A Brief History of China's House Church in Henan
China’s House Church has experienced phenomenal growth since 1949 with the founding of a new China, amid violent persecutions and rampant crackdowns. China’s House Church includes all Christian churches not sanctioned by the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) and the Chinese Christian Council. One of the foremost growth events in China’s House Church history happened in Henan. This paper will chronicle the history of China’s House Church in Henan, based on Paul Hattaway’s thoroughly researched book “Henan: The Galilee of China” (The Church in China “Fire and Blood” series: Volume 2). This snapshot of China’s House Church will provide a basic understanding of how God’s spirit has been mightily working in the most populous province of China. A concise summary of pre-1949 formative years will be followed by a decade by decade outline and year by year highlights of the milestone events and their movers and shakers.
Pre-1949 missions
The earliest mission dates back to over1300 years ago when Nestorian missionaries came to China from Central Asia and the Middle East. The Nestorian influence was limited and not long lasting. Then Jesuit missionaries came to Henan in the late 16th century. Following Matteo Ricci’s footstep to China, Nicholas Trigault of Belgium set his foothold in the early 1620s in Kaifeng, Henan. Shortly thereafter, Jesuit priest Rui Figueredo established a church there, only to be destroyed in 1642 by a flood from the Yellow River whose embankment was breached on the Emperor’s order to quell rebels. Figueredo drowned. Giampaolo Gozani remained in Henan by 1703, seeing 3,000 Christians and ~300 baptisms a year. But the growth slowed to a grind and declined to ~500 Chinese Christians by 1834 in Henan. Baldus Jean Henri, a French monk, was appointed nuncio for Henan by the Vatican in 1835. A prominent Catholic presence was in a tiny village of Jiangang in southern Henan, thanks to Bishop Simeon Volonteri’s effort. The Vatican entrusted Henan to the missionary care of the Lazarists from that of Jesuits since 1865. By the end of the nineteenth century, Catholics numbered only a few thousand in Henan.
The Box Rebellion around 1900 proved futile to curb the church growth. In a span of twenty years, 12 mission stations with four mission agencies grew to 67 stations with 16 agencies and 394 missionaries in Henan. Among the most influential was Bishop Joseph Noe Tacconi who worked in Henan for 45 years (1895-1940). The Catholics in Henan grew to 170,000 during his tenure. The Bishop also encouraged the mission from American-based Sisters of Providence, of forming middle schools for girls and tending to the care of orphans. The escalating invasion of Japan and fighting between the Nationalists and the Communists created harsh conditions for missionaries. Sisters Zhang Delan and Mary Bai were murdered by Nationalists who tossed their bruised and stone-tied bodies into a well on November 29, 1938. Six Italian martyrs were brutally murdered, some buried alive, by Communists. They are Cesare Mencattini, Antonio Barosi, Mario Zanardi, Bruno Zanella, Carlo Osnaghi and John Botton.
Two centuries later than the Catholic mission, Protestant missionary came to China with the arrival of Robert Morrison in 1807. Henan was visited by missionaries in 1875 from the China Inland Mission (Henry Taylor, not related to Hudson Taylor) and a Chinese evangelist from Hubei (Yang). Henry Taylor left Henan and CIM amid interpersonal acrimony. A.W. Sambrook and J. A. Slimmon set up mission stations in Eastern and Southern Henan, respectively, since 1884 and 1886. The first Protestant church on record in Henan was established on November 27, 1887 with the baptism of nine people by Joe Coulthard of CIM (who later married Hudson Taylor’s daughter Maria). By the end of 19th century, the Protestant believers in Henan grew to 649, thanks to missions by CIM (such as Howard and Geraldine Taylor) and Canadian Presbyterians. All 28 CIM workers in Henan survived the Box Rebellion.
Canada’s Jonathan Goforth is billed as “China’s greatest evangelist”. In Guangshan, Henan alone, converts increased from 2000 to 8000 in four years. He also helped convert nearly 5,000 officers and soldiers under Christian general Feng Yuxiang. The civil war embroiled Henan saw two Protestant martyrs in Whitefield Guinness who died of typhus in 1927 and Daniel Nelson who was killed by a straying bullet in bandits’ crossfire in 1932. Marie Monsen who came to China in 1901 and returned to Norway in 1932 traveled widely in China with a message of confession and restitution. She was regarded as the “Mother of the House Churches”. Anna Christensen of Denmark kept the revival fire going into the 1930s.
