House Church Pastors Under Fire As Chinese Officials Keep Cracking Down
House church members in China say they are harassed daily by authorities who are cracking down on unofficial churches.
Henan province officials stormed Bai Fengju's property and seized his three-acre soybean field to build a Buddhist Temple.
When Bai confronted authorities, one official told him "I'll skin you alive if you dare to complain again." Bai told China Aid that the demolition team "spoke rudely" to him and destroyed his crops.
And Pastor Zhang of Zhongfu Canaan Church was summoned by authorities and questioned about his church membership and funding.
He was warned to stop the "illegal gatherings" and become part of the state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM).
Zhang refused to join the TSPM and says he is constantly harassed by officials of various government departments, who tell him the church needs to move its location.
"The town government (that operates) in the village hasn't come to find us yet, but the landlord said today that officials from the public security, firefighting and various other industry and commerce departments will soon enforce the law here," Pastor Zhang said.
"No (official) has come yet (to enforce), but the landlord is already very frightened. He said, 'You need to move out immediately.' This is our current circumstance," Zhang added.
