On the evening of May 23, 2024, Qin Wen, a Christian from Xi’an Church of Abundance identified as a "victim" by the police, issued an open prayer letter stating that all her money was donated to God and that she was not defrauded by the pastors. Qin Wen has hired a defense lawyer to prove that she is not a victim. However, the work of the defense lawyer has faced significant obstacles. The Baqiao District Court in Xi’an has used various excuses to prevent the defense lawyer from legally reviewing files and copying discs.
In her prayer letter, Qin Wen calls on Christians to pray for lawyers to be able to carry out legal procedures and review files according to the law. She detailed her experience with the case involving Pastor Lian Changnian, Pastor Lian Xuliang, and Fu Juan being accused of suspected fraud. Moved by the Holy Spirit, she declared that her money was donated to God and that she was not defrauded.
Qin Wen disclosed recent obstacles encountered by her lawyer. After being entrusted on May 16, 2024, her lawyer contacted Judge Duan Wenwen of the Xi’an Baqiao District Court on May 22. The judge’s assistant stated that the case was sensitive and required approval from the presiding judge for file review. Additionally, copying discs would require a removable optical drive. At noon that day, the lawyer received a call back informing them that both the presiding judge and assistant were unavailable on May 23 and 24.
On May 23, Qin Wen and her lawyer went to court as planned but were told again that both officials were unavailable. They received similar responses during multiple phone calls in the afternoon. Consequently, they reported this issue to the court’s supervision office and procuratorate for infringing on the lawyer’s right to practice.
Xi’an Church of Abundance is one of China’s largest house churches under the “Chinese Gospel Fellowship” and has long suffered government persecution. On August 17, 2022, Shilipu Police Station in Xi’an raided the church and detained Pastor Lian Changnian, his son Pastor Lian Xuliang, and co-worker Fu Juan under "residential surveillance at a designated location" on grounds of "fraud." They were secretly detained for half a year before their families received news about them.
During their detention period, they reportedly suffered torture such as starvation and beatings. It was only after being criminally detained on February 15, 2023, that their food and sleep were guaranteed; they were formally arrested on March 22, 2023.
On April 28, 2024, Pastor Lian Changnian’s defense lawyer met with him at Xi’an Baqiao Detention Center. The lawyer observed significant physical deterioration in Pastor Lian's appearance and behavior.
Throughout this case involving Xi’an Church of Abundance members, police have extensively summoned Christians from the church using torture to force them into betraying pastors or renouncing their faith. This includes claiming daily offerings given by Christians were fraudulent acts by pastors.
The Chinese government has increasingly convicted house church evangelists of "fraud," despite Christians maintaining these offerings are part of a longstanding religious tradition based on biblical teachings.
In her prayer letter issued on May 23rd evening detailing these events while seeking prayers for justice:
