by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - A long-persecuted evangelical Early Rain Covenant Church (ERCC) in China’s Sichuan province suffered a police raid on a graduation ceremony it was holding, and a number of church members were taken away, the China Aid Christian advocacy group reports.
The Early Rain Covenant Church was celebrating a graduation ceremony for its “Workers’ College” at a hotel near the Jiangxin Building on October 28, 2023, when police officers and community officials arrived and halted the proceedings, China Aid reports. More than 30 church members had been in attendance.
Among the group that raided the ceremony were officials from China’s Political Security Bureau (formerly known as State Security) and Civil Religion Bureau, China Aid reports. Declaring the meeting illegal, the police arrested nine church members and took them to separate police stations for questioning. As of October 31, it was not known what further action was being taken against the Christians.
“To this day, the persecution has not ceased against Early Rain, but neither has the public worship,” China Aid explained in its report. “Members continue to evangelize and host worker training. Many foreign Christians and teachers have even been attracted to the church and moved to Chengdu. This may be the reason why the graduation ceremony was raided.”
In a public request for prayer, the church asked: “Pray that the Lord would watch over each of the brothers and sisters who were taken to the police station, and give them courageous hearts, which You have given them for their graduation, to see the Eternal Savior in the midst of persecution and fire. Pray also for mercy on our nation and government officials, who continue to persecute the Lord Christ and His Church, not realizing that this is the only way of life that can save them from death.”
Ruled by the authoritarian Chinese Communist Party, China ranks 16th on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2023 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.