c. 1998 Religion News Service

ZHENGZHOU, China _ A dozen people gathered secretly in the upper room of a two-story house. All of them had been imprisoned, some several times. One man said he had been released only five days earlier.

Their sole crime, they said, was leading underground, unregistered _ and therefore illegal _ Christian “house churches” in the People’s Republic of China.

These leaders, saying they represent millions of Chinese Christians who worship out of view of the government, have written a seven-point appeal chronicling what they say is government mistreatment and asking for reforms.

The document is believed to mark the first time Protestant house church leaders have gathered publicly to state their grievances to China and the world.

Their handwritten appeal to the government, drafted recently over a two-day period, is not a carefully worded diplomatic communique. Instead, it’s an impassioned statement of radical faith, calling on the communist regime “to admit to God’s great power” and to release fellow Christians from prisons or work camps.

“We have been persecuted so long, we just have to fight the last fight,” said Zhang Rongliang, a peasant farmer with a cell phone attached to his shorts. “We can’t keep silent anymore.”

Critics of China’s religious policy said the appeal shows a growing persecution of Christians and the need for Western intervention. Others, including a Chinese government spokesman, said the document and its contents did not reflect the increasing freedom in China.

The appeal, written in Chinese and given to two American journalists, highlights the stark contrasts between two types of churches in China.

Those in registered, government-approved churches say this is a golden era for religious freedom in communist China, evidenced by standing-room-only worship services and the printing of millions of Bibles in Chinese.

But many in the house church movement, including the leaders at the secret gathering, say they have no freedom and are, in fact, severely persecuted. They fear the worst is yet to come.

Both house churches and registered churches have grown exponentially in recent years as the Chinese people try to fill the vacuum left by a fading communist ideology with a variety of philosophies, including Christianity.

No one knows for certain how many Christians are in China. The Chinese government acknowledges the existence of 10 million Christians in its registered and regulated churches. In their appeal, the house church leaders cited 80 million believers, based, they said, on foreign estimates.

The numbers of Christians these leaders represent is thus impossible to verify. But they said they represented at least 15 million Christians.

For the most part, the house church movement has been a shadowy and faceless network of loosely connected people who are mostly unknown to the West.

The leaders in the secret meeting set out to change that after a morning prayer session. All but one of them were peasants with elementary school educations.

Among other things, the document:

_ Asked authorities “to release unconditionally all house church Christians presently serving in labor reform camps.” The camps are used to punish and re-educate dissidents.

_ Called for “a dialogue” between the house churches and the government “to come to mutual understanding.” The document gave no hint as to what common ground might be, emphasizing instead the need for the government to recognize the house churches.

_ Requested a clear definition of “cult” to prevent authorities from unjustly making arrests on grounds that house church Christians are cult leaders. In March 1997, authorities arrested Peter Xu Youngze, leader of the Born Again Movement, calling him a cult leader. The movement claims 3 million followers.

Of perhaps more significance, however, was the group’s decision to identify itself publicly.

“The fact that it was done, rather than what is in it, is what’s important,” said Paul Marshall, author of “Their Blood Cries Out,” an investigation of religious persecution around the world.

Zhang, the farmer with the cell phone, took the role of main spokesman. He leads the Fengcheng Fellowship, which he says has grown from 10,000 believers 20 years ago to more than 10 million people throughout China, but mostly in Henan province.

Zhang said he has been arrested and imprisoned three times, most recently in 1994 for “holding unauthorized religious meetings with foreigners.”

Although the appeal did not ask for U.S. intervention, Zhang said China “fears the American government” and that he hopes the United States will take up the house churches’ cause.

“We want direct pressure,” Zhang said, “even if the persecution gets worse in the short term. We want the outside world to know what’s happening to us and that we’re holding on to our faith.”

The U.S. Senate is considering a bill similar to one passed by the House of Representatives that would monitor governments that persecute believers of all faiths and impose sanctions on violators.

“This plea for help from the underground Christians in China illustrates how serious the situation is,” said Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., co-author of the House bill. “The persecution appears to be getting worse.”

But Shen Cheng-en, associate general secretary of the China Christian Council, a government agency, warned against making too much of the document.

He said there might be government crackdowns against some house churches, particularly in rural areas where local authorities tend to make their own rules. But he denied nationwide repression.

“I don’t think persecution is everywhere,” said Shen, who is based in Shanghai. “It may be somewhere, but it’s not everywhere. That’s not the policy of the central government. The policy of the central government is to ensure religious freedom. It’s written in the constitution. If there is persecution anywhere, it’s unlawful and illegal.”

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Zhang Heng, who also helped draft the house church document, said he was released Aug. 17 after spending almost two years in a labor camp. Others who helped draft the document included Zhen Xiangui, who said that as many as 10 members of his church in Anhui province are sent to labor camps every year, and a prominent member of the Chinese Born Again Movement, who was the only one of the 12 to decline to be associated by name with the document.

“I really think this protest is an act of desperation,” said Nina Shea, director of the Center for Religious Freedom at Freedom House, a human rights organization based in Washington. “What this is really about is they want the West to know.”

But Nelson Graham, president of East Gates Ministries in Arlington, Wash., and the son of the Rev. Billy Graham, said the house church leaders represent a very small minority of Christians in China.

“This declaration reveals a great level of political naivete,” said Graham, whose organization works with the Chinese government, registered churches and house churches. “If anything, it will simply increase the level of scrutiny placed upon the house churches. It’s very unfortunate, a rather blunt instrument that does not foster dialogue.”

IR END O’KEEFE