After the Chinese government shut down a church in Chengdu, members of the house church took the gospel message to the streets.
In a video shared earlier this week, Christopher Gregory, of the China Missions organization, showed members of the church gathering in a public park to sing, pray and share the gospel. Gregory was later arrested and then released.
Gregory told Christian News Network that the church hosted both morning and evening services earlier this week.
“The local authorities shut down a house church in Chengdu last week, so they thought that was the end of it— it wasn’t,” Gregory said on his social media account, adding that police “looked on in bewilderment not knowing what to do.”
“For the first time, people throughout China are saying, “NO!” to what the Communist party wants— control,” he said. “Control over what they can do, what they can believe, where they can go, what they can say.”
“It’s yet another sign something is beginning to take shape here in China, the call for democracy! The call for freedom!”
The video has more than 43,000 views.
According to the organization China Aid, churches must register with the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. The Movement is the only authorized Protestant Church in China. Any churches who do not register are considered illegal, and authorities can arrest or jail church members.
Officials can also raid those illegal church buildings. In some cases, church crosses have been removed.
“The government is trying to silence anything relating to Christianity due to the rise of those who claim Christianity as their faith,” Gregory said.
“China is facing inward resistance and they see this growth of believers as a sign of losing their grip on its society.”
“Pray for China,” he said. “Pray for change here. Pray that the gospel reaches into men’s hearts so that the real change can come, then we’ll see a revival in China.”
Photo courtesy: Unsplash/Tomasz Ganclerz
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