2022 April Persecution Magazine
FRONT LINES OF MINISTRY PASTOR PROFILE THE UNSHAKABLE FAITH OF MINISTER AN YANKUI Despite Chinese authorities repeatedly harassing and detaining a house church minister, his church never ceased meeting despite the ongoing persecution. By Gina Goh An Yankui, the minister of Xuncheng (Zion) Reformed Church in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, was arrested last November by Chinese authorities on charges of illegally crossing the national border, when he and other church members attended a 2020 Christian conference in Malaysia. Other church members arrested for the same fabricated charge were recently sentenced to six to eight months of imprisonment, so it is likely that An will be incarcerated for a similar duration, if not longer. Unfortunately, losing freedom is not unfamiliar to An. As early as 2018, An was arrested along with more than a dozen other house church members after holding a prayer vigil for the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. Since then, harassment, church raids, and detention were no longer foreign to him. While ICC supports church planters in China and around the world, we can’t disclose the names or details of the church planters we support. But An’s situation is symbolic of the challenges that so many Christians and church planters face in China. Despite the persecution, An continued to speak out against injustice by signing onto Minister An Yankui is warmly welcomed by his family after he served his 15-day administrative detention in January 2021. Minister An Yankui China 6 PERSECU ION.ORG APRIL 2022 INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN
Xuncheng Church was raided on November 15, 2020. Minister An and six other members were detained briefly following the raid. joint letters that openly called on Beijing to respect religious freedom for Christians, a move that is considered highly risky under the communist regime. In November 2020, local authorities raided Xuncheng Church’s Sunday service and questioned An’s qualifications as a preacher. They questioned whether his credentials were approved by the state and whether their gathering was registered with the government. His church was disbanded the same day. This was not going to stop An. He continued to lead his church and gather people at his house for Bible study, yet even that has been monitored and clamped down. Xuncheng Church was planted by the heavily persecuted Early Rain Covenant Church (ERCC) in Chengdu. An graduated from the seminary founded by ERCC and is under the influence of reformed theology and ERCC Pastor Wang Yi, who has been imprisoned since December 2018 under trumped-up charges. An once said, “Those who experience the Lord’s suffering in the detention centers, but are able to live a witness that amazes the generation and makes history sigh, are worthy of our respect!” Perhaps this would also be his adage, giving him hope and comfort, as he walks towards unknown imprisonment. “Those who experience the Lord’s suffering in the detention centers, but are able to live a witness that amazes the generation and makes history sigh, are worthy of our respect!” - Minister An Yankui PERSECU ION.ORG INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN 7
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FRONT LINES OF MINISTRY<br />
PASTOR PROFILE<br />
THE UNSHAKABLE FAITH<br />
OF MINISTER AN YANKUI<br />
Despite Chinese authorities repeatedly harassing and detaining a house church minister,<br />
his church never ceased meeting despite the ongoing persecution.<br />
By Gina Goh<br />
An Yankui, the minister of Xuncheng<br />
(Zion) Reformed Church in Taiyuan,<br />
Shanxi Province, was arrested<br />
last November by Chinese authorities on<br />
charges of illegally crossing the national<br />
border, when he and other church members<br />
attended a 2020 Christian conference in<br />
Malaysia.<br />
Other church members arrested for the<br />
same fabricated charge were recently<br />
sentenced to six to eight months of<br />
imprisonment, so it is likely that An will be<br />
incarcerated for a similar duration, if not<br />
longer.<br />
Unfortunately, losing freedom is not<br />
unfamiliar to An. As early as 2018, An was<br />
arrested along with more than a dozen<br />
other house church members after holding<br />
a prayer vigil for the 1989 Tiananmen<br />
Square Massacre. Since then, harassment,<br />
church raids, and detention were no longer<br />
foreign to him.<br />
While ICC supports church planters in China<br />
and around the world, we can’t disclose the<br />
names or details of the church planters we<br />
support. But An’s situation is symbolic of<br />
the challenges that so many Christians and<br />
church planters face in China.<br />
Despite the persecution, An continued to<br />
speak out against injustice by signing onto<br />
Minister An Yankui is warmly welcomed by his<br />
family after he served his 15-day administrative<br />
detention in January 2021.<br />
Minister An Yankui<br />
China<br />
6 PERSECU ION.ORG<br />
APRIL <strong>2022</strong><br />
INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN
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