Police officers raided a house church meeting in China’s southern Guangdong province on Wednesday evening, detaining 30 of the members in attendance including the pastor and an American couple with two children.  More than 20 officers broke into Zhongfu Wanmin Church approximately a half hour into their evening service on May 3. The church members attempted to take pictures of the raid, but officers confiscated all cell phones, ID cards, and bank cards.

“How could the police take away their bank cards?” a local pastor asked while recounting the events to a ChinaAid reporter. “This is a very recent [change in behavior for officers.]” During the raid, the pastor, Li Peng, was beaten by officers for trying to take pictures. Li was detained with the 30 other members taken away from the church and interrogated overnight, but while most of the detainees were released the following morning, Li was not. READ MORE


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