(Hefei, Anhui Province – June 5, 2024) The case against Pastor Zhou Songlin and Elder Ding Zhongfu of the Hefei Ganquan Church in Anhui, who were charged with "fraud" due to their faith, has recently been filed with the court. To date, they have been detained for more than half a year, and other believers of the church are still being questioned and threatened by the police, demanding that they accuse their own pastors.
Starting from May 11th, many believers of the Ganquan Church received inquiries from the community management office. These inquiries usually take several forms: phone inquiries, in-person visits at believers’ homes, or requests for signatures on blank papers which are then filled in by government staff.
In mid-May, many believers of the Ganquan Church also received insider information that national security agents required the community management office to cooperate and complete the investigation within a week to disperse the church's followers. There were also reports of government staff visiting believers' homes to investigate and warning them not to contact people from the Ganquan Church while asking them to attend the Three-Self Church.
Hefei Ganquan Church is a house church with a history of more than twenty years. On November 30, 2023, 16 members of the church were searched at home by public security officials and detained on suspicion of "fraud." Later, 14 were released on bail pending trial. However, Pastor Zhou Songlin and Elder Ding Zhongfu have remained detained since then.
Dividing, dismantling, and provoking from within have been strategies employed by China’s judicial departments for religious cases in recent years. The wives of Pastor Zhou Songlin and Elder Ding Zhongfu faced accusations within the church for hiring Zhang Kai and Li Guisheng—two Christian lawyers known for representing human rights and religious cases—causing division within the church. They demanded that these lawyers be dismissed; however, this request was flatly refused by both wives. Subsequently, co-workers publicly stated they were leaving the church.
Responding to these events, Pastor Zhou Songlin said: "Actually, this is political persecution. We did not actively participate in politics but we were forced into it only to realize that the church is not in a political vacuum."
It is reported that both pastors remain calm in detention. Elder Ding Zhongfu stated he is no longer afraid now: “The Bible says: ‘Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.’”
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