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| 中国一家庭教会聚会现场 （图：复兴国际华人事工） |
（中国-2018年5月15日）福建、江西及贵州近期均有部分家庭教会聚会点，不久前接到政府通知，责令教会停止聚会。多名信徒称，教会接到口头警告，有些则是书面通知。宗教部门官员还要求家庭教会的信徒，到官方三自教会聚会。
今年以来，中国各地政府想方设法压缩家庭教会的活动空间，甚至威胁信徒不准聚会。福建省南平县一家庭教会的聚会场所，5月上旬接到该县宗教局人员通知，要求该教会到三自教堂登记，并到三自教会参加宗教活动。
当地一位不愿透露姓名的信徒称：“县宗教局的人来，不让聚会，还说是非法聚会。更声称，如果你要想聚会，就去三自教堂。其实这个教会每次聚会就二、三十人，都是住在附近的居民，没有外来人”。
另一位林姓基督徒称，政府对家庭教会的手段，越来越严厉，除了不准聚会，还登记信徒个人资料：“现在逼迫越来越严重。党员干部、公务员不准信教，学校老师不准信教。南平这边还在调查家庭教会，排查弟兄姊妹的背景”。
另一位林姓基督徒称，政府对家庭教会的手段，越来越严厉，除了不准聚会，还登记信徒个人资料：“现在逼迫越来越严重。党员干部、公务员不准信教，学校老师不准信教。南平这边还在调查家庭教会，排查弟兄姊妹的背景”。
江西进贤县一家庭教会，近期也被当局禁止聚会。一位不愿具名的信徒称，被禁止聚会的属于蒙头（地方）教会，有约两百多名信徒：“4月份，进贤县农村上爱大队一个教会受到当地政府人员的骚扰，说他们非法从事宗教活动，不让他们聚会，但是他们现在还是在聚会”。
当地信徒称，2月份以来，进贤县各乡镇有不少家庭教会的聚会场所被责令关闭。官员甚至威胁信徒，如果再聚会就抓人。有更多的教会担心遭到报复，不敢接受境外媒体采访，也不希望媒体报道。一信徒称：“被禁止教会的这个蒙头的教会，有两百多人，平时聚会有一百多人。他们不会轻易放弃”。
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| 贵州省大方县民宗局通知书 （图：对华援助协会，2018年5月15日） |
颜亨平对记者说，当局下达通知时，还声称已经启动对该教会的调查程序。但他们还在聚会：“我们遇到的难处不是整个教会，而是一个聚会点。我们聚会的人也不多，也就几十个人”。
不久前，贵阳活石教会牧师苏天富被当地法院判刑一年，缓刑两年。活石教会于数年前被取缔的原因之一，据称是该教会规模越来越大，在短短六年间发展到五百多名信徒。
对华援助协会特约记者乔农报道
House churches in Fujian, Jiangxi and Guizhou received government warning
(China-2018-5-15)
The local governments in Fujian, Jiangxi and Guizhou sent out notifications shutting down the house churches. According to local Christians, some churches received verbal warnings, while others received written notices. The officials from the department of religious affairs required the house church members to join the government-sponsered Three-self Church.
The local governments intensified the persecution against the house churches since the beginning of this year, preventing the church members from gathering. In early May, a house church in Nanping County, Fujian Province received a notification from the county bureau of religious affairs that the church members should register at the Three-self church and attend the official churches. An anonymous local Christian told the reporter: “The officials from the county bureau of religious affairs and forbade us to meet. They said that our gatherings were illegal. They also told us that we should go to the Three-self churches if we wanted to meet. In fact, this church only has twenty to thirty regular members, who are all residents nearby. There are no outsiders.”
A local Christian named Lin told the reporter that the government treated the house churches more and more harshly, preventing the Christians from gathering and registering their personal information. “The persecution has escalated. The Communist Party members, civil servants and teachers are not allowed to have religious beliefs. The government of Nanping is investigating local house churches and recording the personal information of the Christians.”
A house church in Jinxian County, Jiangxi was also banned by the government. According to an anonymous local believer, the private church had about two hundred members. “In April, the local government officials began to harass a church in Shangai Brigade, Jinxian County, accusing the church members of organizing illegal religious activities and threatening to ban the church, but the church members kept gathering.”
