COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – During the weekend from May 14 through 17 this year, the Colson Center for Christian Worldview and Breakpoint will present China Aid founder, Bob Fu, with the 2020 William Wilberforce Award. The Wilberforce Weekend is the annual flagship event for the Colson Center.

The China Aid website describes Bob Fu as “one of the leading voices in the world for persecuted faith communities in China.”

Fu was born and raised in mainland China. As a college student, he helped to organize students to participate in what became known as the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. Although he had been investigated after the event, he was neither arrested nor detained. That came later, in 1996.

Fu and his wife were held in custody for two months because they had been conducting Bible studies at a church and a secret Bible school. The charge against them was “illegal evangelism.”

They were released in good health and were not required to pay any fines. But another problem arose when Fu’s wife became pregnant. The baby would be their second child, and the government’s one-child policy was still in effect. The couple hurriedly emigrated to Hong Kong, which was still under British rule. They sought and were granted political asylum in the United States.

Fu founded China Aid in 2002 to intervene on behalf of five Chinese Christians who were sentenced to death because they were leaders of house churches. He was able to raise sufficient funds to pay for 58 defense lawyers to come to the aid of the church leaders. Ultimately, the charges against them were dropped, and the pastors were released.

China Aid continues to promote and defend religious freedom and other human rights in mainland China. The organization’s mission is to Expose, Encourage, and Equip. The China Aid website describes their work as:

• Expose the AbusesChinaAid endeavors to expose the systematic persecution, harassment, torture, and imprisonment of Chinese Christians and human rights lawyers in China.
• Encourage the AbusedChinaAid financially supports Chinese Christians and their families who have experienced persecution by the Chinese government.
• Equip the LeadersChinaAid provides leadership and rule of law training for Christian and church leaders in China to defend their rights under both Chinese constitutional law and international law.

Each year since 2006, China Aid publishes an Annual Persecution Report from its headquarters in Midland, Texas, with information that is gleaned from governmental and non-governmental sources and corroborated to ensure accuracy to “assess the current state of religious freedom in China.”

Former William Wilberforce Award winners include Alan Sears and Joni Eareckson Tada.

To read more news on Religious Freedom on Missions Box, go here.