Chinese Pastor Makes Case for House Churches, Writes to the President

Oct 09, 2010 10:07 AM EDT

One of the Chinese House Church leaders, Pastor Zhang Mingxuan, who’s also the President, Christian House Church Alliance, has continued to make case for the persecuted and victimized house church members in China.

China Aid report said that in Pastor Mingxuan’s fifth open letter to the Chinese President, Hu Jintao, he recalled his many arrests in the hands of the security forces, which have numbered up to 49 times as a result of his faith.

“I have been arrested 49 times because of my faith. I am now writing my fifth open letter to you in the dignity, integrity, righteousness, justice and benevolence of God. Upon first glance, this letter may sound unpleasant, but it is full of truth,” he stated.

He admonished the president to soften his heart in order that he can listen to admonitions and truth from an ordinary Chinese people adding that this is the only way China can prosper and his position as the president be firm and stable.

According to Mingxuan, Chinese house church Christians abide by the law and that they love the people and the country and that they are also model citizens. “They pray for you and your government every day and they ask Jesus to bless you and other leaders of the state with righteousness, justice, health, and they pray for blessings upon China. Yet, they have become the target of a group of government bandits who answer to you and these officials often arrest and beat innocent Christians and wronged citizens.”

He observed that the only way the officials can excuse their behavior is by labeling the house churches as cults, or wrongly stating the Christians have violated the law adding that House church Christians have also been ill-treated simply because they are petitioners to crimes of the government.

He noted that the international community and users of the internet everywhere know all of this and that even so, it seems that the president has no intention of involving himself because he doesn’t investigate these things and do not stop the illegal actions of the government officials.

“Instead of resolving these issues, the officials choose to suppress the petitioners and the wronged citizens all the more. The four letters I have written to you before this one were published in many media outlets in China and abroad. However, since I wrote them, things have not improved and instead the local governments have increased their suppression of Christians,” he stated.

He continued: “Because I have told the truth, the local governments have placed me under surveillance, stalked me and tried to ensnare me continually. I am just an ordinary person and there is no reason to spend so much manpower and other many resources to persecute me.”