CHINA - ZHANG RONGLIANG

Chen Hongxian’s husband, Pastor Zhang, has been in prison since December 2004 charged with 'illegally crossing the national border and fraudulently obtaining a passport'. He has been detained five times before and has already spent a total of 12 years in prison.

Denied visitation rights with her husband for nearly a year after he was jailed, Chen is now allowed to visit him once a month. She is the only official visitor who has been permitted to see Zhang in four years. Zhang suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure. He suffered a stroke in July 2007 that paralysed half his body, but his condition has since improved.

Over the past four years, Pastor Zhang has introduced many prisoners to Christ. “There are former high-ranking officers that are prisoners in my cell,” he told an Open Doors worker. “I never thought I would be able to talk to these people about the gospel. That is the reason I am here!”

Chen is not bitter about her husband’s imprisonment. “When my husband was sent to prison 30 years ago, I was not a Christian,” she shared. “I was really touched by the care of brothers and sisters from the church. Because of their witness, I became a believer. I consider the times that my husband was in prison just as a normal part of being a Christian, she added. It is just carrying the cross. This is the price one has to pay as a Christian.”

Since Pastor Zhang’s arrest, the authorities have targeted his two sons, both of whom have been forced into hiding. Chen is also being monitored by police, and has had to move away from her community after police began to interrogate her friends and family.

Please send letters of support to Zhang and to Chen to let them know you are praying for them.

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