Chinese Underground Church Leader Jin Mingri Released After Trump Intervenes

Pastor Jin Mingri, founder of one of China’s largest underground churches, has been released from prison and arrived in Los Angeles after months of detention, according to religious freedom watchdog ChinaAid.

Jin, who also goes by “Ezra,” was arrested last October alongside 30 other leaders from Zion Church in Beijing during what observers described as one of China’s largest crackdowns on a single congregation in decades. The arrests drew international attention when President Trump personally raised Jin’s case with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a May visit to Beijing.

“I think he’s giving very serious consideration to the pastor,” Trump told reporters after the meeting. Jin’s release came soon afterward.

His family thanked the Trump administration “for their tremendous leadership,” saying they believe the outcome wouldn’t have happened without Xi’s direct intervention. “We hope this is a signal of a positive turn for people of faith in China and relations between our two nations,” the family said.

But the story isn’t over. While celebrating Jin’s release, ChinaAid and Freedom House noted that many Zion Church leaders and members remain imprisoned or continue to face criminal charges. ChinaAid founder Bob Fu called on U.S. leaders to keep religious freedom “a top priority in every engagement with Beijing.”

Jin founded Zion Church in 2007 with around 20 people. Over the next decade, it grew into one of China’s largest independent Protestant churches, operating outside the government’s state-approved religious system. Chinese officials banned the church in 2018 as Beijing intensified its campaign to bring independent religious groups under tighter government control.

After authorities shut down Zion Church, Jin moved his family to the United States for safety. Then he made a decision that stunned many: he returned to China, knowing he could be arrested.

His daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, told a congressional committee last year why. “He could have stayed in the U.S. in 2018 and applied for asylum,” she said. “But he felt he had to go back and be with the church while it was suffering.”

Jin chose suffering with the Church over safety in exile. That’s what biblical leadership looks like. He believed the Church in China was worth the risk, and he was willing to pay the cost.

Pray for those still imprisoned. And ask yourself: would you make the same choice?

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