China to block Christian students from entering college unless they give up church

Christian students who refuse to stop going to church are prohibited from going to college or joining the military, according to authorities in Guizhou, China.

Local officials reportedly sent a notice to parents last month warning them that if their children continue to attend house churches instead of the Three-Self Church, they will not be allowed to enter college.

Such students will be prohibited from taking college entrance examinations and will not be admitted into military academy, according to nonprofit organization China Aid, which seeks to expose religious freedom abuses in China.

The new rule also states that teens below 18 years old are not allowed to have any kind of religious education. Those who violate it will be subject to a lawsuit, the officials further warned.

"This notice was sent to all of the schools in Huaqiu," Mou from the Huaqiu Church said. "They (public security) intend to cleanse us and ask us to join the Three-Self Church."

Members of Huaqiu Church were forced to sign an agreement that they will stop bringing their children to church, or else their children will face the consequence for violating the new rule.

Apparently, church meetings are also not allowed. Mou asked a local government official to explain the basis for not allowing church meetings, but he was told that the local government is just following orders.

"The higher level leadership ordered us to do this; we are just doing [as they say]," the official told him.

China continues to crack down on house churches all over the country. In Zhejiang province, churches are forced to surrender their tithe collection to government officials, according to another report from China Aid.

Additionally, the church demolition and cross removal campaign continues in the province. In April, a woman was buried alive when she tried to stop the demolition of the church.

Ding Cuimei and her husband Li Jiangong, who led Beitou Church, stepped in front of the bulldozer to prevent it from destroying the property..

The demolition team leader gave the command to bury them both, and the bulldozer pushed them into a pit and covered them with soil. Jiangong managed to get out but his wife died.