{"id":46378,"date":"2023-04-11T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-11T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=46378"},"modified":"2023-04-11T13:30:26","modified_gmt":"2023-04-11T04:30:26","slug":"vomk-report-249","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2023\/04\/11\/vomk-report-249\/","title":{"rendered":"CHINA: PASTOR SUBMITS BIBLE AS \u201cNEW EVIDENCE\u201d TO APPEAL HIS CONVICTION"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”46366″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”Pastor An Yankui did not expect to win the appeal in L\u00fcliang City, Shanxi Province last month of his November 2021 conviction on charges of illegally crossing the China border to attend a Christian conference in Malaysia. Instead, the pastor says he simply wanted to testify to God\u2019s Kingdom in court by supplying \u201cnew evidence\u201d to the judge: the Bible. ” 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

\u201cPastor <\/span>An hoped to <\/span>use the maps of Paul\u2019s missionary journeys <\/span>in his Bible <\/span>to <\/span>prove <\/span>to the appeals court judges that since the beginning, Christian leaders have traveled internationally as an essential part of their ministry responsibilities,\u201d says Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr<\/span>.<\/span> Hyun Sook Foley.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”46370″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In January 2020, <\/span>Pastor <\/span>An<\/span> and six members of his church traveled to <\/span>Malaysia to attend <\/span>a Christian conference organized by <\/span>Chinese Indonesian pastor Stephen Tong<\/span> and featuring pastors Tim Keller and D.A. Carson.<\/span> In <\/span>November <\/span>202<\/span>1<\/span>, Pastor An and church member <\/span>Zhang Chenghao<\/span> were detained on the charge of <\/span>having <\/span>illegally cross<\/span>ed<\/span> the border<\/span> to attend the conference<\/span>, despite having<\/span> departed and returned to China through customs with their passports.<\/span> Both were fined and sentenced to a year in prison, finally being released in November 2022. Pastor An appealed the conviction, citing \u201cnew evidence\u201d in the case which was then heard March 1 of this year.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Pastor An submitted the Bible as \u2018new evidence\u2019 in his appeal, t<\/span>he judge felt <\/span>it was an <\/span>unusual <\/span>request and asked the pastor to <\/span>clarif<\/span>y if he really intended to <\/span>submit the Bible as evidence<\/span> in his defense<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cPastor An affirmed that this was his intent, and told the judge, \u2018<\/span>I can give the Holy Bible to you as a gift if you like<\/span>.\u2019<\/span> Ultimately, the judge<\/span>s<\/span> denied Pastor An\u2019s appeal and upheld the original guilty verdict<\/span>, but Pastor An achieved his purpose of using his appeal to make a faithful witness for the gospel<\/span> to those in authority<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”46376″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”Similar to the Bible shown here, Ps. An wanted to use the maps of Paul\u2019s missionary journeys in his Bible to make his appeal. ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230f0f0f|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]According to Representative Foley, Pastor An\u2019s appeal demonstrates that Christians have a higher responsibility in court than securing their own freedom and safety.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Book of Acts shows the Apostle Paul repeatedly appearing in court<\/span>, and each time he goes, he is defending the gospel, not himself,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cIn fact, in Acts 26:32, Agrippa says to Festus that Paul could have been freed if he had not appealed to Caesar to judge his case.<\/span> Just as with Paul, the same thing <\/span>is <\/span>true of Pastor An: <\/span>In court, t<\/span>hey both were focused on something <\/span>more important than <\/span>their <\/span>person<\/span>a<\/span>l freedom<\/span> or reputation: They were focused on being faithful witnesses to those in authority<\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says that even though Pastor An has completed his sentence, it is <\/span>certain <\/span>that authorities will continue to closely monitor him and his church members. \u201cPastor An <\/span>and his church have been a target of the authorities since 2018, when they did a prayer vigil for the victims of the <\/span>1989 Tiananmen Square <\/span>m<\/span>assacre<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cAmidst police raids and arrests at his church, he joined 438 other Chinese pastors in signing the 2018 \u2018<\/span><\/span>Declaration for the Sake of the Christian Faith\u2019<\/span><\/span><\/a>, a statement of faithfulness to the gospel directed to the Chinese authorities. I<\/span>t seems that <\/span>authorities consider him dangerous because he puts faithfulness to the gospel above his own personal safety.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”46374″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”Zhang Chenghao (left) and Pastor An Yankui (right) ” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230f0f0f|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Individuals interested in learning about or supporting Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s work in partnership with the house church Christians of China can visit <\/span>www.vomkorea.com\/en\/china<\/a><\/span> or give via electronic transfer to:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

KB Bank: 463501-01-243303<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Account Holder: (<\/span>\uc0ac<\/span>)<\/span>\uc21c\uad50\uc790\uc758\uc18c\ub9ac<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Please note \u201cChina\u201d on the transfer.<\/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=”46366″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”Pastor An Yankui did not expect to win the appeal in L\u00fcliang City, Shanxi Province last month of his November 2021 conviction on charges of illegally crossing …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":46367,"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-46378","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\/46378","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=46378"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46385,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46378\/revisions\/46385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}