The first megachurch in China has been shut down by authorities

Early this week the largest church in China was raided and shut down by Chinese authorities. The news a sobering reminder of the persecution in China. (We’re posting about this news story because our most recent Deidox film, Li Yang, takes place within the Church in China.)

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

The Golden Lamp Church was built to serve nearly 50,000 worshippers in the gritty heart of China’s coal country. But that was before hundreds of police and hired thugs descended on the mega-church, smashing doors and windows, seizing Bibles and sending dozens of worshippers to hospitals with serious injuries, members and activists say. Today, the church’s co-pastors are in jail. The gates to the church complex in the northern province of Shanxiare locked and a police armored personnel vehicle sits outside. The closure of what may be China‘s first mega-church is the most visible sign that the communist government is determined to rein in the rapid spread of Christianity, with a crackdown in recent months that church leaders call the harshest in years.

Read the entire article here.

Sobering news about the reality of the Church in China, and a good reminder that we need to be continually praying for the persecuted church. There was another big new item from China that slipped under the radar this week. A pastor in China was sentenced to 15 years in prison for telling his story publicly. You can read that article here.

Whenever we hear this type of news it greatly humbles us because of Li Yang’s courage to have his story told in a Deidox film. Greatly humbles us.