Chinese evangelists also played an important role, including evangelist Wang of Zhengzhou, blind evangelists Yang Dedao and Zhong Mo, James Liu and Stephen Wang (of Mennonites), evangelists Liu Daosheng and Wu Zhenming (coworkers of Monsen), evangelists John Sung and Andrew Gih.
The first three decades after 1949: 1950s to 1970s
Chinese churches endured wholesale persecution since the founding of PRC in 1949. Foreign missionaries were kicked out of China soon afterward. Christians were forced to disband from public gathering and to go underground. As few as two or three believers chose to meet secretly in private homes. Christian leaders who refused to join the TSPM were put into prisons and labor camps, if not tortured to death. Dong Shaowu, one of the ten most wanted in China in 1950, went into hiding. The other nine were found dead by 1951. Dong traveled to Beijing in 1954 and had a close relationship with Wang Mingdao. Dong was arrested in 1958 and committed suicide after unbearable tortures. His death epitomized the suffering of the Christian churches in Henan and all of China.
In the 1960s, Henan was singled out, along with Zhejiang and Inner Mongolia, to be an experimental zone for anti-religion campaign by the Communist Party. By governmental estimate, Protestant Christians dropped to 78,000 in 1965 (a year before the Cultural Revolution) from 120,000 in 1949. Nevertheless, many of God’s remnants kept their faith and rekindled the fire of evangelism in the dark decades of 1960s and 1970s.
1971 was a turning point, according to Christian leaders such as Peter Xu Yongze. People were getting disillusioned with Communism and began seriously searching for the purpose of life. The supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, including all types of biblical precedence, was drawing a multitude to Christ.
The second three decades after 1949: 1980s-2000s
Henan as the Galilee of China experienced explosive growth since 1980s when China relaxed its outright clampdown on churches after opening its door to the West. Nevertheless, the house churches continue to suffer under the persistent persecution of government. Eight different models of house churches sprang up. They include: (1) traditional model, (2) Amphibious model (rural believers often move between TSPM churches and house churches), (3) Foreign missionary model (believers led to the Lord by foreign missionaries form their own fellowships), (4) Overseas returnee model (Christians who return from overseas form their own fellowships), (5) Cultural model (highly educated intelligentsia came to know the Lord through university religion and Christian culture studies), (6) virtual church model (people came to the Lord through Christian radio broadcast or internet ministries), (7) imperialist model (foreign missions return to China to reestablish their denominational churches), and (8) synergetic model (a combination of two or three of the above models).
China’s house church signaled its coming of age by issuing an open document on Aug.22, 1998. This seven-point document (see p.160) addressed to the Chinese government is entitled “A United Appeal by the Various Branches of the Chinese House Church” after 12 house church leaders convened a secret meeting in Henan.
Adeney summarized 11 attributes of China’s house churches (see p.162): They are indigenous, rooted in family units, stripped of non-essentials, emphasize the lordship of Christ, have confidence in the sovereignty of God, love the word of God, are praying churches, are caring and sharing churches, depend on lay leadership, have been purified by suffering, and are zealous in evangelism.
Revival and persecution in the 1980s
1980 was a phenomenal year for the church in Henan, according to brother Yun whose story was chronicled in “Heavenly Man”. Miracles included the simultaneous resurrection of an older woman and two daughters of sister Chan in one place. In 1981, 232 tons of Chinese Bibles was secretly delivered to China by the American missionary Brother David, many to Henan province. In 1982, Henan house churches sent out their first inter-provincial preaching teams to eastern Sichuan. In 1983, the government launched an anti-spiritual pollution campaign to rid “undesirable elements” from the society. Christians became collateral victims, with many leaders arrested. This continued to 1984. A 49-year old Christian brother, Zhang Wuji, was tortured to death on Aug.10, 1984. The persecution fanned the flame of revival in 1985, leading to exponential growth in 1986. One house church preacher, Zhu Baoshan, led over 3000 people to Christ in one year after his release from prison. 1987 saw an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, thanks to the Pentecostal teachings by Hong Kong-based American missionary Dennis Balcombe. The hunger for the Word of God intensified as foreign missionaries witness “Walking Bibles” among the Christians in 1988. 1989 marks a watershed in China’s recent history, due to the massacre of pro-democracy students on Tiananmen Square. Many disillusioned students turned to God as a result.
