Expose, Encourage As a part of the celebrations of ChinaAid’s 15th Anniversary, ChinaAid hosted a banquet for supporters in the Midland/Odessa area of the Permian Basin. Chris Smith, a Republican U.S. Representative for the state of New Jersey and co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, served as the keynote speaker, along with testimonies from visiting Chinese Christians who had experienced persecution firsthand. Representative Smith spoke regarding the state of religious freedom across the world, but more specifically China’s specific human rights abuses toward the church. “The efforts of ChinaAid are critically important to those who are suffering every day from physical torture, mental torture, and deprivation of every kind,” he said. In addition to the main speech given by Smith, Liu Xiaodong, the wife of imprisoned political dissident Zhao Changqing, spoke about ChinaAid’s work in helping her escape to America with her 4-year-old son, after she became pregnant with her second child. Through a translator, Liu spoke of her time on the run as she was smuggled through Thailand before finally landing in San Francisco in July 2016. Without the assistance of ChinaAid, Liu said Chinese agents would have surely captured and repatriated her, her son, and her unborn daughter before she was able to get away. Other rescued members of the Chinese persecuted church were in attendance with their families, though for security reasons, their names and the details of their cases were unable to be shared, for their protection. ChinaAid hosts events for supporters throughout the year to increase awareness regarding the persecuted church in China and to raise support. |
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