China house church member Deborah Xu arrested

In a urgent prayer request issued to Christians worldwide by Asia Harvest, house church leaders in China are concerned for the safety and whereabouts of Deborah Xu who was arrested in January.

Below is an excerpt from the prayer request:

"On January 25th, Deborah Xu was arrested in Nanyang, Henan Province. The information we received is that around 11pm she was asleep on the second floor of her niece's home when two female police officers came to the house and immediately rushed to the bedroom where Sister Deborah was sleeping. They quickly handcuffed her and led her away. The police also confiscated a large amount of photos, documents and other materials.

Deborah Xu is one of the leading female figures in the Chinese house churches. Aged about 60 years old, she committed her life to wholeheartedly serve God as a young girl and as a teenager made a decision to remain single for the rest of her life so she could be more fully devoted to the Lord Jesus.  She is the younger sister of Peter Xu Yongze, the founder of the 'Born-Again" house church movement in China which numbers millions of believers. Over the years Deborah has been arrested a number of times, but in recent years she has managed to keep one step ahead of the authorities.

Since her arrest no one has been able to get any information at all about her whereabouts. She has disappeared and no details of where she is being held or what she is being charged with have been given by the police in Nanyang. All enquiries are met with silence."
Source: Asia Harvest

10:11:58 AM