——我与北京锡安教会的信仰见证
作者：缪青
编辑：周志刚 校对：熊辩 翻译：戈冰
2025年10月11日清晨，旧金山湾区的天空刚刚泛起一层淡淡的晨光，太平洋的海风仍带着夜色的微凉。那是一个平静得不能再平静的清晨。然而就在这样的时刻，一条来自中国的消息，如同骤然划破天空的闪电，打破了我内心的宁静。
中共当局在全国范围内展开突袭行动，对北京锡安教会的牧师、传道人和信徒进行大规模抓捕。在短短数小时之内，已有三十余人被带走或失联。当我看到被抓捕人员名单时，几个熟悉的名字赫然映入眼帘：金明日牧师，王林牧师，高颖佳牧师，尹会彬长老，米沙传道……
那一刻，我的心仿佛被什么重重击中。
震惊、悲痛、难以置信。
这些人并不是新闻中遥远的名字，而是我曾经一同祷告、一起查经、一起服事的牧者与同工。他们温和、谦卑、虔诚，在许多人的生命中留下了深刻的印记。
然而此刻，他们却因信仰而被拘押。他们没有暴力，没有阴谋，也没有政治野心。他们唯一的“罪名”，只是坚持自由地敬拜上帝。
在中国漫长而复杂的宗教历史中，这样的故事并不陌生。但当它降临在自己熟悉的人身上时，那种沉重与痛楚，却远远超出新闻文字所能表达的范围。
那一刻，我久久无言。
北京锡安教会：金明日牧师（右四）、王林牧师（右三）、高颖佳牧师（右五）、尹会彬长老（右一）
一、信仰的起点：2002年的受洗
我的名字叫缪青。在公共身份上，我在《北京之春》和《在野党》两家刊物任旧金山记者站站长和采访记者。但在这些身份之外，我同时也是北京锡安教会一名普通的基督徒。
2002年，我在重庆渝中区的基督教圣爱堂受洗。那时的我年轻而懵懂，对信仰的理解还十分有限，只是觉得，在教堂里可以找到一种久违的宁静。在那个充满现实压力的社会环境中，那种宁静显得格外珍贵。
然而不久之后，我逐渐意识到一个现实问题。
圣爱堂属于中国官方的“三自教会体系”，其宗教活动受到国家宗教事务部门的严格管理。在一些主日讲道中，我开始听到一些与福音并不完全相关的政治话语。一些牧师需要在讲道中强调“爱国爱教”，甚至引用政治口号。
这种现象让我逐渐产生困惑。信仰是否必须附属于政治？教会是否可以真正独立存在？
2003年，我离开了圣爱堂。从那以后，我仿佛进入了一段漫长的信仰漂泊。在之后十余年的时间里，我依然祷告、读经，也偶尔参加一些小型聚会，但始终没有找到真正的属灵归宿。
二、漂泊中的光：重庆锡安磐石堂
直到2018年，我在重庆偶然听到一个消息：有一家庭教会：北京锡安教会在重庆设立了一个分堂，名叫重庆锡安磐石堂。
第一次参加磐石堂聚会时，我就感到一种久违的属灵震动。磐石堂的弟兄姊妹通过网络，与北京锡安教会同步敬拜和查经。当我第一次听到金明日牧师讲道时，我几乎立刻意识到：这正是我多年寻找的教会。他的讲道没有政治口号，没有意识形态的修辞。只有圣经本身。那种力量来自信仰，而不是来自任何权力。在那一刻，我感到自己终于重新找到了属灵的家。
锡安会的信众通过网络与锡安教会牧师的主日敬拜活动现场
三、北京锡安教会的诞生
北京锡安教会成立于2007年6月3日，是中国最具影响力的城市家庭教会之一。创办人是金明日牧师。
金牧师出生于黑龙江，是朝鲜族。他早年就读于燕京神学院，后来赴美国富勒神学院深造，获得新约神学博士学位。他既有深厚的神学训练，又拥有谦卑温和的牧者气质。在2000年代，中国城市社会正在发生巨大变化。大量知识分子、白领、律师、企业家开始接触基督教信仰。
他们既追求理性，也渴望灵性的归属。
北京锡安教会正是在这样的社会背景下成长起来。在最鼎盛时期，教会每周主日聚会人数超过1500人。这不仅是一间教会的规模，更象征着中国城市家庭教会的一种新形态。
四、我所认识的牧者们
我与金明日牧师正式见面，是在2023年一次灵修讲座之后。那时我已经在北京工作生活。讲座结束后，金牧师主动为我和我的家人祷告祝福。他的声音温和而沉静。在那一刻，我在他的目光中看见一种极为纯粹的信仰力量。
高颖佳牧师则是另一种性格。他热情、温暖、富有行动力。2023年冬天，北京锡安教会曾组织一次慈善义卖活动，帮助那些因疫情“白肺”而陷入困境的儿童家庭。高牧师是主要组织者之一。当他得知我捐赠了一些义卖物品后，特地向我表达感谢，并与我合影留念。
