The Pastor China Won’t Let Go

Summary

Morning Wire – "The Pastor China Won’t Let Go"

Date: June 7, 2026
Hosts: John Bickley (Daily Wire Executive Editor)
Guest: Grace Jin Drexel (daughter of Pastor Ezra Jin)

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Episode Overview

This episode delves into the plight of Pastor Ezra Jin, a leading figure in China’s house church movement, who remains imprisoned as part of a governmental crackdown on independent Christian churches. Through a moving interview with his daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, listeners are offered a firsthand account of her father's faith, the growth of his church despite repression, and her family's ongoing struggle for his release. The conversation also touches on U.S. government advocacy, the realities of religious persecution in China, and the personal resilience required in the face of adversity.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Pastor Ezra Jin & His Church’s Growth

• Background:

  • Pastor Ezra Jin leads one of China's largest and most influential underground/independent churches, founded in 2007.
  • The church refused Communist Party control over sacred church decisions (e.g., baptisms, leadership, sermons).
  • His influence and the church's rapid growth led to government hostility and eventual arrest ([04:01]).

• Church Operations:

  • Originated from the house church movement post-Cultural Revolution, flourishing during brief periods of openness in the late 20th century ([05:10]).
  • The physical church location was shut down by the Chinese government in 2018, pushing services online—a move that unintentionally expanded their national reach ([05:10]–[07:07]).
  • Hybrid model: Encouraged meeting in both online and small in-person groups, frustrating authorities intent on control.

Decisions Amid Persecution

• Decision to Remain in China:

  • Despite multiple occasions where Pastor Jin could have safely stayed in the U.S. (including after theological studies and during periods of escalating pressure), he chose to return out of a deep, spiritual conviction to serve his congregation ([07:15]).
  • Family separation: His wife and children (U.S. citizens) remained stateside after 2018 for safety and educational reasons ([07:25]).

• Emotional Impact & Family Dialogue:

  • The family understood the risks. Grace recounts a “very Asian and vague” conversation between her parents about the possibility of arrest, underscoring the weight and inevitability of her father’s decision ([09:07]).
  • Despite danger, the family expresses pride in Pastor Jin’s resolve and ongoing faith ([09:07]–[10:18]).

U.S. Advocacy & International Pressure

• Trump Administration Involvement:
  • The family was heartened by direct acknowledgement and diplomatic advocacy from the President, with the case reportedly raised at a summit with Xi Jinping ([10:24]).
  • Ongoing hopes that international diplomatic pressure—including the upcoming U.S. visit of Chairman Xi—will bring new progress for Pastor Jin’s release ([14:57]).

Personal Toll and Faith Under Pressure

• Faith and Community Support:

  • The family draws strength from international and local church communities, describing the experience as both an earthly and spiritual battle ([11:33]).
  • “God doesn't let you go through these things alone.” – Grace Jin, [11:33].
  • Appeals for prayers and recognition of the ongoing persecution of Christians in China.

• Prison Conditions:

  • No direct communication permitted; no phone calls or visits allowed.
  • Personal items and medication withheld; Pastor Jin suffers from Type 2 diabetes and other health problems ([13:04]).
  • Overcrowded, harsh conditions reported via legal counsel.

Next Steps and Hope for Reunion

• Advocacy Efforts:
  • Grace continues to raise awareness, recognizing that resolution may come via international pressure, further negotiations, or, as she hopes, “another miracle” ([14:57]).
  • On a personal note, Grace is expecting a third child and longs for her father to meet his new grandchild ([14:57]–[15:56]).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Church Autonomy:
  “They didn’t want the Chinese Communist Party to have a say in the very sacred decisions of the church, like who gets baptized, who becomes a pastor, what kind of sermons are preached, et cetera.”
  – Grace Jin Drexel ([04:01])

• On Strategic Resilience:
  “Instead of the church being destroyed by the party, it actually became truly a nationwide church ... We were having 100 plus meeting places.”
  – Grace Jin Drexel ([05:10]–[07:07])

• On Family Sacrifice and Conviction:
  “He felt really this love for China that was placed into his heart ... he couldn’t leave his church behind at a time of need.”
  – Grace Jin Drexel ([07:25])

• On U.S. Presidential Advocacy:
  “It was a miracle to know that the President of the United States knew of my father ... advocating for my father, a pastor in China, and bring it up to the second most powerful man in the world at such a consequential summit.”
  – Grace Jin Drexel ([10:24])

• On Faith and Community:
  “God doesn't let you go through these things alone. And we’re just so grateful for the universal church, for the global church community as well.”
  – Grace Jin Drexel ([11:33])

• On Imprisonment Conditions:
  "He's sleeping in a cell that was meant for like, maybe 16 people, but they're cramming in over 30 people. Sometimes he’s sleeping on the floor on some sort of a mat."
  – Grace Jin Drexel ([13:04])

• Personal Hope:
  “My hope is that my father would be able to meet his third grandbaby soon in person and really hoping that that will be very soon and not down the line.”
  – Grace Jin Drexel ([14:57]–[15:56])

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• [01:04] Introduction to Pastor Ezra Jin’s case
• [03:40] Interview begins: Grace Jin Drexel joins the show
• [04:01] Grace explains her father’s church and its independence
• [05:10] How the church grew amid crackdowns and went nationwide
• [07:15] Pastor Jin’s decision to return to China, family dynamics
• [10:24] U.S. government response and international advocacy
• [11:33] Impact on Grace’s faith, community support
• [13:04] Pastor Jin’s prison conditions and lack of contact
• [14:57] Next steps for advocacy, upcoming hopes, and family milestones
• [15:56] Closing thoughts and farewell

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Summary

This episode offers a poignant look at the price of faith under totalitarian regimes and the resilience of those who refuse to abandon their mission, even in the face of persecution. Through Grace Jin Drexel's voice, listeners witness the human dimension of religious repression in China, the ways faith communities persevere, and the critical role international advocacy might play in securing freedom for prisoners of conscience. The episode closes on a deeply hopeful note, focusing both on the possibility of diplomatic breakthroughs and on the personal hope that a family will soon be reunited.

