(AgapePress) - Two Christian advocacy groups say a Chinese court has granted an appeal to a pastor who was sentenced to death for preaching Christianity.
Last week, the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy revealed that Pastor Gong Shengliang, founder of the 50,000-member Christian South China Church, was convicted on charges that included "using a cult to undermine the enforcement of law." Gong reportedly was being held in a detention center in his native Hubei Province, where the appeal was heard over the weekend. Now, according to Associated Press, Gong has been given several months to appeal his death sentence.
The AP report says both Voice of the Martyrs and Compass Direct attribute the court's decision to pressure from Christian groups and U.S. officials. Gary Lane, a spokesman for Voice of the Martyrs, says the decision is a direct result of God's people getting involved.
"It proves that prayer does work -- it was divine intervention," Lane says. "And also, it isn't just praying but a combination of praying and also letting your voice be heard -- letting the Chinese know how you feel about this -- because obviously Pastor Gong cannot speak. He's locked up in prison."
Lane says by granting the appeal, the court may be admitting that some of the allegations against the pastor may have been fabricated.
According to Compass Direct, Gong was to have been executed Saturday. The appeals process could get his death sentence commuted to life in prison.
Meanwhile, AP is reporting President Bush is "deeply concerned" about the reported arrest of a Hong Kong businessman for transporting Bibles to Christians in China. The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy says Li Guangqiang could face the death penalty for allegedly taking 33,000 Bibles to the "Shouters" -- a banned charismatic Christian group.
A spokesman for the State Department says the President has requested they investigate the reports of Li's arrest and requests explanation from both the Chinese embassy in Washington and authorities in Beijing.