According to local Christians, the government had threatened to ban a large number of house churches in Jinxian County since February. The officials even threatened to arrest the church members if they kept meeting each other. Fearing retaliations from the government, the local church members did not dare to meet with reporters from foreign media, nor did they want the foreign media to report about their sufferings. “The church banned by the government had more than two hundred members. More than a hundred people come to the gatherings regularly. They won’t give up easily.”
Besides, on May 13th, the Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs of Dafang County, Guizhou Province issued a notice to a local Christian named Yan Hengping, demanding him to stop all future gatherings. According to notice, Yan Hengping set up religious venues and organized religious activities on its own, which violated the 41st and 69th articles of the Regulations on Religious Affairs. Yan Hengping responded: “I am a Christian. I only worship at my own house, and I have never established any religious venues on my own. I did nothing illegal.”
Yan Hengping told the reporter that the government claimed that an investigation aimed at his church had already begun, but the church members kept gathering. “Only a meeting point, not the entire church, was harassed by the government. There aren’t many people in our church. Only a few dozens.”
Recently, the local church sentenced Su Tianfu, the pastor of the Huoshi Church of Guizhou, a year in prison and two years in probation. The government banned the Huoshi Church a few years ago because the church kept getting larger, recruiting more than five hundred members in six years.
China Aid Association Special Correspondent Qiao Nong
(Note: English version is translated by ChinaAid)
House churches in Fujian, Jiangxi and Guizhou received government warning
(China-2018-5-15)
The local governments in Fujian, Jiangxi and Guizhou sent out notifications shutting down the house churches. According to local Christians, some churches received verbal warnings, while others received written notices. The officials from the department of religious affairs required the house church members to join the government-sponsered Three-self Church.
The local governments intensified the persecution against the house churches since the beginning of this year, preventing the church members from gathering. In early May, a house church in Nanping County, Fujian Province received a notification from the county bureau of religious affairs that the church members should register at the Three-self church and attend the official churches. An anonymous local Christian told the reporter: “The officials from the county bureau of religious affairs and forbade us to meet. They said that our gatherings were illegal. They also told us that we should go to the Three-self churches if we wanted to meet. In fact, this church only has twenty to thirty regular members, who are all residents nearby. There are no outsiders.”
A local Christian named Lin told the reporter that the government treated the house churches more and more harshly, preventing the Christians from gathering and registering their personal information. “The persecution has escalated. The Communist Party members, civil servants and teachers are not allowed to have religious beliefs. The government of Nanping is investigating local house churches and recording the personal information of the Christians.”
A house church in Jinxian County, Jiangxi was also banned by the government. According to an anonymous local believer, the private church had about two hundred members. “In April, the local government officials began to harass a church in Shangai Brigade, Jinxian County, accusing the church members of organizing illegal religious activities and threatening to ban the church, but the church members kept gathering.”
According to local Christians, the government had threatened to ban a large number of house churches in Jinxian County since February. The officials even threatened to arrest the church members if they kept meeting each other. Fearing retaliations from the government, the local church members did not dare to meet with reporters from foreign media, nor did they want the foreign media to report about their sufferings. “The church banned by the government had more than two hundred members. More than a hundred people come to the gatherings regularly. They won’t give up easily.”
Besides, on May 13th, the Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs of Dafang County, Guizhou Province issued a notice to a local Christian named Yan Hengping, demanding him to stop all future gatherings. According to notice, Yan Hengping set up religious venues and organized religious activities on its own, which violated the 41st and 69th articles of the Regulations on Religious Affairs. Yan Hengping responded: “I am a Christian. I only worship at my own house, and I have never established any religious venues on my own. I did nothing illegal.”
Yan Hengping told the reporter that the government claimed that an investigation aimed at his church had already begun, but the church members kept gathering. “Only a meeting point, not the entire church, was harassed by the government. There aren’t many people in our church. Only a few dozens.”
Recently, the local church sentenced Su Tianfu, the pastor of the Huoshi Church of Guizhou, a year in prison and two years in probation. The government banned the Huoshi Church a few years ago because the church kept getting larger, recruiting more than five hundred members in six years.
China Aid Association Special Correspondent Qiao Nong
(Note: English version is translated by ChinaAid)