Early Rain Covenant Church vows to fight for justice of Christians in China

(Photo: Unsplash/zhang kaiyv)

Early Rain Covenant Church (ERCC) in China has made a vow to stand firm and fight against the increasing persecution of Christians in the country even after the church pastor Wang Yi was sentenced to nine years in prison.

"Do you government officials not know that this is a sin against God? Do you not know that this is an abuse of your authority? Even so, we do not hate you. On the contrary, our merciful and righteous God wants us to love you and to pray for you," ERCC said in an open letter.

In the letter, ERCC members are asking churches across the world to pray for pastor Yi and pastor Qin Defu who was also sentenced for four years.

Before being arrested, pastor Yi wrote a letter saying he was not interested in "changing any political or legal institutions in China" because "the goal of disobedience is not to change the world but to testify about another world."

Along with jail sentence, the Christian leader's personal assets worth $7,200 was confiscated by authorities and the pastor has lost his political rights for three years.

Pastor Yi's church is citing scriptures from the Holy Bible and proclaiming about the love of God alongside asking for justice of Christians in China.

According to Bob Fu, President of China Aid, sentencing of pastor Yi is the harshest judgement compared to any other house church leader in China.