4 minute read
East Asia
Hello,
Over the last 18 months I have written to all the Cuban church leaders who are listed in the current edition of Connect & Encourage. When I write, I commit myself to praying for each person I write to every dayfor the next month.
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David
Ripon, UK
Be an encourager. Today.
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Gao Zhisheng
China
Information courtesy of China Aid Association and other sources.
Pastor Zhang Shaojie
In 2013 over 20 members of Nanle County Christian Church, Henan, were detained after members attempted to petition a higher authority about a land dispute involving the church. Most were released, but Pastor Zhang Shaojie is in prison serving a 12-year sentence for fraud and ‘gathering acrowd to disturb public order’. Towards the end of 2021 his family received a letter from him, revealing that he is in good spirits and feels peaceful regarding hisimprisonment for theLord.
Zhang Shaojie PO Box 841 61 Songshan Avenue East Xinmi City Henan Province 452370 China
Zhang Zhan
Zhang, a Christian lawyer, was arrested in May 2020 and later sentenced to four years’ imprisonment for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, after reporting on the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan. In December 2020, Zhang said to her lawyer that she felt comforted from praying and reciting Bible verses. She has been denied access to her lawyer since January 2021. In autumn 2021, she became critically ill after a prolonged hunger strike. In February 2022, it was reported that her health had improved slightly. However, she remains on a partial hunger strike, and there is still great concern about her health.
Zhang Zhan Area 5, Shanghai Women’s Prison No.1601, Zhangjing Road Sijing Zhen, Songjiang Qu Shanghai 201601 China
Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church
In 2019 dozens of church members from Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church made the momentous decision to leave their home country of China to seek safety and freedom overseas. Years of harassment, intimidation and police raids had convinced them that they had no choice but to flee. They settled in Jeju Island in South Korea.
pyg201904@gmail.com
Gao Zhisheng
Gao Zhisheng is a Christian human rights lawyer who was first detained by the Chinese authorities in 2006. Before this, he was known for defending religious minorities. Between 2006 and 2011 he was disappeared multiple times and suffered beatings and torture. In a memoir published in 2016, he detailed the torture and solitary confinement he had endured at the hands of the authorities and said he was sustained by his Christian faith and his hopes for China. Gao disappeared again in August 2017. His wife, Geng He, reported in April 2021 that police in the northern province of Shaanxi had admitted to holding Gao but had not provided any further information. During a prayer service in August 2022, Ms Geng tearfully shared her fears for his health, and asked for prayers for his physical wellbeing and for his release.
Please email your messages to encourage and comfort Ms Geng, her daughter Grace and son Peter, and we will pass them on. admin@csw.org.uk
“Thank you, CSW’s friends, for remembering Gao Zhisheng and praying for him. We are very grateful.” Ms Geng, Gao’s wife
Alimujiang Yimiti
A Uyghur Christian from Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Alimujiang is being detained “solely because of his faith” according to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Alimujiang was working as a project manager for a British company, when it was targeted in a series of closures of foreign businesses belonging to Christians in the Region in September 2007. He was detained in February 2008 and sentenced to 15 years in prison in April 2009, in a court case that did not follow due process under Chinese or international law.
Following a failed appeal, Alimujiang was moved to a prison in Xinjiang’s provincial capital, Urumqi. In February 2011 it was announced that an appeal at the Higher People’s Court of Xinjiang had failed and his sentence was upheld. In January 2013 his wife was informed that her monthly visits to her husband would be cut to one every three months.
Alimujiang Yimiti Prison No. 3 of Xinjiang No. 1339 Dongzhan Road Urumqi city Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region 830013 China
Be an encourager. Today.
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Malaysia
Susanna Koh
Pastor Raymond Koh was abducted from a street in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia in broad daylight, in February 2017. He has not been seen or heard from since that day four years ago. His wife Susannah and their children are still seeking answers, fighting for justice and continuing to trust that God will help them find the truth.
Susanna Koh #107, Lot LG109B, One Utama Shopping Centre, No 1, Lebuh Bandar Utama 47800 Petaling Jaya Selangor West Malaysia
liewsusanna@yahoo.com
Alimujiang Yimiti
