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Brother KenChristian leader Brother Ken* was released from a labour camp in Henan province at the end of 2008. This was the third time he had spent time in prison for his faith. During his one-year imprisonment, he lost 30 pounds from being forced to work 17 hours a day. When he was released he needed therapy because of the heavy labour he'd been subjected to. Being separated from Brother Ken had been very hard for his wife and teenage son. After his release they told him, "We missed you very much! Don't be in trouble – in prison – again." Speaking about his imprisonment, Ken said, "Christian prisoners came and went in the prison throughout the year I was there. Most of them were arrested during Christian meetings." "We all came from different house church movements," said Ken, "but the Lord united us in the prison cell. Constantly we had 20 to 30 brothers; most of them were sentenced for a few months to one year." "A few weeks before I was released, some Christians were arrested during their worship service in central China; all of them were sentenced to one year in the labour camp." "We also witnessed another group of nine Christian brothers from northwest China being given heavy sentences by the local government who hated the Christians and struck hard against the local church. One was given a seven-year sentence, one a five-year sentence, two received three years in the labour camp, and the rest were sentenced to a few months to one year." Despite his experience of prison, Ken's enthusiasm to support churches has not diminished. "We need the Word of God," he said. Open Doors is now supporting Brother Ken's ministry to serve Christians in central China. *name changed for security reasons Please pray:
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