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===Zhao Weishan===
AmongΜεταξύ thoseτων whoατόμων acceptedπου theέλαβαν personκαι andαποδέχτηκαν theτο messageμήνυμα ofτου AlmightyΠαντοδύναμου GodΘεού wasήταν ο '''ZhaoΖάο WeishanΟυεϊσάν''' (趙維山, Zhào Wéishān);, bornγεννήθηκε Decemberστις 12, Δεκεμβρίου 1951), the leader of an independent branch of [[the Shouters]].<ref>Dunn (2015),48: "Other Chinese sources present a far more complex account of Eastern Lightning's origins. They charge a middle-aged man named Zhao Weishan 赵维山, once a physics teacher or railroad worker, with founding the movement. These sources ... was a member of the Shouters in the late 1980s. He left the group with other believers in 1989 to form an offshoot called the Church of the Everlasting Foundation (永存的根基教会 Yongcun de genjijiaohui), in which he presented himself as a 'Lord of Ability' (能力主 nengli zhu). In May, 1992, a Chinese Christian magazine reported that a group called 'the New Church of the Lord of Ability' (新能力主教会 Xin nenglizhu jiaohui) had been distributing tracts and cassette recordings in the southwest Henan since March 1991."</ref> WhileΕνώ someμερικοί scholarsμελετητές regardθεωρούν Zhaoτον asΖάο theως founderιδρυτή ofτου the movementκινήματος,<ref>Kindopp (2004), 141: “Similarly, a disgruntled Protestant Christian named Zhao Weishan broke from his church to establish the Eastern Lightning cult, also in Henan"; Aikman (2003), 242: “"Some time in the 1990s, the man regarded as the founder of Eastern Lightning, Zhao Weishan, came to the United States with a false passport and applied for—and in 2000 was granted—political asylum.”</ref> othersάλλοι believeπιστεύουν thatότι thisυπάρχει isμια dueπροκατάληψη toστις aκινέζικες bias in the Chinese sourcesπηγές, whichοι wouldοποίες notδεν easilyθα acceptαποδεχθούν thatεύκολα aότι largeτο religiousκίνημα movementιδρύθηκε wasαπό foundedγυναίκα byκαι aότι woman,ο andτίτλος inτου factιδρυτή theτης titleεκκλησίας ofτου "founder"Παντοδύναμου ofΘεού Theθα Churchαποδοθεί ofστην Almightyγυναίκα Godπου shouldτο ratherκίνημα beθεωρεί attributedως to the (female) person the movement venerates as AlmightyΠαντοδύναμο GodΘεό.<ref>CESNUR (2017).</ref> According to Australian scholar Emily Dunn, in 1991, the organization had more than a thousand members. After being investigated and prosecuted by a local police station, Zhao left [[Heilongjiang]] Province and continued the organization in Qingfeng County, [[Henan]], where it continued to expand.<ref>Dunn (2015), 48.</ref> He was later recognized as the leader and the Priest of The Church of Almighty God. The church insists that it is personally led and shepherded by the person it recognizes as Almighty God, and that Zhao, "the Man used by the Holy Spirit," is the administrative leader of the movement.<ref>Introvigne (2017c); Zoccatelli (2018), 9.</ref>
===Expansion and repression===
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