Your church is destroyed and you get arrested for preaching in China

A popular evangelical megachurch in Northern China named The Golden Lampstand, located in the City of Linfen, Shanxi Province, just got demolished.

World Religion News reports it was damaged by the Chinese Government who put dynamite into the structure before ruining it completely by using bulldozers and cranes.

Witnesses say demolition was carried out by local officials and the People’s Armed Police who were seen at the scene.

Prior to this, the Zhifang Catholic Church was the first to receive this same treatment for no apparent reason from the local authorities. This incident happened 20 years after it opened.

Asia News reports that it was the only Catholic church in Zhifang, a village near Shaanxi.

While the Golden Lampstand was an unregistered independent church with over 50,000 people. It was reportedly started by an evangelist couple.

Both churches were destroyed between December 2017 and January 2018.

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Reactions to Chinese government’s persecution of Christians

Now, sources say Christians are quite afraid of the Communist Party who appear to be attacking their basic human right to hold on to their faith.

They are also afraid that these two church cases may be the beginning of a trend by the government.

The U.S. State Department reports that the government of China has “physically abused, detained, arrested, tortured, sentenced to prison, or harassed adherents of both registered and unregistered religious groups for activities related to their religious beliefs and practices.”

China Aid, a Texas-based Christian human rights organization, has also weighed in on this two incidents.

In a statement, the group said: “China’s military police has been under the direct control of the central government since the head of the public security bureau, which previously commanded it, was arrested last year. This indicates that the order to destroy the church came from China’s top officials instead of the less-powerful local authorities.”

Speaking with The Guardian, Bob Fu, the founder of China Aid added: “I think this might be a new pattern against any independent house churches with an existing building or intention to build one.

“It also could be a prelude to enforcing the new regulation on religious affairs that will take effect in February.”

Right now, all religious groups are demanded to register with local authorities before they can operate freely.

China is currently number 43 on Open Doors’ 2018 World Watch List (WWL).