Today, the original site has been converted into a public park. On this open space, China’s five-star red flag towers above the surrounding buildings on a pole several meters high. Twenty members of Yayang Church remain in custody. 

To the outside world, this symbolizes the total victory of the local government in this years-long battle of religion and resistance. But according to Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley, appearances are deceiving. 

“Like so many other vibrant churches whose buildings were destroyed and whose leaders were imprisoned, Yayang Church has become a church without walls,” she says. 

The Yayang Church belongs to the “Local Church” movement, which can be traced back to the famous Chinese preacher Watchman Nee in the early 20th century. Due to its location in the relatively remote mountainous area of southern Zhejiang Province, the church managed to maintain its distance from the government, unlike other unregistered churches like Zion Church and Early Rain Covenant Church, which are located in large metropolitan areas where conflict with authorities was virtually inevitable. Since Yayang Church was located near Wenzhou, the city known as “the Jerusalem of China”, it was one of many unregistered churches in the area with China’s largest Christian population where authorities had historically been less restrictive. 

That changed when authorities launched the cross removal project in Zhejiang Province in 2014.  

“The Wenzhou Christian community pushed back against authorities, and the Yayang Church was one of the churches on the front line of resistance against forced demolition of crosses,” says Representative Foley. 

The direct trigger for the demolition of Yayang Church’s building began last summer when local officials demanded that flagpoles be set up and China’s national flag be raised in churches, a move that believers believed violated the purity of the faith. In June 2025, government officials forced their way onto the Yayang Church property, demolishing part of the exterior wall and erecting a flagpole, sparking large-scale protests by church members during which more than 100 were detained. Relations between the two sides reached a stalemate for months until the church was finally razed to the ground in May. 

Now twenty Yayang Church members remain in custody, including several from the same family, such as the four brothers Lin Enzhao, Lin Enci, Lin Enfeng, and Lin Enmin, as well as Ji Aijuan and the Lin Endian couple who were in charge of the children’s Sunday school ministry.  

“Chinese authorities have charged them with ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble,’” says Representative Foley. She says the charge is a vague legal provision often invoked to suppress dissidents and independent social organizations. 

With the destruction of the church building, Yayang Church members are now forced to move “underground” again, dispersing to the homes of different believers to continue their secret gatherings. 

According to Representative Foley, that’s not a bad thing. 

“Chinese authorities are learning over and over again that it’s easy to destroy a church building but virtually impossible to destroy a church,” she says. She notes that even years after fellow unregistered churches Zion Church and Early Rain Church had their buildings destroyed and their leaders imprisoned, these churches remain strong, with new congregation members joining them and international prayer, logistics, and financial support greater than ever. 

“Jesus himself said, ‘Tear down this building and I will rebuild it in three days’,” says Representative Foley. “Authorities have taken away the outward homes of Yayang, Zion, Early Rain, and countless other Chinese churches, but authorities can’t take away believers’ permanent home in the body of Christ.”  

Individuals interested in learning about or supporting Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s work in partnership with persecuted Christians in China can visit www.vomkorea.com/en/china.