他的笑容让我明白一件事：信仰不是抽象的理论，而是行动中的爱。
尹会彬长老则常常默默在幕后工作。他负责协调物资运输与分发。做事认真踏实，不辞辛苦。
而米沙传道，则是一位充满爱心的姊妹。
她在我们北京锡安会方庄堂负责日常事务。每个主日，她总是最早到达聚会地点，准备茶水和食物，迎接每一位弟兄姊妹。
每逢节日教会团契，她总是喜欢给教会的弟兄姊妹包饺子。她包饺子的速度很快，也很好吃。
那种温暖，让人仿佛回到家中。
五、中国家庭教会七十年的历史
要理解北京锡安教会，就必须理解中国家庭教会的历史。
1949年之后，中国共产党建立政权。1950年代，政府推动宗教改造，建立“三自爱国运动委员会”。
所有教会必须纳入国家管理。
但许多信徒认为，教会不应完全依附政治。于是，一种新的信仰形态逐渐出现：家庭教会。
这些教会在私人住宅聚会，不受官方管理。在中共文革期间，几乎所有宗教活动被禁止。但家庭教会仍然秘密存在。
改革开放以后，它们迅速复兴。到21世纪，中国家庭教会信徒人数已经达到数千万。
北京锡安教会正是在这一历史传统中成长起来的。
六、制度冲突：信仰与权力
北京锡安教会事件，本质上是一种制度冲突。中国政治体系要求所有社会组织接受党的领导。
而基督教信仰强调：上帝高于一切世俗权力。
当教会坚持信仰独立时，就不可避免地与政治权力产生冲突。这种冲突，在中国已经持续了几十年。
从更广阔的历史视角来看，宗教自由并不是一个简单的政治口号。它是人类文明经过数百年斗争才获得的一项基本权利。17世纪欧洲宗教战争造成巨大灾难。
最终，人们逐渐认识到：信仰必须是自由的。
1776年美国独立革命，第一次在国家制度中确立宗教自由原则。
二战之后，《世界人权宣言》再次确认宗教自由是基本人权。
七、2025年“109教案”
2025年10月11日发生中国的针对北京锡安会教会牧者，信众成员的抓捕事件，很快被海外媒体称为：中国2025年109教案。
到2026年初，据国际人权组织统计显示：北京锡安会教会牧者，信众有超过40名教会成员被拘押。
国际社会迅速作出反应。
美国国务院、欧盟、英国外交部门相继发表声明。
联合国宗教自由特别报告员也对事件表示关注。
海外制作的抗议海报
八、信仰的力量
在历史上，每一次信仰被压制的时候，往往也是信仰最坚强的时候。
罗马帝国迫害基督徒三百年。但基督教最终改变了整个文明。
历史一再证明：信仰可以被压制，却无法被消灭。回望我的信仰旅程，从2002年的受洗，到2026年的今日。我逐渐明白：信仰从来不是一条安逸的道路，它更像是一条背负十字架的旅程。
北京锡安教会给予我的，不只是信仰的归宿，更让我看见：真正的教会，并不依附任何权力。它存在于信徒彼此相爱的团契之中！存在于那些在黑暗中仍然守望光明的人心里！
历史终将过去，政权也终将更迭。
但信仰的火焰，却会在一代又一代人的心中继续燃烧。当未来的历史学家回望这个时代时，也许会发现：那些在地下室祷告的人，那些在黑夜中聚会的人，那些因为信仰而被带走的人，正是这个时代真正的光。
而北京锡安教会，正是我信仰归途中见过的，最温柔、也最坚强的一束光。
A Light in the Darkness
—My Testimony of Faith with Beijing Zion Church
Author: Miao Qing
Editor: Zhou Zhigang Proofreader: Xiong Bian Translator: Ge Bing
Abstract: On October 11, 2025, the Chinese Communist Party launched a crackdown on Beijing Zion Church. The author shares his religious journey, the sincerity and kindness of Beijing Zion Church members, the importance of religious freedom, and the power of faith.
