Ill Christian Septuagenarian Dies During Exile Due to CCP’s Pursuit

Yan Xiaocong, male, born in 1947, was a resident of Lushi county under the jurisdiction of Sanmenxia city in the central province of Henan. He joined The Church of Almighty God in 2004. As he was pursued by the CCP police for his belief, he fled home in May 2016 to evade arrest. During his exile, he never dared to go to the hospital for his diabetes, for fear that he would have his identity betrayed and thus be arrested by the CCP. As a result, his condition was worsening day by day. On September 4, 2017, Yan died of his illness at the age of 70.

On May 17, 2016, Yan was reported to the police for his belief. The captain of the county’s National Security Brigade, the chief and deputy chief of the local police station, and the village Party secretary went to his home to arrest him. Finding him absent from home, they made a thorough search of his house, and confiscated his faith-related books and other belongings. To evade the arrest by the police, he had to flee home and move from place to place between May and October, during which he had a relapse of his diabetes. Because he feared that he would have his identity betrayed and thus be arrested by the police if he went to the hospital, what he could do was to buy some medicine at drugstores, but his condition was out of effective control.

In late November, the police visited his home twice to arrest him, and threatened his family by saying that Yan was wanted online, and if he showed his ID card when buying tickets or checking in hotels, auto-alarm would be made online, and that he would be arrested and imprisoned wherever he went.

In April 2017, the CCP carried out the “Door-knocking Operation,” searching tenants to arrest Christians in the name of checking their household registration. As Yan went on the run, he lived in constant fear and anxiety, greatly tormented. Day by day, his condition was worsened, his appetite decreased, and his vision blurred. However, he still did not dare to go to the hospital.

As his condition worsened, Yan died on September 4, 2017, at the age of 70.