China: Pastor Sentenced to 9 Months in Prison
by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Hui Christian Pastor Ma Yan was sentenced to a nine-month prison term for “organizing illegal gatherings” in China, according to a Christian persecution advocacy group.
Ma Yan, a 33-year-old from Zhenxiong, Yunnan, embraced Christianity in college and later became a house church preacher in Yinchuan, Ningxia Province, relocating there to serve.
On February 10 2025, Ma Yan was tried for organizing a small Christian gathering in Yinchuan’s Jinfeng District, Ningxia, which was disrupted by a police raid on August 9, 2024, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).
On March 24, 2025, the Yinchuan Railway Transportation Court in China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region sentenced Hui Christian Pastor Ma Yan to nine months in prison for organizing religious meetings deemed unauthorized by local authorities.
Sources from CSW indicate that Ma Yan pleaded guilty to ‘organizing illegal gatherings,’ opting for a charge that carries a lighter sentence and less moral stigma compared to other potential charges.
According to the US-based rights group China Aid, Pastor Ma Yan’s nine-month sentence will be reduced by 32 days due to time already served in administrative detentions. Since he has been in criminal detention since August 20, 2024, he is scheduled for release on April 17, 2025.
In the 2025 World Watch List by Open Doors, China is ranked 15th out of 50 for severe Christian persecution, up four spots from the previous year. This rise is due to stricter regulatory enforcement, resulting in the shutdown of unregistered churches and heightened scrutiny of official ones. Open Doors estimates there are about 96.7 million Christians in China.
Since the People’s Republic of China was established in 1949, Christianity has seen explosive growth from 4 million Christians to an estimated 58 million Protestants and 9 million Catholics by 2010.
Despite ongoing intense persecution and strict government controls, current estimates suggest that there are between 80 to 100 million Christians in China, including both officially registered members and those in unregistered house church communities.
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