In the early morning of October 11, 2025, a faint glow of dawn was just beginning to appear in the sky over the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Pacific breeze still carried the slight chill of the night. It was a morning as peaceful as could be. Yet at that very moment, news from China struck like a bolt of lightning splitting the sky, shattering the tranquility within my heart.
The Chinese Communist authorities launched a nationwide raid, carrying out mass arrests of pastors, preachers, and believers from Beijing Zion Church. Within just a few hours, more than thirty people had been taken away or were unaccounted for. When I saw the list of those arrested, several familiar names immediately caught my eye: Pastor Jin Mingri, Pastor Wang Lin, Pastor Gao Yingjia, Elder Yin Huibin, Preacher Mi Sha…
In that moment, it felt as though my heart had been struck by a heavy blow.
Shock, grief, disbelief.
These people are not distant names in the news, but pastors and fellow workers with whom I once prayed, studied the Bible, and served together. They are gentle, humble, and devout, having left a deep imprint on the lives of many.
Yet now, they have been detained for their faith. They have committed no violence, hatched no conspiracies, and harbored no political ambitions. Their only “crime” is simply insisting on the freedom to worship God.
In China’s long and complex religious history, such stories are not uncommon. But when it happens to people I know personally, the weight and pain far exceed what words in a news article can convey.
At that moment, I was speechless for a long time.
Beijing Zion Church: Pastor Jin Mingri (fourth from right), Pastor Wang Lin (third from right), Pastor Gao Yingjia (fifth from right), Elder Yin Huibin (first from right)
I. The Beginning of Faith: My Baptism in 2002
My name is Miao Qing. Professionally, I serve as the San Francisco bureau chief and a reporter for the publications *Beijing Spring* and *The Opposition*. But beyond these roles, I am also an ordinary Christian at Beijing Zion Church.
In 2002, I was baptized at the Christian Holy Love Church in Yuzhong District, Chongqing. At that time, I was young and naive, with a very limited understanding of faith. I simply felt that I could find a long-lost sense of peace within the church. In a social environment filled with the pressures of reality, that peace seemed especially precious.
However, not long after, I gradually became aware of a practical problem.
Holy Love Church belongs to China’s official “Three-Self Church system,” and its religious activities are strictly regulated by the state’s religious affairs department. In some Sunday sermons, I began to hear political rhetoric that was not entirely related to the Gospel. Some pastors felt compelled to emphasize “love for the country and the church” in their sermons, even quoting political slogans.
This phenomenon gradually left me perplexed. Must faith be subordinate to politics? Can the church truly exist independently?
In 2003, I left Holy Love Church. From then on, I seemed to enter a long period of spiritual wandering. Over the next decade or so, I continued to pray and read the Bible, and occasionally attended small gatherings, but I never found a true spiritual home.
II. A Light in the Midst of Wandering: Chongqing Zion Rock Church
It wasn’t until 2018 that I happened to hear news in Chongqing: a house church, Beijing Zion Church, had established a branch in Chongqing called Chongqing Zion Rock Church.
The very first time I attended a service at Rock Church, I felt a long-lost spiritual stir. The brothers and sisters at Rock Church worshiped and studied the Bible in sync with Beijing Zion Church via the internet. When I first heard Pastor Jin Mingri preach, I realized almost immediately: this was the church I had been searching for all these years. His sermons contained no political slogans, no ideological rhetoric. Only the Bible itself. That power came from faith, not from any authority. In that moment, I felt I had finally found my spiritual home again.
Members of the Zion Church connect online with the live Sunday worship service led by the pastors of the Zion Church
III. The Founding of Beijing Zion Church
Beijing Zion Church was established on June 3, 2007, and is one of the most influential urban house churches in China. Its founder is Pastor Kim Myung-il.
Pastor Kim was born in Heilongjiang and is of Korean ethnicity. He attended Yenching Theological Seminary in his early years and later pursued advanced studies at Fuller Theological Seminary in the United States, where he earned a Doctor of Theology degree in New Testament studies. He possesses both a deep theological foundation and the humble, gentle demeanor of a pastor. In the 2000s, China’s urban society was undergoing tremendous changes. A large number of intellectuals, white-collar workers, lawyers, and entrepreneurs began to explore the Christian faith.
They sought both rationality and a sense of spiritual belonging.
It was against this social backdrop that Beijing Zion Church flourished. At its peak, the church’s weekly Sunday services drew over 1,500 attendees. This was not merely the scale of a single congregation; it symbolized a new form of urban house church in China.
