Pastor Bike, as he is affectionately known, can be compared with American evangelist Billy Graham because he led "thousands to Christ", many of them under the age of 18, which is illegal in China, according to Christian rights investigators. As president of the underground Chinese House Church Alliance, he was also involved in distributing Bibles and other Christian literature.
He and his wife were released Friday, August 29, some three weeks after being arrested in Beijing, Christians said. Their co-worker, Pastor Wu Jianghe, who was detained with them, was already released the second day, US-based religious rights group China Aid Association (CAA) told BosNewsLife. He was reportedly unharmed and healthy when he returned home.
The Christians were detained August 6, just two days before the start of the Beijing Olympic Games, amid apparent concern among officials that Chinese Christians would use the occasion to publish reported religious rights violations in the Communist country.
"Pastor Bike is willing to do everything that the state church won’t do," said Tom White, who leads the US-based Christian advocacy group Voice Of the Martyrs (VOM). "The love of Christ is evident in his outreach and his passion for souls. He stands for everything we believe in and has been mercilessly persecuted by the Chinese government."
DIFFERENT LOCATIONS
Pastor Bike said he and his wife were "forced to stay at four different resort locations" throughout their detention, according to details of a phone conversation released by CAA. They have been banned from returning to Beijing until the end of the Paralympics on September 16, CAA told BosNewsLife.
Zhang and his wife have reportedly been monitored by some 16 officials of the Public Security Bureau, China’s main law enforcement agency, and other government officials. China’s government has denied religious rights oppression, saying Christians are free to worship within the state-run churches. Millions of Christians refuse to gather there, as they view them as mouthpieces of the Communist government, according to church groups.
The release of Pastor Bike came amid mounting international pressure, including a petition signed by over 50,000 people, which is to be presented to the Chinese embassy in Washington, CAA added. Zhang and his wife said in a statement they were both "excited and thankful to hear of the response from so many caring individuals."
While in captivity, Pastor Bike reportedly continued evangelizing and advocating the role of the House church movement to his captors. Chinese officials have reportedly privately admitted there may be as many as 130 million Christians in China, much higher than previous government estimates of tens of millions. While it is difficult to independently verify those figures, church observers agree that Christianity is spreading throughout China.
