By Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent
BEIJING, CHINA (Worthy News)-- Without warning early Wednesday morning, hundreds of government agents armed with a crane but without any legal documents forced their way into the BaiXiang GuanTou Church with the intent of removing the cross from the building's roof, according to International Christian Concern.
However, church members somehow managed to break through police barricades and reach the roof in time to stop the destruction of the cross. Other congregants cut off the electric generator for the crane as believers sang the Chinese hymn: "Cross, Cross, my glory forever; all my sins have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus."
In the end, the would-be demolition team left the church. At least for now.
Established in 2006 and officially registered with the local government, both the BaiXiang GuanTou Church main building and its cross were, until recently, approved by the provincial government.
ICC's Regional Manager for Southeast Asia, Sooyoung Kim, said: "Today we received clear evidence that local and provincial authorities in Zhejiang Province continue to wage an all-out war against Christians and Christian places of worship. More than 100 churches have been demolished or targeted in the past two months. We call on President Xi Jinping directly to step in and put an immediate end to what is a clear violation of China's constitutional commitment to religious freedom."