bonds, that the Lord becomes his strength and companion in loneliness, and the Holy Spirit his constant help!
- For the authorities to respect the dignity of the Constitution and citizens’ freedom of religious belief!
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