Story number 2 for 25 Jan 2002

(China)–Next, Christians around the world are being asked to pray for a house church pastor in China. According to Journalist Mark Kelly, unconfirmed reports suggest Pastor Gong Shengliang could face the death penalty within the next 48 hours. “We believe that the information we’ve received comes from a reliable source, somebody who’s dependable – has been dependable in the past. There is a great deal of concern. Everybody who knows this man says that he is a traditional evangelical pastor and that his only crime is that he has refused to register his church with the government.” Kelly says a pastor’s execution on trumped up charges won’t get the results the government’s looking for. “If the government thinks that executing one of the leaders is going to intimidate other church leaders into registering their congregations, I would suspect they’re very wrong. I would think it would only strengthen their resolve.”