A pastor from an illegal church in China is sentenced to prison for what his church says was "teaching the gospel."

Pastor Wang Yi from Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, Sichuan is sentenced to nine years behind bars for "inciting to subvert state power" and "illegal business operations." The Intermediate People’s Court of Chengdu imprisoned Yi and 100 of his church members in December of 2018 for worshiping in the illegal church. 

Yesterday, the Intermediate People’s Court of Chengdu sentenced Yi to nine years in prison and 50,000 RBM (approximately $9,313 Canadian Dollars) worth of personal property was taken. Yi is also stripped of his political rights for three years. 

Yi's church, the Early Rain Covenant Church, shared on social media that their founder is sentenced and shared passages from his letter "My Declaration of Faithful Disobedience." The passages shared are about Yi's faith in God.

"Regardless of what crime the government charges me with, whatever filth they fling at me, as long as this charge is related to my faith, my writings, my comments, and my teachings, it is merely a lie and temptation of demons. I categorically deny it. I will serve my sentence, but I will not serve the law. I will be executed, but I will not plead guilty," Yi writes.

Early Rain Covenant Church leader Pastor Wang Yi penned the letter while he was free. Yi asked for the letter to be released if he was to go missing. One year ago, Yi was imprisoned, allowing his church to publish the manifesto.

The Early Rain Covenant Church is a prominent but illegal church in China. The church was not allowed to teach the gospel in China because they were not a member of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, the Protestant organization in the People's Republic of China. Their Facebook page says over 300 of its members have been arrested by Chinese authorities because of their worship practices with the church.