Rural Chinese Christians Suffer Behind State's Religious Freedom Facade
by Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
June 10, 2005
(AgapePress) - A spokesman for a ministry that serves the persecuted Church worldwide says life for rural Chinese Christians is not easy, since they fall on the wrong side of the government's double standard regarding religious liberty. While believers in large cities in China appear to enjoy great freedom when it comes to worship, reportedly the situation in many rural areas is vastly different.Jerry Dykstra is with Open Doors, an international ministry that works to raise awareness about persecuted Christians and to advocate for believers who suffer the effects of religious intolerance and persecution in countries around the world. Many of the instances of Christian persecution, he notes, occur at the hands of Communist authorities.
Dykstra says in a Communist nation like China, where the government is hostile to Christian faith, Christians may be treated very harshly by state officials. Socio-economic status "doesn't matter," he says. "Sometimes it happens to people who are on the low end of the income bracket, and sometimes it happens to the church leaders."
Regardless of Christians' station in life or society, the Open Doors representative says, "many of them are harassed, and their families are harassed. Often they are put in jail or interrogated overnight." And sometimes, he adds, "They'll have some possessions, [including their] Bibles taken away from them."
Dykstra believes there is a simple reason for the discrepancy between the relative freedom of religion that is reported among Christians in the larger cities of China and the intense persecution faced by those living in the rural areas. "China wants to put on a good image," he says, "especially in the cities where most of the work goes on and especially with foreigners."
The Chinese government's concern over this facade in urban areas has to do with the state's desire to promote commerce and trade, the ministry spokesman points out. "They want to put on a good image for the global community," he says, "and so they give a lot more rights, I believe, and freedom of religion to people in the bigger cities."
Nevertheless, Open Doors ranks China number nine on its international watch list of countries where Christians are most severely persecuted. Yet Dykstra says China's house church movement continues to grow amid Communist hostility and harassment, despite the state's continued persecution of members of the underground churches.
Last year Open Doors sent 2.5 million training books, study Bibles, and other Christian literature and training materials into China. The ministry is urging Christians around the world to pray for their persecuted brothers and sisters there. Meanwhile, another ministry to the persecuted Church, Voice of the Martyrs (VOM), is urging Christians to advocate on behalf of those who are being mistreated because of their faith.
VOM sources report that police and Public Security Bureau officers simultaneously raided approximately 60 house churches in Changchun, the capital city of Jilin province in northeastern China. More than 500 house church believers and leaders were arrested. Although most were released after 24 to 48 hours of interrogation, approximately 40 leaders are still being held in various detention centers.
"We urge Christians around the world to protest these illegal detentions," says Todd Nettleton, VOM's Director of News Services. "These Christians are not a threat to the Chinese government and they have not committed a crime. It's time for China to live up to the commitments and treaties it has signed on religious freedom."
For U.S. Christians willing to send letters of protest, VOM has provided the address of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, urging them to write to Ambassador Yang Jiechi, Embassy of the People's Republic of China, 2300 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20008, or to send a fax to (202) 328-2500. Those wishing to write letters to Chinese Christians can do so at PrisonerAlert.com.
