“They Killed My Mother, They Arrested My Father”: Sister Zou Demei’s Father’s Day Reflections

The former leader of The Church of Almighty God in four Chinese provinces is free in the United States, but her mother has been killed and she cannot contact her elderly father in China.

Editorial note: Bitter Winter readers are familiar with the story of Sister Zou Demei. In the United States, June 16 is Father’s Day. In this article, she talks about her father and how the persecution prevents her from contacting him.

A Persecuted Family

All my family belongs to The Church of Almighty God. In 2002, we learned that the police had identified us as members of the Church, and my father will soon be arrested on the three charges of being a “political criminal,” a “counter-revolutionary,” and “engaged in the subversion of state power.” I will be arrested too, together with my mother and my two sisters. We went our separate ways. I was on the run for ten years and only in 2012 saw my father again.

Fake News that “The Church of Almighty God Is Anti-Family” Debunked by Italian Courts

Two Italian court decisions quote scholarly studies to reject the fake news depicting The Church of Almighty God as “against the family.”

A widespread fake news about The Church of Almighty God, a large Christian new religious movement severely persecuted in China, is that it is “against the family” and “break families.” Unfortunately, the fake news has been spread by Western media in articles available on the Internet, and mentioned in old official reports by the Canadian immigration authorities still available in the data base of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)—although no longer used in Canada, where most asylum requests of The Church of Almighty God refugees are now granted.

As a result, when refugees from The Church of Almighty God tell immigration boards that they have been converted by members of their family, or that in turn they have converted relatives, their testimonies are rejected as not believable and asylum is denied, with the argument that “this is impossible, since it is well known that the Church is against the family.”

Refugees of The Church of Almighty God in Japan

Oral statement of Ms Christine Mirre, of the accredited NGO CAP-LC, at the 40th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Geneva, 13 March 2019.

As of January 2019, 270 members of The Church of Almighty God (CAG), a Chinese Christian new religious movement, have escaped China and applied for asylum in Japan. None of the requests has been granted.

That the CAG is ruthlessly and cruelly persecuted in China is an established fact. The CAG claims that more than 300,000 of its members have been arrested, and scholars regard the figure as credible. There are hundreds of published Chinese court decisions showing that CAG members have been sentenced to heavy jail penalties for the only circumstance of being active in a banned religious organization. NGOs have also reported instances of torture, extra-judicial killings, and organ harvesting.

Tortured to Death: A New Book Documents Extra-Judicial Killings of Members of The Church of Almighty God in China

The Belgian NGO Human Rights Without Frontiers reports on 20 cases of extra-judicial killing of members of The Church of Almighty Good in China

On 29 April 1997, Xie Yongjiang learned that one of his friends had been arrested for preaching. Fearing that his friend’s belongings would be confiscated by the police, Xie, his son-in-law, Mr. Gao, and Mr. Gao’s father, rushed to their friend’s home. The three men worked until 2:00am, moving their friend’s personal belongings to a safe place.

The three men rode their bicycles home in the early morning hours of 30 April; but as they neared the town of Wugou, they were stopped by local police officers. Xie Yongjiang, who had been arrested previously as a member of The Church of Almighty God, a Chinese Christian new religious movement, was recognized by the officers. All the trio was arrested and taken to the Wugou Town Police Station.

The Church of Almighty God / Eastern Lightning: 10 False Myths

Most of what you find on the Internet about The Church of Almighty God is false. Here is why, and where to look for more reliable information.

The Church of Almighty God (CAG) is the largest Chinese Christian new religious movement. It is also known as “Eastern Lightning.” It has been founded in 1991, and after its rapid growth alarmed the Chinese regime, it was banned in 1995. It was heavily persecuted since, with hundreds of thousands arrested, hundreds of cases of torture, more than one hundred well-documented instances of death while in custody or as a consequence of police mistreatment, and several cases of organ harvesting. In the 21st century, to justify the persecution, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has launched a massive campaign of fake news against the CAG. Unfortunately, despite having been debunked by independent Western scholars, the fake news has been uncritically spread by some Western media and is still widely available on the Web, where Chinese propaganda is also active with anonymous or pseudonymous texts. Here is a guide to the most common myths and fake news.

Young, Persecuted Member of The Church of Almighty God Is Granted Asylum in US

18-year old Sister Danxiang Cheng was recognized as a refugee after a legal battle that lasted several months.

Sister Danxiang Cheng is an 18-year-old member of The Church of Almighty God (CAG). During her time as a CAG member in China, she experienced several episodes that made her uncomfortable and fearful of living in Chinese society as a CAG member. She received intense scrutiny in school regarding students’ religious affiliation and, even though she was a good student, this pressure resulted in her dropping out of school. Her mother was nearly arrested by the police for her CAG membership and narrowly escaped, forcing her to hide in another town away from her daughter. In addition, two CAG members that Ms. Cheng was close to were arrested by the police and one of them was even sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment for her beliefs and activities!

Court of Rome: CAG Refugees Returning to China Would Suffer “Serious Harm”

The Court of Rome granted asylum to a member of the Church of Almighty God, acknowledging that the Church is persecuted in China.

Amalia Astori and Laura Bondi

Mrs. L.Z., a forty-six years old Chinese citizen, converted in 2011 and became a member of The Church of Almighty God (CAG), which helped her during a difficult period of her life.

Since the CAG is persecuted in China, Mrs. L.Z. met secretly once a week with her fellow believers, in different homes, to worship and read the movement’s sacred scriptures. In 2014, during one of these meetings, the police broke in. Mrs. L.Z. managed to escape from the back door and hide into a cornfield, located behind the house where the meeting was taking place.