Revival and persecution in the 1990s
Government’s attention to pro-democracy student gave the house churches a temporary respite. 1990-1991 was a more relaxed time period. This was short-lived, as large scale arrest of hundreds of church leaders came in the Spring of 1992. Many were levied a heavy fine before release. Such renewed persecution did not deter but emboldened the witness by Christians, first to fellow Chinese in prison. In 1994, a high profile detention of Dennis Balcombe brought embarrassment to China after Balcombe went public with his mistreatment in the hands of police. In 1995, the fear of God gripped Henan, as a blasphemer suddenly died in front of three women evangelists. Yet persecution continued. Pictures of police torturing believers were smuggled out (p.189). 1996 marked the torture-induced death of two Christian martyrs, brother Shi Yunchao and sister Zhang Xiuju. Systematic crushing led to the arrest of eight senior house church leaders, including Peter Xu Yongze, Enoch Wang, Wang Baoquan, Feng Xian, Mu Sheng, Qing Jing, Elder Qiao and Brother Yun. The crackdown continued in the second half of 1998, with the rounding up of 140 key house church leaders who gathered in a factory owned by a Christian businessman. More house church leaders were arrested in 1999, amid extraordinary growth in church membership.
Revival and persecution in the 2000s
The new millennium began with the martyrdom of Liu Haitou, a new believer for only 18 months. He died in his mom’s arm on October 15, 2000 after receiving severe beating from police. 2001 belonged to those faithful believers who were pursued by police as if not worthy of the world. Many were arrested. Highly abusive pictures taken by police for self-promotional documentation leaked into the outside world in 2002-2003 (p.203-206). 2004 saw the arrest and later release of Deborah Xu Yongling, the sister of Peter Xu Yongze. Wang Guizhen and Xing Baoying were jailed for downloading materials from a Christian website. In 2005, the Argentine-American evangelist Luis Palau caused a stir in chiding the Chinese house churches to embrace registration, only to reconsider his statement ten days later. Starting in 2006, imprisoned Christians in Henan employed legal means including hiring lawyers for their defense of freedom of religion, after an Easter service was raided. In 2007, international pressure led to the release of Dong Quanyu and Li Huage, husband and wife as church leaders. 2008 was the year when Paul Hattaway’s book went to print. Revival remains strong under persecution.
Movers and shakers
The Nanyang church is part of the revival triangle (Tanghe, Fangcheng, Nanyang) in Henan. Elder Fu is one of its founders and regarded as “the Elijah of China” due to his countless arrests and severe torture suffered. Brother Yun is another leader of Nanyang church. He miraculously escaped the prison without anyone detecting him after the prison swung open by divine force. He now lives in Germany and travels worldwide. Brother Timothy is a young leader who succeeds the elderly leaders.
The Born-again movement (Word of Life Church) was called an evil cult by the government on trumped up and false charges. It emphasizes training and seminaries, producing legions of effective leaders all over Henan and China. Peter and Deborah Xu were the two foremost leaders. They escaped China in 2001 and 2005, respectively. They now live in Los Angeles area. Peter Xu Yongze was detained after attempting to see Billy Graham in 1988. His first marriage was unilaterally dissolved by his wife who could not withstand the constant and long separation (the longest being 23 years from 1968-1991!). He remarried in 1996 to sister Guan Yin Ge, over 20 years of his junior. This remarriage was a catalyst for Peter to be rebuked by the church leaders and to be exiled in America.
The Local Church’s leader in Henan is Enoch Wang. His baby daughter was raised from the dead. China Gospel Fellowship (The Tanghe Church) received worldwide attention when its 34 church leaders were kidnapped by the Eastern Lightning Cult. They were released after almost two months of unsuccessful brainwash and threats, largely because the church went public with police. Its founders include Feng Jianguo, Shen Yiping and his nephew Shen Xianfeng. The Fangcheng Church (China for Christ) was born under the influence of its native son Li Tianen who later spent most of his time in Shanghai. One of its foremost leaders is Zhang Rongliang who went to prison a sixth time for using 13 passports under fake names to make 15 trips abroad. Other leaders include Zheng Shuqian, one of China’s most arrested church leaders, Sister Mei and Ding Hei. Sister Lu Xiaomin is best known for composing over a thousand inspirational hymns, despite her very limited education without formal training in music.
One welcoming trend of Henan churches is the formation of Sinim Fellowship in 1994 and Shenzhou Fellowship in 2002-2003 in its collective drive toward unity. With the old generation of leaders declining in influence, a new generation of leaders are rising up and taking the baton of evangelism, mission and discipleship.
May the kingdom of God continue to establish its ever stronger presence in Henan and the entire Land of God (Shenzhou).
