Ministry Spokesman Says Publicity Paid Off for Chinese Christian Prisoner
by Allie Martin
November 4, 2003
(AgapePress) - An official with Voice of the Martyrs credits intense publicity for the decision by Chinese government officials to release a Chinese Christian from prison.Xiao Bi Guang is an attorney who has served as an advocate for house-church Christians in China. He was arrested by government authorities September 26 on subversion charges and faced the possibility of long-term incarceration.
But shortly after Xiao's arrest, Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) encouraged Christians in the United States and other countries around the world to contact the Chinese embassy on his behalf. VOM spokesman Todd Nettleton says the publicity campaign paid off.
"Brother Xiao told his wife that the police, during the interrogation, had asked him, 'How did you get your story on the Internet?'" Nettleton says, adding, "With the technology that we have in the world today, it's difficult for these governments to keep their activities a secret."
After word of Xiao's situation got out, the faxes, e-mails and letters that VOM encouraged Christians worldwide to send began to pour in, and officials in the Communist Chinese government knew that many eyes were turned in their direction.
Nettleton believes the focused public attention on the story and the subsequent action that Christians took played a big part in Xiao's release. Still the VOM spokesman does not forget to acknowledge the grace at work throughout these events. "We are thankful to the Lord," he says, "and we appreciate the Chinese government doing the just thing and sending this man home."
Nettleton calls Xiao's release "a huge accomplishment," and says, "Obviously, it's a great thing to praise the Lord for and to celebrate." But this occurrence is also a signal, he says, "that when American Christians pray and send letters and faxes and e-mails to the Chinese embassy, we can have an impact on Christians who are being held in China."
Nettleton says Zhang Yi-Nun, who was also arrested with Xiao, is still being held and still facing subversion charges in China. He encourages Christians everywhere to continue praying for Zhang and for other members of the Persecuted Church around the world.
He also reminds them that VOM urges believers to continue advocating on behalf of Christians worldwide who have been arrested for their faith and are being held in jails and prisons -- to let them and their captors know they have not been forgotten.
