Government crews demolish 'house church' structure

Government crews demolish 'house church' structure
Reports say officials say it was needed for 'urban appearance rearrangement'

A Texas-based organization says a church building on a university campus has been demolished by local government crews, because they were working on an "urban appearance rearrangement" program.

The China Aid Association said that recent demolition of the church building on the campus of Changchun Agricultural University in a suburb of Changchun city happened without prior notice to church members.

The building served as a gathering place for the Nongda house church, and also was used as a "Morning Star Supermarket" during other times of the week, officials with the Midland, Texas-based organization said.

Witnesses reported to the organization that the government sent about 500 police officers and several hundred peasant workers to the site at 4 a.m. on Oct. 26, then drove people who were sleeping in the building out.

"Within an hour, the main part of the building as well as the furniture in it became piles of debris," the group said. "In the entire process, no explanation was given."

The house church, which has been serving its community for more than a decade, works primarily with Christians in the countryside around the university. It had a reputation that also reached as far as Heilongjiang and Inmongolia, officials said.

The group has resisted threats, harassment and other attacks in order to continue pursuing orthodox Christianity, and the biblical truth, and to not affiliate with the 3-Self church, the governmentally-approved Christian organization in China.

China Aid said it is seeking an account from the government of the actions regarding the house church facility, with a request to arrange a place for a new building.

CAA records show that the destruction of Christian church buildings that do not fall under the official sanction of the government is an event that happens several times a year in China. Many times members of the congregation also are arrested at that time.

The organization was set up in 2002 and has chosen as its mission exploring and telling and preserving the truth about religious freedom in China.

"We do this through field investigation, public advocacy and academic research. We hope the valuable heritage that God has given to the suffering Chinese church may be well preserved, known and advocated so that the outside world can have a better understanding of God's work inside China," the organization's website said.