The family of the South China Church leader Gong Shengliang,...

The family of the South China Church leader Gong Shengliang, sentenced to death along with his relative Li Ying and three other church members on a range of criminal charges in a closed trial in December 2001, is fighting to secure his release. They have hired a lawyer in Beijing to appeal against the death sentence, and have kept in touch with other members of the church to support each other. Although Christians overseas have begun a campaign to save Gong, time is running out.
"We are now trying desperately to raise the money for the lawyers," Gong Xiaoyan, the leader's 25-year-old daughter, said. "This is a lot of money for us. We are worried and sometimes feel so helpless. Some relatives have cried, saying they would sell blood to raise the money."
Gong Shengliang founded the South China Church in 1991. It grew rapidly throughout the 1990s and boasted as many as 500 missionaries. It grew so big, it drew the wrath of the authorities.
The most damning accusation levelled against the Church was contained in a document issued by a special squad of the Public Security Bureau in Beijing. The document said Gong and his followers committed "serious crimes by inflicting harm on those who offend them, and raping women and other serious criminal activities".
Ms Gong rejects the accusations. "We are just preaching the gospel of life as foreign missionaries taught us years ago," she said.