Pastor Li Jie, Elder Han Xiaodong, and Elder Wan Qiang were sentenced to jail penalties for “fraud.”
In 2022, “Bitter Winter” reported that a police raid on a parent-children camp of Linfen Covenant Home Church in August led to the arrest of Pastor Li Jie and Elder Han Xiaodong in October, followed by the arrest of Elder Wan Qiang on November 9. As a result, Linfen’s Covenant Home Church was “liquidated” on November 16 of that year.
On June 23, 2025 “Bitter Winter” reported that alongside the verdicts issued against a group of defendants from the Golden Lampstand Church—also of Linfen, Shanxi—on June 20 Pastor Li Jie and Elder Han Xiaodong of the Covenant Home Church were also sentenced in a separate case. They received sentences of three years and eight months, surpassing the three years that had been agreed upon during the trial. Additionally, Elder Wan Qiang was sentenced to one year and eleven months. The charges against them included “fraud,” a common accusation levied against house churches that refuse to join the government-controlled Three-Self Church.
“Bitter Winter” and other human rights organizations have now received a statement from the Covenant Home Church:
“This church is a house church that adheres to the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Larger and Smaller Catechisms, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Canons of Dort, and the Belgic Confession. We uphold the spirit of the Reformation, continue the faith tradition of the Puritans, and adopt a Presbyterian system of governance.
Our church faced persecution on August 19, 2022, and nearly three years have passed since then. During the trial, the three brothers and their lawyers firmly maintained a not guilty defense. On June 20, 2025, we received the verdict from the Linfen Yaodu District Court. The three brothers were convicted of ‘fraud.’ Li Jie and Han Xiaodong were sentenced to 3 years and 8 months in prison and fined 30,000 yuan, while Wang Qiang was sentenced to 1 year and 11 months in prison and fined 20,000 yuan.
Despite the verdict, we strongly disagree with this unfair ruling because our brothers did not commit fraud, and the church’s offerings are not fraudulent. Our church remains a house church, upholding the principle of Christ as the only head of the church and the separation of church and state. We honor the service of Li Jie, Han Xiaodong, and Wang Qiang, who suffered for righteousness, and we are willing to bear the cross with the Lord. We receive this verdict with a grateful and obedient heart.
We are thankful for the prayers from other churches, their care for the families, and the hard work of our legal team. May God continue to lead and protect us. Please keep praying for the follow-up issues of the case and for the well-being of our three brothers, Li Jie, Han Xiaodong, and Wang Qiang. May the Lord protect them.”
Source: Bitter Winter
