{"id":26197,"date":"2020-05-29T09:57:11","date_gmt":"2020-05-29T00:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?page_id=26197"},"modified":"2026-03-13T14:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T05:46:09","slug":"prisoner-profile-pastor-wang-yi-china","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/prisoners\/prisoner-profile-pastor-wang-yi-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Pastor\u202f Wang\u202fYi Imprisoned\u202f in\u202f China for\u202f Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Pastor Wang Yi” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:center|line_height:1.4em” css=”.vc_custom_1649826782606{margin-top: 1em !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_text_separator title=”\uc655\uc774 \ubaa9\uc0ac” color=”custom” accent_color=”#333333″ el_width=”40″ css=”.vc_custom_1649826794086{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}” el_class=”line-for-40″][vc_custom_heading text=”ARRESTED DECEMBER 2018 IN CHINA” font_container=”tag:h2|font_size:1.2em|text_align:center|line_height:2em” google_fonts=”font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20italic%3A500%3Aitalic”][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

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Imprisoned for 7 years<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/4″][vc_custom_heading text=”Prisoner Name” font_container=”tag:h5|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1587435417994{margin-bottom: 1em !important;}” el_class=”country-title”][vc_custom_heading text=”Pastor Wang Yi” font_container=”tag:div|font_size:15px|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1649826841104{margin-bottom: 1em !important;}” el_class=”headline”][vc_single_image image=”24893″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”Location” font_container=”tag:h5|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1587435436291{margin-top: 1em !important;margin-bottom: 0.6em !important;}” el_class=”country-title”][vc_custom_heading text=”China” font_container=”tag:div|font_size:15px|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1605680384423{margin-bottom: 1em !important;}” el_class=”headline” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fvomkorea.com%2Fen%2Fcountry-profile%2Fchina%2F||target:%20_blank|”][vc_single_image image=”26151″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/country-profile\/china\/” el_class=”flag”][vc_btn title=”China Country Profile” style=”outline” shape=”square” color=”success” size=”sm” i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-globe” add_icon=”true” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fvomkorea.com%2Fen%2Fcountry-profile%2Fchina%2F||target:%20_blank|” el_class=”vomgreen”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_custom_heading text=”Prisoner Profile” font_container=”tag:h5|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1587620873552{margin-bottom: 0.6em !important;}” el_class=”country-title”][vc_column_text]Pastor Wang Yi is the influential leader of Early Rain Covenant Church in the city of Chengdu, Sichuan province – one of the best-known house churches in China. He and his wife, Jiang Rong, were detained in\u00a0 December\u00a0 2018\u00a0 and\u00a0 charged\u00a0 with\u00a0 \u201cinciting\u00a0 subversion\u00a0 of\u00a0 state\u00a0 power\u201d\u00a0 and\u00a0 \u201cillegal\u00a0 business operations.\u201d If convicted, Pastor Wang could face up to 15 years in prison. A former law professor, Pastor Wang has been vocal in calling on the state to uphold religious liberties. Early Rain Covenant Church had been under pressure from the authorities for some time, but matters escalated on Dec. 9, 2018. That night and the next day, police raided church members\u2019 homes and arrested them. By the end of the week, about 150 church leaders and seminary students were in police custody, and the church had been forcibly closed. Since then most of those arrested have been released, including Pastor Wang\u2019s wife, Jiang (released June\u00a0 11,\u00a0 2019),\u00a0 and\u00a0 church\u00a0 elder\u00a0 Li\u00a0 Yingqiang\u00a0 (released\u00a0 Aug.19\u00a0 2019).\u00a0 However, several others including Pastor Wang and Deacon Tan Defu, remain incarcerated. Those who have been released remain under surveillance.\u00a0 In July 2019, the defense lawyer for Pastor Wang Yi was barred from meeting with his client and officials assigned different lawyers to his case, even though he specifically chose his own lawyers prior to his arrest.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Church members are very worried about their pastor and have received very little information about his condition or the progress of his case. Since the crackdown, some Early Rain church members have been sent back to their hometowns and banned from Chengdu. Others have lost jobs or been evicted. Church elder Su<\/span> Bingsen was released in April 2019 and was flown home to Fujian in the company of security officials; his family was evicted from their home while he was in custody. Some of those who were released say they were abused and deprived of food and water.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Early Rain may have been targeted because of its open approach to church mission, which included posting sermons online and street evangelism.\u00a0 The church also ran a Bible school for about 100 students and had a primary school. Its meetings around the city regularly attracted more than 800 people each week.\u00a0 Pastor Wang himself has been a prominent campaigner for greater religious freedom. In 2018, he wrote a declaration signed by hundreds of Chinese pastors, which includes a statement\u00a0 of\u00a0 Christian beliefs\u00a0 and\u00a0 a\u00a0 call for an\u00a0 end\u00a0 to\u00a0 persecution; it\u00a0 also\u00a0 recognizes\u00a0 the Chinese government\u2019s authority. Many of those in China who have signed the \u2018Declaration for the Sake of the Christian Faith\u2019 have suffered persecution since.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

