China - from www.charismanews.com - by permission
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Apparently succumbing to international pressure, authorities recently released a prominent house church leader. According to China Aid Association (CAA), Xu "Deborah" Yongling, 58, was released last Monday and is under house arrest for an indefinite period of time. CAA said U.S. State Department officials raised her case to the Chinese government recently.
The leader of the "Born Again Movement" church, which has millions of members throughout the Asian nation, Yongling was asleep at the home of a church member in Nanyang, located in Henan Province, when police raided and detained her on Jan. 25.
Yongling, the sister of prominent house-church leader Peter Xu Yongze, who now lives in the United States, has been arrested many times in the past, Voice of the Martyrs said.
Meanwhile, three Christians appeared in court a week ago for revealing details of China's crackdown on unsanctioned churches.
Liu Fenngang, Xu Yonghai and Zhang Shengqi have been charged with "providing intelligence to overseas organizations," CAA said.
The trio reportedly gave information to Chicago-based "Christian Life Quarterly" magazine, which authorities labeled an "evil cult."
Fenggang is a church historian and house church leader pro-democracy campaigner. Yonghai is a psychiatrist and Shengqi is a computer technician. Police detained family members for three hours who tried to see them in court.
"This [is] another case of religious persecution with baseless charges," said CAA president Bob Fu, who hopes international pressure will cause the release of the three believers.
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Apparently succumbing to international pressure, authorities recently released a prominent house church leader. According to China Aid Association (CAA), Xu "Deborah" Yongling, 58, was released last Monday and is under house arrest for an indefinite period of time. CAA said U.S. State Department officials raised her case to the Chinese government recently.
The leader of the "Born Again Movement" church, which has millions of members throughout the Asian nation, Yongling was asleep at the home of a church member in Nanyang, located in Henan Province, when police raided and detained her on Jan. 25.
Yongling, the sister of prominent house-church leader Peter Xu Yongze, who now lives in the United States, has been arrested many times in the past, Voice of the Martyrs said.
Meanwhile, three Christians appeared in court a week ago for revealing details of China's crackdown on unsanctioned churches.
Liu Fenngang, Xu Yonghai and Zhang Shengqi have been charged with "providing intelligence to overseas organizations," CAA said.
The trio reportedly gave information to Chicago-based "Christian Life Quarterly" magazine, which authorities labeled an "evil cult."
Fenggang is a church historian and house church leader pro-democracy campaigner. Yonghai is a psychiatrist and Shengqi is a computer technician. Police detained family members for three hours who tried to see them in court.
"This [is] another case of religious persecution with baseless charges," said CAA president Bob Fu, who hopes international pressure will cause the release of the three believers.
