All posts tagged: Kevin Garratt

Chinese government releases wife of Canadian pastors arrested in August 2014 for espionage

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The Chinese government has just announced the release of Julia Garratt from custody. She and her husband Kevin Garratt were arrested by Chinese authorities on August 4, 2014 and charged with espionage. I discussed this in detail in an earlier post. People who knew the Garratts were dumbfounded by the accusation. Most believe it was no coincidence the Chinese government arrested the Garratts days after the Canadian government accused the Chinese of hacking into a government agency — the National Research Council of Canada — to steal vital economic and technological data.

Chinese government accuses Canadian Pentecostal pastors of espionage

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PRAYER REQUEST: Kevin, 54, and Julia, 53, Garratt are Canadians Christians ministering in China. Originally from Mississauga, Ontario, they have been in China since 1984, when they went there to teach English. The Garratts live in Dandong, on the border with North Korea. They moved to Dandong in 2008, after working in a number of Chinese cities and a brief time back in Canada. They serve as Pentecostal pastors and hold weekly church services each Sunday in their home. They also started a popular coffee shop in the city, located near the Friendship Bridge, a major crossing over the Yula River that marks the border of China and North Korea. On Monday, August 4, 2014, they were going out for supper with another couple whose daughter was going to Canada to study. The Garratts have four children, three are in Canada, and Peter who lives in Dandong. The Garratts had invited Peter to join them, but he had a previous commitment. The last thing he heard from his parents was a text his dad sent …