Xu Chao, wife of detained pastor Zhang Sen (pictured) of Maizhong Reformed Church in Fuyang, Anhui province, released a prayer request letter on 4 August stating that her husband had been criminally detained on 9 July and denouncing the ongoing persecution of her family and church.
In the letter Xu Chao questions why her family and church have been subjected to religious persecution by the authorities since 2021 despite Article 36 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China stipulating that citizens enjoy freedom of religion. She lists a series of harassment including surveillance cameras being installed at the door of their home, GPS trackers placed on their vehicles and listening and tracking devices planted in their computers and phones, and says the church attempted to file complaints to government departments but that all were refused – she asks, “Who exactly is breaking the law?”
Noting that their children suffered severe psychological trauma from witnessing the long-term persecution of their family, Xu Chao writes that they asked her, “Aren’t the police supposed to protect us? Why did they beat Dad? Why did they lock Dad up?” (The couple’s son Chang Zimu is eleven and daughter Xiao Ai is seven.)
Xu Chao’s letter lists several concerning incidents:
In March 2024 community personnel removed security devices installed at the door of her home without informing her. When she reported it to police they replied that it was for “case handling needs”. Xu Chao questions whether the community had the authority to handle cases and whether “case handling” could override the law.
Also in March 2024 Zhang Sen was administratively detained for 15 days on the grounds of “praying without prior reporting”. Xu Chao points out that prayer is a daily right of Christians, and no law stipulates that prayer must be reported.
In July 2025 the family’s electricity was cut off without notice, causing all the food in the refrigerator to spoil. Xu Chao questions who gave those responsible the right to cut off power and suspects that “someone was backing them” and allowing them to break the law.
Despite expressing anger over her husband’s detention, Xu Chao quotes Psalm 27v13: “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” and prays that justice and glory might be revealed through the plight of the church and her husband. She links the suffering that she and her husband are going through to the suffering of Christ, learning obedience through hardship, and writes: “I look up to the Lord who was born in a manger for me, who walked to the cross for me, who rose from the dead for me, and I sigh, weep, and am comforted daily in His grace. He is the Lord who works all things together for good. May His will be done in my husband, in me, and in our children.”
Xu Chao ends her letter by asking brothers and sisters from all walks of life to pray for them to navigate through this difficult time.
Background
Fuyang Maizhong Reformed Church is a Presbyterian house church that refuses to join the government-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement. In 2018 Pastor Zhang Sen signed the Joint Statement: A Declaration for the Sake of the Christian Faith initiated by Pastor Wang Yi, who is serving a nine-year prison sentence. Many of the 458 Chinese church leaders who signed the Joint Statement have been harassed since signing and in an interview with the online prayer meeting China at Five O’Clock on 28 May 2025 Pastor Zhang stated that signing the declaration was a primary reason for the persecution his church faced.
The government officially banned Maizhong Church in 2023 and since then it has met in small groups under heavy surveillance, with many police raids and members frequently detained, while Pastor Zhang Sen is often “invited for tea” (a euphemism for police questioning). Some home-schooled Christian families have come under government scrutiny and pressure to join the public school system, with designated personnel assigned to them. Many families have been harassed or forced to move, some have had locks broken and their homes entered illegally, some church members have been followed and some have found tracking devices under their cars and electric scooters.
On 29 June 2025 a group of individuals claiming to be community workers forcibly entered the home of Pastor Chang Shun where church members had gathered for Sunday worship and took him and Elder Ma Tao into custody. Friends and relatives who were present were also taken to the police station and were held for questioning until late that night. They were later forced to leave their homes and told not to reside in Fuyang. On 2 July the two leaders were placed in criminal detention in Fuyang Detention Centre on suspicion of “organising illegal gatherings”.
Pastor Zhang was arrested on 9 July while visiting friends in Xuzhou city, Jiangsu province. Local Christians sent Xu Chao photos showing her husband being pressed to the ground by two individuals, hands cuffed behind his back, before being bundled into a van with Fuyang license plates. He was brought back to Fuyang and placed under criminal detention.
Pastor Zhang was previously detained in March 2024 because he and other Christians had welcomed and prayed with eight released Christians outside the detention centre. When police showed Pastor Zhang photos of them praying together he asked, “Did I perhaps commit the crime of praying?” and an officer replied, “It is because your prayers were unreported.”
(China Aid)
Image: China Aid (screenshot of Pastor Zhang Sen taking part in the online prayer meeting China at Five O’Clock)