1996 - Shi Yunchao

January 17, 1996

Qingfeng, Henan

In April 1983, Shi Yunchao was a 55-year-old house church Christian living at Wuli (‘Five Mile’) Village in Qingfeng County, Henan Province. As the warmer summer months drew nearer, the Chinese government launched a massive nationwide crackdown against the Church. Shi was ordered to attend a study group held by the Religious Affairs Bureau. There the official from the bureau stressed repeatedly, “You are not allowed to have Christian gatherings. You are not allowed to read a Bible sent from overseas. You are not allowed to have private gatherings. Any activity in violation of any part of the above regulation is illegal and counter–revolutionary.”[1]

Shi’s wife, Wang Xiying, later recalled what happened to her husband. The authorities falsely charged Shi with being a member of the ‘Shouters’—a sect branded an ‘evil cult’ by the government in China. Also known as The Local Church, it was founded by Li Changshou (Witness Li) and gained its nickname because of their practice of shouting Scripture together in unison. When Shi protested that his church was not part of the Shouters, the official of the Religious Affairs Bureau replied, “You are Shouter Sect if you shout loud; you are also Shouter Sect if you lower your voice shouting. We think you are still Shouter Sect even if you mumble words in your mouth! The Shouter Sect is counter-revolutionary.”[2]

On April 25, 1983, Shi was arrested and charged with leading ‘illegal counter-revolutionary gatherings.’ A few months later he was sent to a prison labour camp. He was released in April 1987 after serving a three-year sentence. On July 10, 1989, Shi was leading a house church meeting. During lunch, officers from the Public Security Bureau broke in with handcuffs and batons. One of the officers, a man named Yang Shoushan, shouted,

“‘Old diehard! It is you again!’ He handcuffed Shi, cursing, ‘You never repent, even when your death time comes!’ Then Shi Yunchao was taken to the Qingfeng Jail. His howls and shrieks under torture rang out so far that those Christians locked in the jail could hear it clearly. On July 10, 1993, he was released from prison. But he could no longer live a normal life as a healthy person. His health failed to improve. He died on January 17, 1996.”[3]