None of his close associates are certain where Wang Yi is being held, since officials have not released that information, and Wang Yi\u2019s chosen lawyers were prevented from either seeing him or working on his case. The provided<\/span> address is one of the locations where he could likely be held.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_custom_heading text=”UPDATE: Wang Yi Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison \u2013 Dec. 2019″ font_container=”tag:h5|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1649826909488{margin-bottom: 0.6em !important;}” el_class=”country-title”][vc_column_text]On Dec. 30, Pastor Wang Yi was sentenced at the Intermediate People\u2019s Court of Chengdu City, Sichuan province after a secret Dec. 26 trial. He was charged with \u201cinstigating subversion of state power\u201d and \u201cillegal business management\u201d for being the senior pastor of Early Rain Covenant Church. Along with the nine<\/span><\/span>–<\/span><\/span>year sentence, he was sentenced to deprivation of his political rights for three years plus a $7,000 penalty.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”UPDATE: Wang Yi Will Not Appeal – January 2020″ font_container=”tag:h5|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1649826955620{margin-bottom: 0.6em !important;}” el_class=”country-title”][vc_column_text]According to Pastor Wang Yi’s lawyer, the Presbyterian pastor will not appeal his nine-year prison sentence. Instead, he will serve it in full. His lawyer said, “God is continuing his ministry … by moving him from the courtroom to prison.”<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
<\/span>His attorney also recounted how security personnel came and took Wang Yi’s parents by force to his secret trial on Dec. 26, but his wife, Jiang Rong, was not allowed to attend.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
<\/span>Wang Yi was much thinner than before, but he was in a good mental state. Continue to pray for his health while he serves his sentence and for the Early Rain Church.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”UPDATE: Photo of Wang Yi in Prison Released – March 2020″ font_container=”tag:h5|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1649826985643{margin-bottom: 0.6em !important;}” el_class=”country-title”][vc_column_text]An anonymous Early Rain church member received a photo of Wang Yi in prison taken on March 25. The person who provided the photo said it was intended to let people who care for him know his current situation. (You can view the phot<\/span>o here <\/span><\/span>https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2020\/04\/09\/vomk-report-95\/<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span> [insert link<\/span> for each language]<\/span><\/span> )<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/4″][vc_custom_heading text=”How to write a letter” font_container=”tag:h5|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1642034015751{margin-bottom: 16px !important;}” el_class=”country-title”][vc_btn title=”Instructions for writing a letter” style=”outline” shape=”square” color=”danger” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fvomkorea.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F10%2FInstruction_English.pdf||target:%20_blank|”][vc_btn title=”Scripture verses in Chinese” style=”outline” shape=”square” color=”success” i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-pencil” add_icon=”true” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fvomkorea.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F08%2FChina_Letter-Contents_English.pdf||target:%20_blank|”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Click the button above to print Scripture verses in the prisoner’s language. You can cut and paste them to your letter. <\/span><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Address for Mailing” font_container=”tag:h5|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”.vc_custom_1587621145917{margin-bottom: 10px !important;}” el_class=”country-title”][vc_column_text]WangYi<\/p>\n

Jintang Prison Huopen Road,<\/p>\n

Qingjiang Town,<\/p>\n

Jintang County,<\/p>\n

Chengdu City,<\/p>\n

Sichuan Province,<\/p>\n

610409 People’s Republic of China[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”35058″ img_size=”full” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank”][vc_empty_space height=”20px”][vc_separator el_width=”80″][vc_custom_heading text=”\u25ba \u25ba SEE All PRISONERS OF FAITH” font_container=”tag:h2|font_size:1em|text_align:center|color:%23222222|line_height:2em” google_fonts=”font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20italic%3A500%3Aitalic” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fvomkorea.com%2Fen%2Fprisoner-profiles||target:%20_blank|”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” overlay_dotted=”” css=”.vc_custom_1587382232523{background-image: url(https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/bg-prison.png?id=24664) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1505212801534{padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text]

“Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them,
\nand those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.”\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

Hebrews 13:3<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

SEE ALL PRISONERS OF FAITH<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Pastor Wang Yi” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:center|line_height:1.4em” css=”.vc_custom_1649826782606{margin-top: 1em !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_text_separator title=”\uc655\uc774 \ubaa9\uc0ac” color=”custom” accent_color=”#333333″ el_width=”40″ css=”.vc_custom_1649826794086{margin-bottom: 20px !important;}” el_class=”line-for-40″][vc_custom_heading text=”ARRESTED DECEMBER 2018 IN CHINA” font_container=”tag:h2|font_size:1.2em|text_align:center|line_height:2em” google_fonts=”font_family:Roboto%3A100%2C100italic%2C300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C500%2C500italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C900%2C900italic|font_style:500%20bold%20italic%3A500%3Aitalic”][vc_column_text css=””] Imprisoned for 7 …","protected":false},"author":903,"featured_media":0,"parent":19832,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-26197","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"campaignId":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/903"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26197"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58114,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26197\/revisions\/58114"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}