Gospel news

The China Aid Association reports that members of the House Church in Yunan Province were beaten by police officials on the morning of January 23.

The incident occurred after two church members walked into the Xishan District's Public Security Bureau office to request an account of the items, including Bibles, which were taken from the church and burned by police in early December 2007. After ignoring the members' request, officials proceeded to violently remove them from the office.

One female church member, 54 year-old Ms. Liang Guihua, was thrown into a wall and rendered unconscious for more than 10 minutes. After leaving the police station the members went to a local hospital.  One member returned to the station later that afternoon to request an account of the morning' incident. The official on duty told the member that he would not testify to the incident even though he had witness the attack.

The incident originally began on December 5 at 2:00 pm when police and members of the Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs disrupted a church meeting in Kunming and detained several members. After searching the building, police then seized several hundred Christian books, including Bibles and proceeded to burn them outside. They also destroyed identification cards of the church members and instructed the landlord of the building to cease rental agreement with the congregation.

China law requires that officials issue certificates documenting items taken during seizures. The church members were requesting the documents. Government officials have now resorted to burning Bibles in an attempt to hinder the growth of the House Church in China. The members are urging the international community to demand an accounting to the government of China. To voice your concern contact the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC.