Posted on 08/09/2005 5:55:54 AM PDT by joesnuffy
WND FAITH UNDER FIRE Americans roughed up in China Cops reportedly mistreat U.S. Christians during raid on house church Posted: August 9, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
Two Americans were roughed up by plain-clothes Chinese police during a raid of a house church in the Communist state, reports Christian-persecution monitor China Aid Association.
According to the group, the raid came during a crackdown on house churches that has seen 210 Chinese house pastors and members arrested since last month.
On Aug. 2, the two Americans, students believed to be from Westminster Theological Seminary campuses in Texas and California, were in their host family's home in Lutou Town, Zaoyang City, Hubei Province with 41 pastors and other Christians when approximately 30 Chinese plain-clothed police officers rushed in.
According to several eyewitness reports, the two Americans were handled "very unprofessionally," China Aid Association stated. One sustained injuries to his wrists after being handcuffed because he wanted to put his shoes on before he was forced into an unmarked police car.
The two Americans were neither permitted to contact the U.S. Embassy nor permitted to show their U.S. passports and other identification cards. Both were taken to a government "hotel" for interrogation and were released after a seven-hour interrogation. Some of the Americans' belongings, including their personal bibles, notebooks and books on the Westminster Confession of Faith, reportedly were confiscated.
China Aid Association reports the 41 Chinese Christians were taken to No. 2 Zaoyang Prison, where some of them were tortured. According to eyewitness reports, Ren Daoyun, the 60-year-old hostess of the Christian gathering, was repeatedly beaten by Lei Youxin, the director of the prison. He reportedly kicked her, punched her face and beat her head against the wall with a prison chair. One eyewitness told China Aid that Ms. Ren's mouth was bleeding and swollen. One teenage arrestee was hospitalized for a serious nosebleed due to repeated beatings.
The Chinese arresting officers reportedly confiscated the equivalent of several hundred dollars from the Christians and took the host family's television set.
"To disrupt and close normal Christian fellowship meetings, as well as confiscate personal property, is contrary to the government's claim to guarantee religious freedom in China," said Bob Fu, CAA's president. "To handcuff innocent American tourists and mistreat them is unprecedented, totally unacceptable and certainly deserves strong diplomatic condemnation. We urge people of all faiths to take action to protest the mistreatment and torture of these pastors and demand their immediate release."
Fu is urging supporters to contact the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., to protest the arrests.
Editor's note:For regular updates on the persecuted church, sign up for Voice of the Martyrs free monthly newsletter.
Hey, hey, hey. What's the problem? No other culture is better than any other. /sarcasm
Besides, we get cheap stuff from China. (more sarcasm)
ping if you haven't seen it already.
Ok, they knew that was a distinct possibility. Being mistreated comes with the territory of being an evangelist.
Matthew 5:10
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:12
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
John 15:20
Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
Do they expect the heathen to treat them with loving kindness when they crucified Jesus?
Of course not. But the heathen aren't going to get away with pretending that they are all sweetness and light even while they engage in persecution.
The cockroaches aren't going to be allowed to pretend they're housecats when the kitchen lights come on.
If the Chinese oligarchy were smarter, it would take a page out of Constantine's Workbook and convert the Chinese people en masse to Christianity. It worked for Rome. It worked for North and South America. And it worked for Europe until its recent abandonment, which has spun Europe into a nosedive. And furthermore--it's the best vaccine against Islam.
Where is that Freeper who told me that China was "really not communist"? Hmm...
Wal-Mart dollars at work.
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