China’s underground evangelical church, the “Zion Church,” has been rocked by the arrest and disappearance of its pastor, Ezra Jin, by the Chinese Communist authorities last Friday, October 10th. His American family is calling on the U.S. State Department to intervene and demand the immediate and unconditional release of him.
According to a public statement released by the Beijing Zion Church, since Thursday, the Chinese government has launched a large-scale crackdown on pastors, evangelists, and church members in Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Shandong, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, and other places.
As of now, more than thirty pastors and believers have been detained or gone missing, meeting places have been sealed, properties confiscated, and some family members of the church workers have also faced threats and harassment. Ezra Jin is among those on the list of arrests.
Grace Jin, Ezra Jin’s daughter, revealed that since 2018, Pastor Jin has been under surveillance by the Chinese authorities and prohibited from leaving China, not having seen his children for over six years. They are urging the U.S. State Department to demand the Chinese Communist Party to “immediately and unconditionally release him, allowing him to return to the United States and reunite with his family before further persecution by the Chinese government.”
Grace Jin pointed out that in recent months, the Chinese government has started a massive crackdown on church leaders. For instance, in May this year, Pastor Gao Quanfu of the Xi’an Zion Light Church was arrested by the Chinese authorities on charges of “disrupting judicial enforcement through superstition activities.”
In June, several church staff members of the Linfen Golden Lampstand Church were imprisoned on fraud charges.
Due to the confiscation of financial documents of the Zion Church by the Chinese authorities, Grace Jin expressed concerns that her father might also face accusations of fraud by the Communist Party.
Describing the events of Pastor Jin’s arrest on Friday, she said, “They were taken away one by one during the arrest. They said there were people standing outside the door, and then they were taken away one by one.” She noted that the accusations against the pastors and believers of the Zion Church by the Chinese government include online dissemination of religious materials without providing substantiating evidence in writing. Most detention orders have been issued accordingly.
This represents the largest and most severe wave of arrests against Christians by the Chinese government since the Chengdu “December 9 Rain Church” incident in 2018.
China Aid, a U.S.-based religious organization, stated that family churches like Zion are facing “unprecedented pressure.”
Chairman of China Aid, Bob Fu, declared, “Xi Jinping has launched an unwinnable war against God’s church, and the Zion Church is one of its targets. Persecution of religious freedom has reached its most severe level in 40 years. Faith is not a crime, worship is not a crime, and prayer is not a crime.”
He added, “The courage of Chinese pastors and believers will be commemorated by history as a living testimony of the light of Christ that cannot be extinguished by tyranny.” He also urged President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Secretary of State Pompeo to condemn the suppression actions by the Chinese Communist Party.
Established in 2007, the Zion Church was once the largest church in Beijing. In 2018, it was shut down by the Communist Party on the grounds of having “too much influence” and attracting 1,500 attendees each week. Since then, the church has shifted to online meetings and operates in smaller, dispersed prayer groups in different locations.
Grace Jin noted, “During the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Zion Church was one of the few churches that adopted an online model. At that time, the Zion Church quickly garnered attention… Christians from across China participated in Zion’s meetings, as it was the only church providing online music and sermons every Sunday.”
(References were made to Fox News for this report)