After 266 days in a Chinese prison, Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, founder of Zion Church, one of China’s largest underground churches, has been released and reunited with his family in the United States.
He was detained on October 10, 2025, for “practicing and preaching his faith,” and freed on July 3, 2026.
ChinaAid said Pastor Jin, also known by his English name Ezra Jin, landed in Los Angeles on July 4 after being held in detention centres in the southern Chinese city of Beihai since October.
Chinese authorities have long seen Christianity as an unwelcome foreign influence and a threat to government control. Religious practice is legal but tightly controlled and surveilled by the government, which registers “official” state-sanctioned churches.
Jin’s release came after US President Donald Trump raised his case with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during a visit to Beijing in May.
His family called his release a “miracle from God” and thanked President Trump.
“We truly witnessed a miracle and we are feeling overwhelmed with joy,” Jin’s family said in a statement. “We thank God for this tremendous miracle. We also thank President Trump and his administration for their tremendous leadership.”
Pastor Jin’s daughter, Grace Drexel, fought for his freedom while pregnant with her son, whom she named Ezra after her father.
Before his release, she said, “We would really, really love for our children to also experience and learn from their grandpa.”
Pastor Jin has not only reunited with his wife and daughter, but met his grandson Ezra for the very first time.
Maya Wang, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, welcomed the release but noted that several Zion Church members remained in custody. At least eight other Zion Church leaders still remain detained in China.
(Agencies; Picture Courtesy: AP)
