Chinese House Churches Raided, Two Pastors Missing

Chinese House Churches Raided, Two Pastors Missing   Marshall Ramsey II, Worthy News US Correspondent   Worthy News has just learned of two incidents of religious persecution in China, thanks to ChinaAid.   In the first, which took place in Qu County, Da Prefecture, Sichuan province, the Youqing Church on Sept. 26 was raided by police.  Objects of value to the church were broken, books were confiscated, and members of the congregation were arrested and taken to the local police station.  Family members of those arrested were requested to pay bail money to get the detainees out of jail.   On Sept. 29, 2010, four of the church members attempted to negotiate with Sichuan police in hopes of having the belongings that were confiscated returned to them.  This was done in accordance to Chinese laws regarding places of worship.  Instead of having the items returned to them, the members themselves were arrested.   In Henan provice, in the Wancheng District of Nanyang City, another house church was raided.  All occupants of the church were arrested except for one elderly woman.   Two foreign pastors, one from the United States and the other from Russia, both present at the time of the raid, were arrested along with thier translator.   Ma Hanzhong, a member of the house church and arrested with the others was beaten.  The location of the two foreign pastors are unknown at this time.   Henan province officials have threatened to sentence the detained believers to "re-education" (attempt to get them to renounce their faith in Jesus Christ) through 'hard' labor.   Anyone interested in information about the location of the foreign pastors may call:   Russian Embassy: =86 106 532 1381 United States Embassy: =86 108 531 3000   All religious activity in China is strictly forbidden unless it is approved by the government.