The Gospel Herald reports that representatives of China’s house churches have been blocked from leaving their country by authorities to attend Lausanne III, the global evangelical leadership conference which is due to start in Cape Town on the 16th.
Five volunteers from Beijing house churches had already completed boarding procedures at Beijing International Airport when they were stopped by guards. Four of them had their passports confiscated while one was detained. Authorities said that the confiscated passports would only be returned on the 25th, which is after the conference is finished.
Futhermore, a local Beijing church called Shouwang Church said on their website that several of their members who were due to attend Lausanne have faced stiff pressure from local authorities to forego attending.
The American based group China Aid Association (CAA) also reported that in Shanghai a local church representative was blocked from leaving while another was granted permission to board the plane.
The CAA urged Lausanne Congress leaders to speak out on behalf of these Chinese Christians.
In an interview with Radio Free Asia, a CAA spokesman said: “According to our understanding of the situation, all of these 200 representatives have been approached for talk or threatened in the last two months.” He hopes to see representatives from mainland China to be able to attend this year’s Lausanne Congress of World Evangelism (LCWE).
“The conference begins on the 16th; visas are just being issued now, so it is estimated that they are the first group of guests; it is unknown whether the remaining others will be able to go. Ever since September, the series of attacks towards the house churches in China have continued to escalate, and these attacks also encompass the attacks toward government-sanctioned three-self churches, which reveals whether or not there are signs of openness in the aspects of religious freedom,” he said.