TSPM Working in Collusion with the Government to Persecute House Church Christians
by Staff
March 2, 2009
HEILONGJIANG, (christiansunite.com) -- Mrs. Cheng Fengying's house was seized illegally in January 2009 by officials from the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB) and Public Security Bureau (PSB) after years of continual persecution. Cheng Fenying, 54, is a preacher and evangelist. She, her husband Xie Tongxing and her 25-year-old son Xie Chengwei hosted a house church in their home with more than 200 members, but government officials threatened each believer to keep them away from the house church.Photo: Mrs. Cheng Fengying holds a banner "Innocent Citizen From HeilongJiang Province" standing in front of the house of former Communist Party chief, Zhao Ziyang, who was under house arrest after he showed sympathy to the students in the 1989 protest.
Cheng Fengying sent the following letter on February 17, 2009:
My name is Chang Fengying and I am 54 years old. My husband's name is Xie Tongxing and he was a native of Guangming Village, Fulu Township, Muling City, Heilongjiang province. Both my husband and I were disabled in our childhood years. I gave myself to the Lord and became a Christian in 1990. I went to the Three-Self Patriotic Movement church between 1990 and 2003, then I came to see the true nature of the TSPM. I left the TSPM and began to meet in house churches. In July 2006, the TSPM church of Muling City colluded with the government. They worked in cooperation with the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA), the Public Security Bureau and the head of Guangming Village and came to put sealing tape on my house and to forbid us to meet at my house. The TSPM also sent groups of thugs to raid my house again and again in which they looted, beat up people and smashed our belongings. I called 110 (the equivalent to 911 in the U.S.) and the police wouldn't intervene. With no other alternatives, I went to Beijing and sued the authorities there. During the consecutive lawsuits, my husband was so scared that he died... Soon after my husband passed away, the TSPM colluded again with the government on July 3, 2007 and canceled my house ownership title through illegal means.
During the 2008 Olympic Games, I was detained in a black prison (prison cells privately established by government officials) where I was injured in my arms. In January 2009, the TSPM took away my housing property by making use of the court. During this time, we could not have normal meetings. In the meantime, my family was so persecuted by the TSPM and the government that it is ruined with death and misery. My child has fled from the persecution and there is no way for him to come back home.
I hereby implore my brothers and sisters around the world to pray for me and show concern for me. I also implore the Lord to protect my family so that we can still hold gatherings. I implore the Lord to enable the court to rule on a fair basis and hope that legal professionals can assist me in this case.
Your humble fellow Christian,
Chang Fengying
Phone number of Muling Municipal Court: 0453 ¨C 3123723
My phone number£º15945472331
Home phone£º0453¡ª3039274
ChinaAid asks the international community to petition the Chinese government to immediately return Chang Fengying's house to her rightful ownership, and to stop persecuting her family and their house church members.
