Hundreds seized for Sichuan church's earthquake memorial

100 policemen lay in wait for the members of Autumn Rain Blessing Church on Saturday in Chengdu, Sichuan,seizing more than 200 Christians for holding a memorial service honoring the 10th anniversary of an earthquake that devastated the area.

The night before, officers visited the church’s pastor, Wang Yi, at his home and informed him that the gathering violated laws and ordered him to cancel the memorial or face legal consequences. His refusal resulted in the arrestsof many church members the next day, including children and the elderly. Authorities also beat and insulted some of the Christians.

Preliminary statistics indicate that more than 200 church members were arrested, and three of them are still in prison. Additionally, police confiscated 15,600 Bibles, religious materials, and 930 DVDs.

In a statement, the church accused the officials of violating the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China by illegally depriving citizens of freedom of religion. It said that it plans to report the abuses conducted and file a lawsuit.

 

“We do not hate the officers, policemen, [government] decision makers, and [government] supervisors involved in the event,” the statement reads.“Rather, we hope that some of them will confess, repent and follow the Lord, much more strongly than the hope that they will be punished. However, we will never compromise our conscience or faith and will lean on the cross when confronting anti-church au-thorities and being severely repressed.”

 

“I feel grateful on our behalf that we did not spend the day fleeing, retreating, and hiding; instead, we welcomed it with praise and excitement,” Wang said.