Evangelist on the street known as the “Gospel Warrior” jailed for preaching before the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China
A street preacher in China was held by police for days until the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party ended on Saturday. This was because he was preaching the Gospel at the venue before the meeting of the party.
Chen Wensheng is known as the “Gospel Warrior.” He is a member of the Xiaoqun Church in Hengyang, which is in China’s Hunan province. Before the CCP’s National Congress, he was told not to share the gospel on the street. When he politely refused, police took him and his wife “to a mountain for a half-month vacation,” according to the U.S. group China Aid, which tracks human
Chen often carries a wooden cross that says “Glory to our Savior” and “Repent and Be Saved by Faith” when he shares the Gospel with people on the street. During his detention, he is said to have rested and studied.
Chen is often arrested and held at the police station because of his efforts to spread the gospel. While there, he tells the officers over and over again to put their faith in Jesus.
Chen was quoted as saying that local officials had come to his house a few days before the week-long party congress to talk to him and take pictures.
On October 8, he and his wife were invited to lunch by local police officers. As soon as the police came into his house, he gave them gospel pamphlets and said, “I’m glad you’re back. Jesus loves you and blesses you!’ They tried once more to get him to join the Three-Self church in the area. “They said that if Chen was willing, they would let him replace the two pastors of the local church or give him the chance to give speeches to large crowds in different places in Hunan province,” the group said.
Chen then asked why he didn’t want to join the Three-Self Church, which was run by the government. After that, he was put in jail.
Chen used drugs for more than ten years before he became a Christian. He first heard about Jesus at a rehab center, where he also became a Christian and stopped drinking.
Outside of registered religious sites, evangelism is illegal in China. International Christian Concern, which is based in the United States, has said that the crackdown on house churches in China has made it harder for people to share their faith on the street. People who try to share the gospel are harassed or put in jail, and others see the government putting more limits on their churches.
The Buddhist Association of China, the Chinese Taoist Association, the Islamic Association of China, the Protestant Three-Self Patriotic Movement, and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association are the five official religious groups in China.
Even groups that are part of one of the five approved religions can be watched and have their activities limited.
China Aid said last week that religious freedom in China is getting worse by the day.
The Berea Church in Fujian Province and the Yangguangzhijia Reformed Church in Changchun City in Jilin Province were both banned last month, the group said. The Wenzhou Canaan Theological Seminary was also torn down; all church buildings were destroyed; and Senior Pastor Huang Jianle, Teacher Liu Shitao, Teacher Shi, and Teacher Sun were taken away by the police.
Between July 2020 and June 2021, Christians in China were persecuted more than 100 times by the communist government, which was trying to turn independent religious groups into tools of the Chinese Communist Party.
It is thought that there are about 100 million Christians in China. Scholars say that because Christianity is growing in China, there could be more Christians in China than in any other country by 2030.
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