Confidential Documents Expose CCP’s Plans to Persecute The Church of Almighty God Abroad

CCP collects information on CAG members who fled China, uses agents and online propaganda to harass them. Anyone opposing the persecution deemed hostile to China.

The Church of Almighty God (CAG) is the largest Chinese Christian new religious movement, which, due to its rapid growth, has been regarded as a threat to the CCP. It was included in the list of the xie jiao in 1995 and has become the most targeted and heavily persecuted religious movements in China ever since. Under the CCP’s ruthless oppression, often accompanied by torture and long-term imprisonment, some CAG members have been forced to flee overseas, but the authorities haven’t given up on persecuting them.

They Are Coming! CCP Sends Again Relatives of Church of Almighty God Refugees to Korea to Stage False Demonstrations

The CCP harasses again the relatives of CAG refugees in Korea who live in China, luring them to travel abroad to South Korea on July 22-24 next to “search for relatives” and bring them back… to jail.

The Church of Almighty God: Persecuted At Home and Abroad

The Church of Almighty God (CAG) is the largest Chinese Christian new religious movement. Due to its rapid growth, the Church was included in the xie jiao list by the CCP in 1995 and has been heavily persecuted since. CAG members have been subjected to persecution, with frequent cases of arrests and torture. According to the recently released 2019 report of the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), “in 2018, the Chinese government harassed and arrested thousands of followers of […] The Church of Almighty God. Many of those detained during the year—whom The Church of Almighty God estimates to be in the thousands—suffered torture and other abuses, in some cases resulting in deaths or unexplained disappearances while in custody.” According to the yearly Report on International Religious Freedom of the U.S. State Department for 2019, covering the year 2018, “The Church of Almighty God reported authorities arrested 11,111 of its members during the year,” against 9,000 from Falun Gong, the second most targeted group. “The Church of Almighty God, the document adds, reported authorities subjected hundreds of their members to ‘torture or forced indoctrination.’” Overall, the document said, “The Church of Almighty God reported authorities subjected 525 of its members to ‘torture or forced indoctrination’ during the year. The Church also reported members suffered miscarriages after police subjected them to ‘torture and abuse’ in detention facilities.”

Condemnation of CCP's Torture and Protection of Chinese Religious Refugees, HRWF Calls

In 2019, the CCP’s persecution of religion and faith in Mainland China has reached a peak. But it shamelessly claims that religious freedom exists in China. Ms. Lea Perekrests, deputy director of Human Rights Without Frontiers, spoke at the conference “The Long Arm of the Dragon: China’s Persecution of Believers at Home and Abroad” held in Seoul, South Korea on June 20, denouncing the CCP’s brutal suppression of The Church of Almighty God, Uyghurs and Falun Gong. She also called the world to grant protection to the Chinese religious refugees who have fled overseas.

Italian Festival of Religions: All Must Defend Religious Freedom

On April 5, 2019 Mondoreligioni, an Italian festival of religions now in its second edition, was held in Rome, drawing representatives of religious groups from a number of countries to have exchanges by displaying religious literature and artwork, creative performances, and so on. The festival’s organizers, Italy’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Vice-President of the European Parliament, attended the event to deliver speeches. Christians with The Church of Almighty God (CAG) were also invited to attend.

More Attention: 

Follow God by the Way of the Cross | Christian Video "Chronicles of Religious Persecution in China"

Saying “No” to CCP Tyranny: Canadian Multi-ethnic Communities Demand a Stop to Human Rights Abuses

The international community has recently had its eyes on the arrests of Canadian citizens in China, with a report referring to the CCP’s actions as similar to a bandit “taking a hostage.” The Canadian government confirmed on January 3 that since the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, a total of 13 Canadian citizens have been arrested in China. On January 4, a coalition of representatives from multi-ethnic Canadian communities held a demonstration and a march in front of the Chinese Consulate in Toronto demanding that the CCP immediately release arrested Canadian citizens, shut down their concentration camps, and stop their human rights abuses.

Recommended reading:

The Chinese Communist Party Uses “Cult” as a Pretext to Persecute Religious Beliefs | What’s a Cult? 

EU Parliament: The Church of Almighty God Christians in worse position than Uyghur Muslims

On December 10, 2018, Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF) and EU Reporters held a round-table discussion in the European Parliament. The discussion centered around the current situation of religious persecution in China, and focused on the persecution suffered by The Church of Almighty God. Among the participants were EU Parliament member Tomáš Zdechovský, political advisor Dr. Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, HRWF director Willy Fautre, and HRWF deputy director Lea Perekrests.

Know more:

The Chinese Communist Party Uses “Cult” as a Pretext to Persecute Religious Beliefs | What’s a Cult? 

ISHR Annual Meeting Spotlights Persecution of Religious Belief in China

🙏✝️ 🙏✝️ 🙏✝️ 🙏✝️ 🙏✝️🙏✝️

In Recent years, the situation of the religious freedom in China has been worsening. More and more Christians have been forced to flee to other countries to seek political asylum because of being unable to bear the CCP government’s persecution. As the true facts of their persecution by the CCP are gradually being known by the world, some international human rights organizations start to give them attention and appeal for their status. From April 6 to 7, 2018, an annual meeting of the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) was held at Gustav-Stresemann-Institut in Bonn, Germany.The theme of this annual meeting was “Focusing on the humanitarian situation and religious freedom in the Middle East.” Some human rights activists, religious figures and representatives of persecuted Christians were invited to participate in this meeting. During the meeting, some speakers discussed the situation of the religious persecution in China. The Church of Almighty God (CAG) Christians, as invited guests, also gave speeches, and introduced the main measures the CCP has applied to cruelly suppress and persecute the CAG, which aroused the attention of some participants.

Recommendation：
Books of the Church of Almighty God
The Eastern Lightning—The Light of Salvation