The sudden release of Ezra Jin Mingri, the founding pastor of Zion Church of China, reads like something out of the dramatic sixteenth chapter of Acts.
You’re familiar with the passage: an earthquake at midnight suddenly throws open the prison doors and unleashes the shackles of the detained, including the Apostle Paul and his companion, Silas. The jailer is converted and the Roman magistrates come and escort the two men out of the city and to freedom (Acts 16:25-39).
There may not have been a physical earthquake in China’s Guangxi Province last week, but there was a political one when Pastor Jin walked to freedom after being held for 266 days. Eight of his members remain under arrest. The government had detained him last year and charged him with “illegally using information networks” – legalese for broadcasting his church services online.
Writing in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal, Pastor Jin described his release this past Independence Day.
“When guards ushered me into a van last Friday, I thought they were taking me to my trial,” he wrote. “I expected a long sentence for founding and leading Zion, one of China’s underground, or house, churches. But hours later, I was free. No negotiations,no confession, all charges dropped.”
This past spring, President Trump personally appealed on his behalf to Chinese President Xi Jinping during his trip to Beijing. At the same time, Mr. Trump pressed China for the release of Jimmy Lai. Mr. Lai is a strong Christian and has been under arrest for over five years. Now 78 years old, his crime was running a pro-democracy newspaper.
While flying back to the United States, President Trump told reporters, “He (Xi Jinping) said he’s gonna strongly consider the pastor.” He then told the press, Jimmy Lai’s case was “a tough one.”
“My gratitude goes first to President Trump, whose diplomacy secured my release, as well as to the members of Congress and other U.S. officials who worked on my behalf,” reflected Pastor Jin.
Grace Jin Drexel, Ezra’s daughter, both testified before Congress and publicly advocated for her father’s freedom.
Although he founded the church in China in 2007, Jin received his Doctor of Ministry degree from Fuller Theological Seminary. Ezra and his wife, Anna Liu, have three children, all of whom were born in the United States and are American citizens. In 2018, given increased harassment and pressure from the Chinese government, the family moved back to California, but Ezra remained to continue shepherding his congregation.
Reunited on Friday with his family in Los Angeles, the courageous evangelist acknowledged the reunion was hard to fully comprehend.
“It was disorienting to go from a crowded prison cell to watching Fourth of July fireworks with my family over In-N-Out burgers,” he wrote.
It’s difficult for Christians in America to fully appreciate just how risky it is for active Christians in China. Government officials claim there is religious freedom in the country, but they expect pastors and their congregants to first pay loyalty to the state not their Savior.
“When I started Zion Church in 2007, my aim was simple: to share the immeasurable love of God with those around me,” Jin writes. “As I wrote from prison, ‘We do not oppose dialogue with the government, nor do we confront it, but rather emphasize obedience to those in authority.’ At the same time, we hold fast to our beliefs, recognizing Jesus Christ as the sole head of our church.”
That rock-ribbed commitment got Pastor Jin jailed for nine months. Although he’s been freed, he believes his work and ministry in China is far from over. He writes:
China’s political authorities have no reason to fear the tens of millions in China who worship in unregistered congregations. These Christians love their nation. They only want to worship God peacefully according to the Bible and to serve others, especially the poor, the disabled and the elderly. Zion Church is proud to have been among the first responders after the devastating 2008 Sichuan earthquake and to have hosted major blood drives in Beijing.
My earnest prayer is that my release can mark the beginning of a new chapter for people of faith in China. Freedom of religion is a universal right promised in the Chinese Constitution. I hope that all our church members are freed and that China becomes a place where all people can freely worship. A first step would be to legalize house churches alongside state-run churches in the same way China has legalized private industry alongside state-owned enterprises.
Pastor Jin has shared that the prayers of Christians around the world on his and other believers’ behalf, have sustained them through extremely difficult circumstances. This should serve as both a reminder and a charge to continue petitioning the Lord for persecuted Christians everywhere. The Lord is sovereign, but our prayers matter and make a difference.
“Mine is a God of miracles, and He constantly surprises me,” writes Pastor Jin.
In the days and weeks to come, we pray that the Lord will surprise us with His goodness, too.