TAIYUAN, China — Police in China raided a church’s summer youth camp and detained four Christian adults for “carrying out activities in the name of an illegal social organization.”
The human rights group ChinaAid reports that members of the Police and Religious Affairs Bureau raided Zion Reformed Church’s camp in China’s Shanxi province July 25, demanding an inspection for safety hazards.
An Yankui, pastor, along with his co-worker Zhang Chenghao and husband and wife Wang Yingjie and Wang Ying were apprehended and ultimately given a 15-day administrative detention. An’s wife, Yao Congya, and Zhang’s wife, Guo Juan, were left to care for the youth.
On July 26, police confiscated the campers’ Bibles and the teachers’ mobile phones, among other items. Officials instructed parents to come get their children.
“During this time,” stated ChinaAid, “joint law enforcement wanted to take away all of the male Christians. None of them agreed to leave their families.”
The pastor and Zhang Chenghao previously had received a one-year sentence for going to a Christian conference in Malaysia. The Yingjie couple recently had been given a 15-day administrative detention.
China is No. 16 on Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List of places most difficult to be a Christian.
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