{"id":35642,"date":"2021-03-09T13:47:15","date_gmt":"2021-03-09T04:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=35642"},"modified":"2021-03-09T14:21:25","modified_gmt":"2021-03-09T05:21:25","slug":"vomk-report-146","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2021\/03\/09\/vomk-report-146\/","title":{"rendered":"CHINA: Christian prisoners located; letters of encouragement sought"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”35646″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”The prison locations of two Christians jailed in China have been identified after a three-year search. One persecution support organization is urging Korean Christians to send letters of encouragement to the prisoners as soon as possible.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” el_class=”headline”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

According to Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Ms.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Ju\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Dianhong<\/span><\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Ms.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Liang Qin<\/span><\/span>\u00a0were sent<\/span><\/span>enced in December 2017<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>in Yunnan Province\u00a0<\/span><\/span>for allegedly leading\u00a0<\/span><\/span>an \u201cevil cult\u201d. \u201cThe\u00a0<\/span><\/span>original verdict\u00a0<\/span><\/span>claimed\u00a0<\/span><\/span>that\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Ms.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Ju was the leader of\u00a0<\/span><\/span>the \u2018Three Grades of Servants\u2019 cult<\/span><\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Ms.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Liang was her assistant<\/span><\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span><\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>They were accused of organizing secret meetings, spreading doomsday predictions, and building a secret organization<\/span><\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Ms.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Ju was sentenced to 13 years in prison, and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Ms.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Liang was sentenced to 10.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0The case received international attention because both women\u00a0<\/span><\/span>strongly\u00a0<\/span><\/span>denied having any\u00a0<\/span><\/span>knowledge of or involvement in the \u2018Three Grades of Servants\u2019 cult<\/span><\/span>, and v<\/span><\/span>ery common, ordinary Christian books like \u2018<\/span><\/span>Pilgrim\u2019s Progress<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u2018<\/span><\/span>Streams in the Desert<\/span><\/span>\u2019 were shown as evidence of the women\u2019s \u2018cult\u2019 involvement.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”35636″ img_size=”600×600″ alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says that the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Yunnan provincial government authorized a campaign to suppress th<\/span><\/span>e \u201cThree Grades of Servants\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>group\u00a0<\/span><\/span>in March 2016, but dozens\u00a0<\/span><\/span>of\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Christians unaffiliated with the group\u00a0<\/span><\/span>were\u00a0<\/span><\/span>also detained and sentenced.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

At her trial,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Ms<\/span><\/span>. Ju testified,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>I only believed in and preached about Jesus, never harming anyone or acting contrary to biblical principles.<\/span><\/span>\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Ms. Liang testified, \u201c<\/span><\/span>I do not know what that cult is, and I do not know or participate in the Three Grades of Servants faction. I believe in Jesus. I did not cause any harm to the community and did nothing that would constitute a crime.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span> <\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says that\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Ms.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Ju and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Ms.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Liang immediately appealed the verdicts. However, a<\/span><\/span>fter\u00a0<\/span><\/span>their\u00a0<\/span><\/span>sentencing<\/span><\/span>\u00a0in December 2017<\/span><\/span>, C<\/span><\/span>hina Communist Party\u00a0<\/span><\/span>authorities did not reveal where the<\/span><\/span>\u00a0women\u00a0<\/span><\/span>were\u00a0<\/span><\/span>imprisoned.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Representative Foley says that Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s\u00a0<\/span><\/span>China\u00a0<\/span><\/span>partner<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span>\u00a0made inquiries\u00a0<\/span><\/span>to\u00a0<\/span><\/span>many public officials since then, and through this process the location of the women\u00a0<\/span><\/span>was<\/span><\/span>\u00a0identified.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”35627″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”35633″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Ju Dianhong, one of two Christian women currently being held in prison in Kunming City, China for allegedly leading a cult. (No photo is available for Ms. Liang Qin, the other prisoner.) Both women strongly deny the charge.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0a0a|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cNow after three years<\/span><\/span>\u00a0of inquir<\/span><\/span>ies<\/span><\/span>\u00a0by our China partners<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span>\u00a0we have discovered that the women are at the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>No<\/span><\/span>. 1 Prison for Women of Yunnan Province<\/span><\/span>\u201d in<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Kunming City<\/span><\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley<\/span><\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/span>We have posted the full prison address<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>on our website, along with many Chinese language scriptures and encouraging phrases that anyone can\u00a0<\/span><\/span>print out, cut, and paste on a card or letter to send to these sisters.<\/span><\/span>\u201d Representative Foley notes that\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Coronavirus regulations currently permit mail to be sent from\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Korea<\/span><\/span>\u00a0to China, and that<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>the women can be expected to receive the cards and letters that are sent to the prison.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span><\/span>Praying for Christians in prison is of course very\u00a0<\/span><\/span>important<\/span><\/span>. But when they receive cards and letters from Christians around the world confirming those prayers, it is\u00a0<\/span><\/span>more amazing to them than we can imagine,\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>says Representative Foley<\/span><\/span>. \u201cFor example,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>we know\u00a0<\/span><\/span>one former\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Christian\u00a0<\/span><\/span>prisoner in China for whom Voice of the Martyrs previously organized a\u00a0<\/span><\/span>global\u00a0<\/span><\/span>letter writing campaign.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Even though he\u00a0<\/span><\/span>was released from prison\u00a0<\/span><\/span>more than 10 years ago,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>to this day\u00a0<\/span><\/span>he\u00a0<\/span><\/span>keeps\u00a0<\/span><\/span>the letters he received. They are his greatest treasure.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Representative Foley\u00a0<\/span><\/span>believes the letters may\u00a0<\/span><\/span>positively\u00a0<\/span><\/span>impact the treatment of prisoners by reminding their captors that people around the world are watching. \u201cIn the last few months alone,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>two Christian<\/span><\/span>\u00a0prisoners<\/span><\/span>\u00a0in Eritrea and one in Pakistan\u00a0<\/span><\/span>who were\u00a0<\/span><\/span>on our letter-writing list<\/span><\/span>\u00a0for years<\/span><\/span>\u00a0were\u00a0<\/span><\/span>finally\u00a0<\/span><\/span>released.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>It\u2019s impossible to know whether the letters played a role in that, but we know from many Christian prisoners that the<\/span><\/span>ir<\/span><\/span>\u00a0prison guards frequently are astonished that they are receiving mail from around the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>I<\/span><\/span>t\u2019s not only an encouragement to the prisoner but also a good evangelism opportunity\u00a0<\/span><\/span>when\u00a0<\/span><\/span>prison guards<\/span><\/span>\u00a0see that Christians are one body in Christ<\/span><\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Individuals interested in\u00a0<\/span><\/span>writing a letter of encouragement to Ms. Ju, Ms. Liang, and other Christian prisoners can\u00a0<\/span><\/span>visit\u00a0<\/span><\/span>https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/prisoner-profiles\/<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”35646″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”The prison locations of two Christians jailed in China have been identified after a three-year search. One persecution support organization is urging Korean Christians to send letters …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":35625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[857,235,869,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russian-special","category-special-column","category-china-special","category-vomk-report"],"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}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}