Chinese authorities have officially charged the lead pastor of Early Rain Covenant Church and sent him to criminal detention following a crackdown on church members. Authorities arrested Pastor Wang Yi, his wife, Jiang Rong, and about 100 other church members during raids on their homes and church premises that began Sunday.

A letter from Wang Yi, pastor of the Chinese church that was the subject of a government crackdown Sunday, was released and translated Wednesday, explaining his faithful disobedience to the Communist regime and expressing hope for his jailers’ salvation. Wang’s letter included instructions for it to be published if he was detained for more than 48 hours.

Chinese offcials on Tuesday continued to crack down on members of the Early Rain Covenant Church after a Sunday night raid. Authorities on Tuesday arrested Li Yingqiang, a church elder who went into hiding when the raid first began, and several other church leaders. Hours before his arrest, Li sent a letter to the church, saying, “May you welcome, filled with hope, the even heavier cross and more difficult lives that lie ahead of you.”

Chinese authorities arrested more than 100 members of China’s Early Rain Covenant Church, including the lead pastor, in a widespread raid Sunday evening. Early Rain is one of the best-known unregistered, Christian house churches in China. ChinaAid said the crackdown began at 6 p.m. on Sunday as authorities showed up at members’ homes and at the seminary in Chengdu in the southwest Sichuan province. Officials arrested Pastor Wang Yi and his wife, Jiang Rong.

On Sunday evening, Chinese officials launched a crackdown on Chengdu’s Early Rain Covenant Church and its outspoken pastor, Wang Yi. Since then, police have broken down doors, swarmed apartment complexes, and ransacked homes to detain more than 100 leaders and members of the well-known house church, including Wang and all but one of the church’s elders.

A New York moment: 

Last Wednesday churches around the world lit up red in solidarity with persecuted Christians, an event called Red Wednesday. Here in New York the only church I found that marked the day was Calvary-St. George, an Episcopal church. Calvary-St. George’s music director, Kamel Boutros, comes from an often-persecuted group in Egypt, the Copts. 

Inside China’s heavily censored internet network, it’s often a game of cat and mouse as creative netizens think up new ways to bypass censors. Web users have recently employed a variety of creative tactics—including word plays and digital technology—to keep a step ahead of government officials, but censors are often quick to catch on.