13 Christians in Guangdong Receive Harsh Sentences for Opening Home for Gatherings and Storing Church Books

May 28, 2025

Thirteen Christians in Jiangmen and Foshan, Guangdong Province, were sentenced by CCP’s people’s courts to prison terms ranging from two years and three months to four years and six months, solely for engaging in normal religious activities such as hosting church fellows for gatherings, storing books related to their faith, and preaching the gospel.

On September 24, 2024, the People’s Court of Pengjiang District in Jiangmen City delivered a collective sentence to ten Christians. One gospel preacher was sentenced to four years in prison. A lay believer in her 60s was sentenced to three years and two months for simply hosting fellow believers for gatherings. Five others who hosted church members for gatherings received prison terms ranging from two years and three months to three years and eight months.

Reportedly, to arrest Christians, local CCP authorities deployed neighborhood grid workers to conduct home inspections and set up a “reward system” for informants, offering cash incentives ranging from several hundred RMB to as much as RMB 100,000 (about USD 14,000).

In Foshan, a Christian was arrested after a neighborhood grid worker reported her for storing books related to faith in a rented place. On March 29, 2024, the People’s Court of Chancheng District sentenced her to four years and six months in prison with a fine of RMB 40,000 (about USD 5,600). Two other Christians in Foshan received the same prison term and fine on August 16 and August 29, respectively, also for storing church books.