Pray for Pastor Peter
September 11, 2010
Pastor Peter shares his heart.
Many of you know that Pastor Peter is our “Keep Believing” man in China. He pastors a house church in a large Chinese city. Last Tuesday the authorities came and without explanation began to harass him and the people of his congregation. Here is the story (edited for security reasons):
Without knowing why, our church has been under interrogation by some government leaders recently. A vice mayor is leading the interrogation himself. On Tuesday night (Sept. 7th), six policemen from the Security Bureau and Civil Affairs Bureau came to our church, asking me a lot of questions. After much prayer and communication, it seemed this had come to an end.
On Friday about 20 people from the local police station came to our church. They wanted to close down our church, claiming it was an illegal Christian meeting place. They also took away a sister who was then praying in the church to the police station to make transcripts.
I made transcript in the police station as well. I tried to communicate with those leaders of the Religious Council, but they made unreasonable insults on me, and threatened to put me into prison. They also put seals on the church doors.
On Saturday the prayer team went to church to pray, only 8 or 9 people in all. The Religious Council came again, making our meeting a mess. Some of them stood in front of the church door to prevent brothers and sisters from coming in. They also threatened to come again on Sunday to stop our worship. What they do is serious illegal enforcement of the law and ruthless abuse and trample of our religious freedom.
In the midst of all these, we are still believing that God is in control. We keep enduring without complaining. We ask you to continue to pray for us. Emmanuel.
This is the inscription posted on the door of the church.
Here is a slightly edited version of the seal put on the church door to stop people from worshiping there:
To all religious people,
It is hereby announced that this place is considered to be an illegal place for religious activities and is to be banned. All the religious people should go to regular and standardized places for religious activities.
Religious Affairs Council
Sept. 10, 2010
As I’m writing this update, it is now Sunday morning in China. Pastor Peter has been steadfast in his faith. He wrote an email that said, “The big battle is coming this coming sunday morning, pls pray!”
So on his behalf I ask you to pray for Peter, his family, and for his congregation that they would remain strong under this attack. Pray that they would bear a faithful witness for Jesus and that God would move on the hearts of the public officials to leave them alone. Pray that the Lord Jesus would be glorified through this time of trial and the church made much stronger.
Thanks for praying for your brothers and sisters who need your help at this very moment.