According to reports, five leaders and co-workers from Shengjia Church were convicted and found guilty of “illegal business operations” on 16 January, when they received their verdict documents.
In 2019 the church began printing auxiliary Bible reading materials internally to help believers grow in their knowledge and love of God as they experience the transforming work of the gospel.
In May 2023, the church was raided by multiple departments including Shunde Police, the Religious Affairs Bureau, the Department of Education, and the Department of Business Administration. Pastor Deng Yanxiang, Deacon Zhu Longjiang, Deacon Wang Weicai, and Zhu Qiaoling were arrested by Shunde police on suspicion of “illegal business operations”. Elder Zhu Longfei was arrested on the same charges in early August of the same year.
On 1 December 2023, the Shunde District Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against the five Christians, seeking sentences of more than five years. The church promptly hired Christian lawyers, and the trial process was very lengthy.
On 16 January, the Shunde District People’s Court sentenced Deng Yanxiang — deemed the ’principal offender’— to two years in prison, Wang Weicai to one year and five months, Zhu Longjiang and Zhu Qiaoling to one year and three months, and Zhu Longfei to one year and two months. With the exception of Deng Yanxiang, the others were released during or shortly after the trial.
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