Prominent Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng was confirmed alive on Sunday after more than a year without reliable information on his whereabouts. ‘I am tremendously relieved that my husband is alive,’ said Gao’s wife, Geng He, in a statement issued by Freedom Now, a group that represents prisoners of conscience. ‘My children and I have not seen their father since January 2009,’ she said. ‘We urge the Chinese government to allow Zhisheng to leave the country and be reunited with us in the United States.’ Gao, who is one of China’s most famous lawyers and human rights activists, was last seen in February 2009 when a dozen police officers reportedly seized him in public. Gao elicited the ire of the Chinese government by defending groups oppressed by authorities, such as underground churches, practitioners of the spiritual movement Falun Gong, and farmers evicted from their land. Gao himself is a Christian who worships in a house church. (See Prayer Alert 1309, 1509)

Praise: God for the news that Gao is alive and pray now for his release. (Is.42:6-8)

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