“We thank God for this tremendous miracle.”
By Catholics for Catholics
After being imprisoned for months, a Christian pastor was released by the Chinese Communist Party in a development that his family called a “miracle.”
President Donald Trump exerted pressure over China’s leader Xi Jinping to release Pastor Mingri “Ezra” Jin, the leader of one of the largest underground church networks in China, according to a story by the Daily Wire. He landed in the United States on the Fourth of July and was greeted by his family.
Trump pushed Chinese President Xi Jinping to release Jin during his trip to China in May.
“We truly witnessed a miracle and we are feeling so overwhelmed with joy. We thank God for this tremendous miracle,” Jin’s family said in a statement. “We also thank President Trump and his administration for their tremendous leadership.”
In October 2025, Jin and a number of other church leaders connected to Zion Church, an independent Protestant church, were captured and sent into a detention center in southern China in October 2025. The CCP targeted in January 2026, more Christians associated with Early Rain Covenant Church, an evangelical Presbyterian church.
Jin was accused of disseminating illegal information online.
Mingri “Ezra” Jin became a Christian after the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, according to Grace Jin Drexel, his daughter.
“When the country betrayed them in such a brutal way, it really was shocking, and they lost a sense of direction for my dad,” Grace said. “He then found the sense of purpose and direction in Christianity, and he turned to Christ, and he realized that was the firm foundation that he needed in order to build his life upon.”
According to the Wire story, in 2007, Jin started Zion after years of theological training in the United States. By 2018, the government had cracked down on Zion by closing its physical location and freezing the church’s assets.
During his trip to China, Trump pressed Xi on the imprisonment of Jin and Hong Kong businessman Jimmy Lai.
“I think he’s giving very serious consideration to the pastor,” Trump said after the trip. “He said he’s giving very serious consideration to that.”
Lawmakers praised Trump for advocating for Jin’s release.
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