Thirty-five 'house church' leaders have been kidnapped by a cult, an overseas Christian group reported.
The leaders belong to a Henan-based evangelical group called the China Gospel Fellowship and were kidnapped by members of the Eastern Lightning - a sect branded an evil cult by the Government and as satanic by mainstream Christians.
According to a report by the Bangkok-based Asia Harvest - a Christian mission dedicated to missionary work in Asia, the 35 leaders were kidnapped on April 19 in cities including Shanghai, Nanjing, Qingdao and several in Henan province. Two of the 35 escaped and the rest remain unaccounted for.
The report said the 33 victims included two founders of the China Gospel Fellowship - Shen Yiping and Shen Xianfeng.
'This kidnapping has shaken all house church believers across China. They have been fighting . . infiltration from Eastern Lightning for more than 10 years, but never before has there been such a co-ordinated attack launched against house church leadership,' the mission said.
Few details were available about the kidnapping, but Asia Harvest said that Eastern Lightning 'in the past separated Christians and spread them in different locations to be brainwashed and beaten individually'.
China Gospel Fellowship is considered a conservative church group in China. Like many other Protestant organisations, it refuses to register with the Government.