On March 5, 2017, police arrested Cao San-Qiang (John Cao), a Chinese pastor known for his work among Myanmar’s poor. Authorities charged Pastor Cao with “organizing illegal crossings of national borders” and, one year later, sentenced him to seven years in prison.
Pastor Cao, 58, is married to an American citizen and is a long-time resident of North Carolina. The pastor, who is currently being held in the Menglian Detention Center, had been crossing the border between China and Myanmar for three years without incident and with the knowledge of Chinese officials. In the Wa State of northern Myanmar, Pastor Cao helped build 16 schools that serve 2,000 impoverished children. He also established educational projects to help alleviate poverty among local minority groups.
Experts believe his arrest and sentencing are related to the ruling Communist Party’s attempts to control, the house church movement.
Pastor Cao became a believer in his 20s. After he married an American citizen, attended seminary and settled in the U.S., he felt led to return as a missionary to his home country of China. He worked for many years establishing schools in China before turning his attention to neighboring Myanmar in 2014. According to his son, his work in Myanmar was much more humanitarian than his previous work with the house churches in China.
After he was arrested, the world learned about his imprisonment and sent many letters to him. The Chinese government kept postponing his trial because so many people sent letters. But, in July 2019, he was sentenced to 7 years in prison.
Pray for the pastor’s wife, Jamie Powell, and their sons, Benjamin and Amos.
