Thank God for the Release of Yan Xiaojie

Pastor Jailed for Social Media Prayers Is Freed
Prayer Alert, February 25th
​Release International

Thank God for the release of our Chinese brother Yan Xiaojie, a pastor jailed for five months for circulating prayer requests on social media.

Pastor Yan of the China Christian Evangelic Mission in Wenzhou city was arrested last August after using social media to forward prayer requests for churches in Zhejiang province targeted for cross removal.

His original eight-day sentence was ‘extended indefinitely’ last September (Prayer Alert, September 15) on charges of ‘gathering a mob to disturb social order’. Another church elder, Cheng Chaohua, detained the day after Yan, was released in December.

Eight other Christians from Zhejiang remain in detention. Seven are church elders or their wives, including prominent pastor Gu ‘Joseph’ Yuese (Prayer Alert, February 19); the eighth is Christian lawyer Zhang Kai (Prayer Alert, December 11), held in an unregistered jail since July.

Meanwhile, Haicheng Christian Gathering in Wenzhou received an official warning on February 2 that its cross would be removed; its electricity and water have been cut off.

• Thank God for the release of Pastor Yan. Pray that he and his church will continue to be a powerful witness.
• Pray that God will strengthen and bless the believers still behind bars in Zhejiang, and that they would be released soon.
• Pray that Zhejiang officials’ cross removal campaign will only encourage local churches to be bolder in proclaiming the gospel.