Chinese Christian Cheng Hongpeng was sentenced to three years in prison after Chinese officials raided a choir practice on June 25, 2014. As the believers practiced hymns at a factory owned by a church member, about 50 uniformed and plainclothes policemen raided the practice in the village of Sanwuqi in Heze City, Shandong province. Twenty-two believers were arrested, including a pregnant woman and four children.
The children, their parents and the pregnant woman were released immediately. The remaining believers were released on bail July 23, 2014, but Cheng and Zhao Weiliang remained in custody.
On May 27, 2015, Cheng was sentenced to three years in prison under the charge of “using a cult organization to undermine law enforcement.”
According to VOM partners, Chen’s Total Scope Church is a Bible-based house church centered on the teachings of Christ and is not a cult.
Chen has a wife and two children. His mother suffers from advanced esophageal cancer and cannot work.
THE BLACK KETTLE 