Jailed Christian Pastor's Injuries Suggest Abuse by South China Officials
by Allie Martin
April 20, 2004
(AgapePress) - The imprisoned leader of the South China Church told relatives during a recent prison visit that he fears for his life.Pastor Gong Shengliang has been in prison for several years in connection with his leadership of the underground South China church, a congregation that is 50,000 members strong. Recently Pastor Gong's sisters visited him and found that he was in such a poor physical state that he had to be carried into the visiting hall by four other inmates.
According to Todd Nettleton of Voice of the Martyrs, Pastor Gong's relatives believe he was beaten and otherwise physically mistreated. They learned that even though officials describe Gong as an exemplary prisoner, he has spent 411 days with his arms and legs chained. And after they saw the state their brother was in, it was clear to the sisters that he had been through a terrible ordeal.
"When his sisters learned that he had been injured," Nettleton says, "they protested to the leader of the prison. The leader told them, 'Pastor Gong is a model prisoner in every way except one -- we can't stop him from preaching and praying, and he won't denounce his faith in Christ.'"
Chinese government officials claim Gong fell while washing windows, but his family members and others are skeptical about this explanation for his injuries. Nettleton says members of the South China Church are often the victims of persecution by the authorities.
"This is a group that probably has over 50,000 members and almost 10,000 of them have been arrested and have spent time in jail. So you're talking about at least one in four people in this particular house church movement has been harassed by the police, arrested, and detained at least for some time," he says.
Nettleton says if an American Christian were to sit in church and count the people and realize that every fifth one was going to go to prison, that would give them an inkling of the level of persecution Christians in South China have faced.
Voice of the Martyrs serves, raises awareness, and advocates for persecuted Christians around the world. The ministry is urging Christians to write to the Chinese government requesting a transfer for Pastor Gong.
