A Chinese woman has reportedly been arrested for repeatedly sharing the Christian Gospel with Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan.
The woman, named Zhou Jinxia, landed in the crosshairs Feb. 20, after reportedly going to the Communist Party of China headquarters in Beijing, where she held a sign that encouraged Xi to embrace Christ.
According to Bitter Winter, the accused has repeatedly visited the area of Zhongnanhai, where top communist officials live, aiming to tell Xi to “accept God and publicly repent.”
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Zhou’s latest signage reportedly read, “God loves the people of the world and is calling out to Xi Jinping.”
She was allegedly taken by police back to her hometown, Dalian, and was arrested the next day. The charge against Zhou is “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” according to International Christian Concern.
And as it turns out, this isn’t the first time she has been detained for trying to spread the faith to Chinese leaders. Previous arrests reportedly unfolded in 2015, 2016, and 2018.
Still, she has continued to share her faith to reach Xi and others. In fact, Bitter Winter reported that she has been trying to evangelize the Chinese president since he took office in 2013.
Zhou reportedly went to Zhongnanhai on Christmas Day in 2014 and held a sign that read, “God, who loves the world, is calling Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan.”
It took just minutes for her to be detained and sent for a mental health evaluation; she was found to be competent and released.
Zhou continued to go to the area with similar messages, though. In 2016, she proclaimed, “Freedom, equality, justice, and integrity come from God. Let the country be held high, sin is a humiliation of the people! The kingdom of heaven is near, you should repent!” Again and again, she was arrested for her actions.
Zhou has also reportedly faced other difficulties, including being unfairly evicted from her home.
This disturbing story comes amid reports that China is actively rewriting the Bible to present scripture through a communist lens. This quest has reportedly resulted in shocking distortions of Gospel truth.
Todd Nettleton, spokesman for The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM), a persecution watchdog serving Christians across the globe, recently told Faithwire about the Chinese government’s ongoing efforts to reimagine the Bible.
“This is a project that the Chinese Communist Party announced in 2019. At the time, they said it would be about a 10-year process … to release a new translation of the Bible,” he said, noting it would include Confucian and Buddhist principles, among others. “This new translation … would really support the Communist Party.”
Continue to pray for China amid the apparent crackdown on faith.
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