China: Police Raid House Church in Xinjiang, Detain 70 Christians

Religion Today | Published: Mar 21, 2012

China: Police Raid House Church in Xinjiang, Detain 70 Christians

March 22, 2012

Police in Xinjiang, China raided a house church on Sunday and took more than 70 Christians into custody, China Aid reports. The house church, which has been meeting for nearly 20 years, was stormed by more than 10 authorities around 10 p.m.; police announced that the meeting was "unapproved" and "illegal" and ordered an immediate end to it. After forcing each Christian there to be photographed, officials took them to local police stations for questioning, not releasing some for two days. Police also confiscated the Christians' Bibles, hymnals, notebooks and other materials, but refused to provide a receipt for the confiscated items as required by law. The pastor and his wife who were hosting the meeting were called into the local police station Monday for additional questioning and were threatened by police, who ordered them to stop holding meetings in their home.

China: Police Raid House Church in Xinjiang, Detain 70 Christians