Religious rights advocates are calling for the release of an American pastor detained in a Russian prison.

Thomas Kang has been held in a detention center in Tula, Russia, since September. Officials interrogated him for several hours about the status of a foreign worker helping build his house.

Kang paid a small fine and added an extra offering of 1,000 rubles to help the police in their work. That's when they arrested him on charges of attempted bribery.

Religious leaders said that the timing of the arrest is suspicious, noting that Pastor Kang intended to open his "House of Joy" ministry the following day.

Kang's daughter, Beverly Chan, said her father planned to open the House of Joy as a place of spiritual retreat.

"It's a hard thing to deal with, and sometimes I feel a little hopeless or helpless," she told Mission Network News.

"But I'm reminded that God will provide us with strength," she said. "And....we need to have compassion with the people who are keeping him there."