Two leaders from a group of house churches that have faced constant pressure from the Chinese government are in jail after their gathering was raided by officials on the weekend.
Early Rain Covenant Church was raided on August 22 while a small group was meeting in the Chenghua District. In a video posted to a Facebook group dedicated to praying for the church, several officials can be seen in the doorway of the gathering space, talking with and then grabbing at leaders.
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The prayer group's Facebook post says that "Almost everyone, including 10 children, were detained and taken to the police station."
Officials from the church tell the prayer group that "The police claimed to have received a call reporting an illegal gathering there. Pastoral intern Dai Zhichao asked the police to present a search warrant. The police were rough and wanted to check people’s ID cards. Dai Zhichao’s arm was scratched and his cell phone was taken away."
Initially, after checking IDs, the police let the group remain and they ate a potluck together. However, at the end of the meal police then removed all members except for a blind man, his wife, and his mother-in-law who is in her 80s.
The church now says that two of its leaders, brothers Dai Zhichao and He Shan, were sentenced to 14 days in jail. Their wives were verbally notified of the sentence by police attending to their respective homes.
Early Rain Covenant Church has faced constant harassment from communist officials for almost three years, now. In December 2018 their worship gathering was first raided and their pastors taken away. Pastor Wang Yi has since been sentenced to nine years in prison.
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