Detained Chinese Pastor Wrote Powerful Letter Ahead of Arrest Condemning 'Evil' Persecution of Christians

Leah Marieann Klett : Dec 17, 2018
Gospel Herald

"For this reason, I accept and respect the fact that this communist regime has been allowed by God to rule temporarily..." -Pastor Wang Yi

(China)— [GospelHerald.com] A Chinese pastor arrested with 100 members of his congregation said that while he is "filled with anger and disgust" at the persecution Christians endure in the country, he accepts and respects the fact that the "evil" Communist regime has been "allowed by God to rule temporarily." (Photo: Pastor Wang Yi of the Early Rain Covenant Church/Credit: South China Morning Post/via Gospel Herald)

On Sunday, Wang Yi, Senior Pastor of Early Rain Covenant Church and one of China's most prominent Protestant pastors, was arrested along with over 100 members of his congregation.

Anticipating his arrest, the pastor wrote a declaration in September to be published should he be detained for more than 48 hours. Church members released the letter on Wednesday.

In the lengthy letter, which has been translated into English, the pastor said he is "filled with anger and disgust at the persecution of the church by this Communist regime, at the wickedness of their depriving people of the freedoms of religion and of conscience."

However, he emphasized that changing social and political institutions is "not the mission I have been called to, and it is not the goal for which God has given his people the Gospel."

Instead, he vowed to use non-violent methods to stand by his faith and oppose the laws that he said were against Biblical commandments. He reminded Chinese Christians that life is brief—and the sufferings of the present pale in comparison to eternity... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

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