‘This is truly a Good Friday’
Member of China’s persecuted Shenzhen Reformed Holy Church (video screenshot)
By Philip Lenczycki
Daily Caller News Foundation
A persecuted Chinese Christian church has been freed from Thai prison and is bound for Texas, human rights advocates told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Friday.
Over 60 members of the Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church, also known as the Mayflower Church, is scheduled to arrive at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport late Friday evening, ending the church’s three year-long quest for asylum after fleeing Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecution in 2019, Pastor Bob Fu, founder of ChinaAid, told the DCNF. Despite applying for asylum in Thailand in August, the members of the Mayflower Church were arrested last week for overstaying their visas, prompting international concern that the church might be deported back to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and face persecution.
“This is truly a Good Friday,” Pastor Fu told the DCNF. “ChinaAid welcomes the persecuted ‘Mayflower Church’ to freedom in the United States of America — welcome to Texas!”
Fu, who is a personal friend of the Mayflower Church leader, Pastor Pan Yongguang, worked behind the scenes to draw attention to the church’s plight and organized a campaign to secure the group’s release.