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Source: www.ChinaAid.org Date: November 28, 2007 Senior House Church Leader Issued Open Letter to Chinese Communist Party Leader for Religious Freedom; Shandong House Church Christians Won Legal Battle against PSB after Being Raided Midland, Texas (Nov. 28, 2007) CAA is authorized to release an open letter to Chinese Communist Party leader President Hu Jintao issued by Pastor Zhang Mingxuan, president of Chinese House Church Alliance. (CHCA) In the open letter, after sharing how he became a House Church Christian and leader of CHCA, pastor Zhang lists series of severe persecutions including beatings, imprisonments, and tortures. Despite CHCA’s enormous charitable contributions helping numerous orphans and homeless, CHCA had been under increasing persecution especially before and after the CCP’s 17th Congress this year. Pastor Zhang and his family had been asked by the local police to shut down his house church and his school as well as an orphanage nearby Beijing. Pastor Zhang believe that “this persecution is a result of the corruption of officials subordinate to the central government, failure to enforce the law in a strict way, distortion of facts, and evildoing and collusion between the local despots and the officials.†So he calls upon President Hu to listen to the suffering of the innocent persecuted Christians. Pastor Zhang in his letter implores President Hu “to seriously consider the misery of the common people and urge the officials subordinate to you to stop persecuting Christians and implement their promises in the Constitution on religious freedom… just as you said, we can have a harmonious society when we build it on the foundations of love, friendship, fairness and justice.†Finally, pastor Zhang expresses that the desire of Chinese Christians is “to win justice for the common people in China so that the Chinese society is full of love and care and that China can become free, prosperous, and a real powerful country in the 21st century in both soul and in social system. We sincerely pray to the Lord to punish the evil and promote the good so that the common people can receive blessings and that China will have real religious freedom. I believe this is also the wish of President Hu. I hereby pray to God to bless you and all the officials in power, to give them more wisdom in ruling China.†CAA has also learned the encouraging news that after a house church in Linyi city, Shandong Province was raided by police, the house Christians fought back in court and won back their rights and confiscated property. The house church in the suburb of Linyi city led by Pastor Gao Wendong was raided on May 31, 2007 by several dozens of policemen armed with batons. The police confiscated many objects in the house, including over 300 copies of the Bible, over 600 other books, three computers, copiers, DVD players, Ping Pong table and cash. With the help of Pastor Zhang Mingxuan, the Christians, represented by Beijing Christian attorney Ms. Wu Chenglian, sued the police in the court at Hedong District Branch of the Public Security Bureau. After some detours and bumps, the police finally capitulated and returned on November 17, 2007 all they had confiscated from the church. Click the link for full text of the legal appeal paper can be seen at http://chinaaid.org/2007/11/28/attorney-wu-chenglian%e2%80%99s-application-for-administrative-reconsideration-for-pastor-gao-wendong-persecution-case-in-linyi-city-shandong-province/ The full text of the open letter by pastor Zhang Mingxuan: http://chinaaid.org/2007/11/28/a-letter-to-president-hu-jintao-from-pastor-zhang-mingxuan-president-of-chinese-house-church-alliance/
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