By Bill Bumpas
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
■A leader of a Christian human rights group fears that China’s arrest of the pastor of one of the largest government-sanctioned churches will have a chilling effect on many other Chinese church leaders and believers.
Chinese officials in the Zhejiang province arrested Senior Pastor Gu “Joseph” Yuese of Chongyi Church in late January for embezzlement. But Bob Fu, president and founder of China Aid, says the accusations are “politically motivated.”
“Its political revenge with trumped up charges against him as punishment for his public opposition against the government-forced cross removal campaign,” Fu says.
According to China Aid, there have been hundreds of forced cross demolitions throughout Zhejiang since early 2014.
“I think Yuese is courageous enough to stand up to the Chinese Communist Party and this repressive policy on this front,” Fu adds. “And so for that, we should applaud him.”
Fu tells OneNewsNow that Pastor Gu is the highest-ranking national church leader arrested since the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s.
“It’s very, very shocking,” he explains, “and I think it will create a ripple effect, a chilling effect to many other government-sanctioned church leaders and believers.”
Fu is calling on Christians in the free world to pray for this situation.
China Aid Media Team
Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985
Email: [email protected]
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