Release International

Chinese officials have issued a secret order calling for several Beijing house churches to be closed – apparently to gag dissidents before the 60th anniversary of Communist rule.

Release partner China Aid alleges that the Chinese Government sent round 'a secret directive' to agencies such as the Public Security Bureau (PSB) ordering them to dismantle at least six big house churches.

The Beijing Huajie Plaza complex has reportedly had orders from the PSB to terminate its rental agreement with the Beijing Shouwang house church – one of the largest house churches in the area. The church, which has more than 1,000 members, has been renting two floors at the Plaza for several years. Officials shut down the church's website in April.

Several other house churches in and around Beijing have been targeted in recent months. Last month, officials disrupted a baptism which a church from Haidian district was conducting in a river in Beijing's suburbs. China Aid believes the crackdown is an attempt stifle religious freedom during celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the Communist Party's rule in China next month.

(Sources: China Aid, Los Angeles Times)

• Pray that officials will not succeed in closing down the Beijing house churches which they appear to have in their sights.
• Pray specifically for a new home for the Beijing Shouwang church.

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