Prominent Chinese house church leaders await trial and sentencing.

China (MNN) — A prominent Chinese house church leader could face an extremely harsh sentence if convicted in his upcoming trial.

According to Voice of the Martyrs, Pastor Cai Zhuohua is the leading minister to six house churches in Beijing, and will be formally tried in court any day. The 32-year-old pastor was kidnapped by three plain-clothes officers in September of this year, when he was waiting at a bus stop and three strong men pushed him into a van.

Cai’s wife, Xiao Yunfei, along with her brother, Xiao Gaowen, and his wife, Hu Jinyun, were also arrested a few weeks after Cai, and they could face similar harsh sentences as well.

Voice of the Martyrs reports that authorities were apparently shocked when they found around 200-thousand copies of the Bible and other Christian literature in a storage room managed by pastor Cai.

The authorities are considering convicting the four church leaders on criminal charges such as tax evasion or illegal business management rather than on illegal religion charges. The criminal charges could lead to a life sentence.

Pray for strength for these leaders and their churches. Pray for the continued rapid spread of the Gospel in China. Pray also for the release of their prominent Christian leaders.

Voice of the Martyrs urges people to take action to demand the immediate release of Pastor Cai and the others. For more information go to www.persecution.com. Letters of protest can be sent to the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC at the following address:

Ambassador Tang Jiechi
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington DC 20008