IV. The Pastors I Have Known
I first met Pastor Jin Mingri formally after a spiritual retreat in 2023. By then, I had already been living and working in Beijing. After the lecture, Pastor Jin took the initiative to pray for and bless me and my family. His voice was gentle and calm. In that moment, I saw in his eyes a profoundly pure power of faith.
Pastor Gao Yingjia, on the other hand, has a different personality. He is passionate, warm, and proactive. In the winter of 2023, Beijing Zion Church organized a charity bazaar to help families with children who had fallen on hard times due to “white lung” caused by the pandemic. Pastor Gao was one of the main organizers. When he learned that I had donated some items for the sale, he made a point of thanking me and took a photo with me.
His smile made me realize one thing: faith is not an abstract theory, but love in action.
Elder Yin Huibin, on the other hand, often works quietly behind the scenes. He is responsible for coordinating the transportation and distribution of supplies. He is diligent and down-to-earth, never shirking from hard work.
As for Sister Mi Sha, she is a sister full of love.
She handles daily affairs at our Beijing Zion Church Fangzhuang Congregation. Every Sunday, she is always the first to arrive at the meeting place, preparing tea and food to welcome every brother and sister.
Whenever there is a church fellowship during holidays, she always enjoys making dumplings for the brothers and sisters in the church. She makes them quickly, and they taste delicious.
That warmth makes people feel as if they’ve returned home.
V. Seventy Years of History of China’s House Churches
To understand the Beijing Zion Church, one must understand the history of China’s house churches.
After 1949, the Communist Party of China established its regime. In the 1950s, the government promoted religious reform and established the “Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee.”
All churches were required to come under state control.
However, many believers felt that the church should not be entirely subservient to politics. Consequently, a new form of worship gradually emerged: the house church.
These churches gathered in private homes, free from official oversight. During the Chinese Communist Party’s Cultural Revolution, nearly all religious activities were banned. Yet house churches continued to exist in secret.
Following the Reform and Opening-Up policy, they experienced a rapid revival. By the 21st century, the number of believers in China’s house churches had reached tens of millions.
The Beijing Zion Church grew out of this historical tradition.
VI. Institutional Conflict: Faith and Power
The Beijing Zion Church incident is, at its core, a conflict of institutions. China’s political system requires all social organizations to accept the Party’s leadership.
Christian faith, however, emphasizes that God is above all secular power.
When the church insists on the independence of its faith, conflict with political power becomes inevitable. This conflict has persisted in China for decades.
From a broader historical perspective, religious freedom is not merely a political slogan. It is a fundamental right that human civilization has secured only after centuries of struggle. The religious wars of 17th-century Europe caused immense devastation.
Ultimately, people gradually came to recognize that faith must be free.
The American Revolution of 1776 established the principle of religious freedom within a national system for the first time.
After World War II, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reaffirmed that religious freedom is a fundamental human right.
After World War II, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reaffirmed that religious freedom is a fundamental human right.
VII. The “2025 109 Religious Case”
On October 11, 2025, a series of arrests targeting pastors and members of the Beijing Zion Church took place in China. Overseas media soon dubbed this event the “2025 109 Religious Case.”
By early 2026, statistics from international human rights organizations indicated that more than 40 members of the Beijing Zion Church, including pastors and congregants, had been detained.
The international community reacted swiftly.
The U.S. State Department, the European Union, and the British Foreign Office issued statements in succession.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief also expressed concern over the incident.
Protest posters created overseas
VIII. The Power of Faith
Throughout history, whenever faith has been suppressed, it has often been at its strongest.
The Roman Empire persecuted Christians for three hundred years. Yet Christianity ultimately transformed the entire civilization.
History has repeatedly proven that faith can be suppressed, but it cannot be eradicated. Looking back on my journey of faith, from my baptism in 2002 to today in 2026, I have gradually come to understand: faith is never a path of ease; it is more like a journey of carrying the cross.
What the Beijing Zion Church has given me is not merely a spiritual home; it has also shown me that a true church does not depend on any form of power. It exists in the fellowship of believers who love one another! It exists in the hearts of those who continue to watch for the light even in the darkness!
History will eventually pass, and regimes will eventually change.
But the flame of faith will continue to burn in the hearts of generation after generation. When future historians look back on this era, they may discover that those who prayed in basements, those who gathered in the darkness, and those who were taken away for their faith were, in fact, the true light of this age.
And Beijing Zion Church is the gentlest yet strongest beam of light I have encountered on my journey of faith.
