08/04/2022 China (International Christian Concern) – A house church in China’s Zhuhai, Guangdong province, is facing a hefty fine as the authorities continue to crack down on “unauthorized churches” in the communist country.
Royal Wedding Church, established in 2006, was raided by Xiangzhou District Religious Affairs Bureau on September 27, 2016. The officials confiscated more than 40 computers and 300,000 RMB (44310 USD) at the time and subsequently arrested 13 coworkers, including the pastor Wei Xiaomei and his husband. The couple, along with a staff Zhang Tao, was charged with “fraud” in 2017.
While the three Christians were released in October 2018 on probation, the authorities again slapped the 1500-member-strong church with several administrative punishments in 2021— confiscation, punishment, and overdue payment totaling 36 million RMB (5,317,200 USD).
Although the church has hired a legal team in response, and the case went through hearing and administrative reconsideration phases, followed by an administrative litigation request to Zhuhai Intermediate People’s Court, no progress has been made.
On July 7, the three Christians received a prompting letter for “administrative compulsion enforcement,” demanding them to pay the hefty fine, or the court would conduct enforcement.
According to the prayer request shared by Father Francis Liu from the Chinese Christian Fellowship of Righteousness, church member Hu Xunchun is asking for prayers for the following:
1. Pray for the Christians involved so that they will have the might and wisdom to face this punishment;
2. Pray for the judiciary and law enforcement personnel in Zhuhai: Religious Affairs Bureau, Public Security, and Intermediate People’s Court;
3. Pray for the church’s legal team;
4. Pray for more lawyers to take on this case which was against the law in the first place.
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