Transcript

[Narrator/Host]

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[John Bickley]

For nearly two decades, Pastor Ezra Jin helped build one of China's most influential churches, drawing thousands of worshipers even as the Chinese government cracked down on Christianity. After years of surveillance and the closure of his physical church, Jin was arrested last fall. He remains imprisoned in China, separated from his family and congregation. His daughter Grace joins us to talk about his current plight, how the Trump administration has responded, and how she has hope for his return. I'm Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley. This is a weekend edition of Morning Wire.

[Narrator/Host]

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[John Bickley]

Joining us now is Grace Jen Drexel, Pastor Jen's daughter. Since her father's arrest, Grace has been working to raise awareness of his case and advocate for his release. Grace, great to have you on.

[Grace Jin Drexel]

Thank you so much, John, for having me. Really an honor to be here. Thank you.

[John Bickley]

Well, we love having you on. Let's start with your dad, who is Ezra Jin.

[Grace Jin Drexel]

Yes. So my father, Pastor Ezra Jin, is a pastor in China. He leads one of the largest underground or independent church in China, which means that they didn't want the Chinese Communist Party to have a say in the very sacred decisions of the church, like who gets baptized, who becomes a pastor, what kind of sermons are preached, et cetera. And those were pretty much the only things that the church was really advocating for. But because of its size and its influence, the fact that it grew to become one of the largest nationwide church in China. In October of 2025, my father, along with initially 28 other church leaders and now 18 leaders, including my father, are in detention or in jail prison today for just their role in the church.

[John Bickley]

Yeah, I want to Ask you, of course, about that. But first, can you give us a picture of how the church operates? So are these a collection of home churches, dozens of church leaders? You said it's nationwide. How does that operate exactly?

[Grace Jin Drexel]

After the Cultural Revolution, especially during the Cultural Revolution, there was such crackdown on the church that many people had to hide inside houses only to worship. And in the early 1980s, 1990s, and the early 2000s, we saw an opening up of China generally. And so even the churches started to open itself up. And so we had these bigger churches opening in public, but that were still, again, kind of like my father that said, we want the church itself to be making these sacred decisions instead of being under the Chinese Communist Party's control. So they grew out of these house church movement, but became a rather unique thing that was very open. So my father's church was founded in 2007, and at the height of our physical location, which was shut down in 2018, we were hosting Sunday services of 1,500 people coming in weekly and having like five services each Sunday. But again, in 2018, our church was shut down and we were not allowed any location to worship. And my father did not want to be confrontational for the sake of being confrontational. So he actually moved our services online and beyond anyone's imagination. When Covid happened, the church and its model was the first of its kind in China, and it blew up. And instead of the church being destroyed by the party, it actually became truly a nationwide church. We were having 100 plus meeting places. And again, this hybrid model, we didn't think that it was healthy to just have people meet online alone. So he really encouraged people to meet both online and offline in smaller groups. But that really also angered the Chinese Communist Party and which they wanted to control faith and they wanted to eliminate faith. But instead of being eliminated, we grew.

[John Bickley]

Just really amazing. So what should have been setbacks ended up really being used by God to grow the church tremendously.

[Grace Jin Drexel]

Exactly, exactly.

[John Bickley]

Your father had opportunities to remain safely here in the US if he chose to, but he felt compelled to go back to China. Why did he feel the need to do that?

[Grace Jin Drexel]

Yeah, my father had many opportunities to stay in the US actually. First when he came to the US in 2002 to study at Fuller Seminary. I grew up in the US for many years, and in 2007, he actually moved our whole family back to China to start the church. But before then, he had the opportunity to stay and minister to churches in America. But he felt really this love for China that was placed into his heart. And again in 2018, when the pressure was mounting, when the church was under severe pressure, right before the shutdown, my family and my father had actually also come to the US with the church's blessing to see if that would de escalate the pressure that was put on the church. Initially, when the head pastor is no longer there, maybe the government would be willing to negotiate, et cetera, et cetera. When he realized that that was not happening, then he went back by himself. And my mother and my bro, who were also American citizens and they were very young at that time, had decided to stay, remain in the US starting in 2018, just to finish elementary and middle school, et cetera. We didn't know that that would be the last time that we would see our father in person. And he has been under an exit ban since 2018, just because the fact that his church was continually growing.

[John Bickley]

So when he went over in 2018, he was not allowed to leave after that?

[Grace Jin Drexel]

That's correct.

[John Bickley]

Did you ever try to personally talk him out of going or try to talk him into coming back, maybe sneaking out of the country somehow?

[Grace Jin Drexel]

We've all known what could have happened. I think my father and my mother apparently had a conversation that's very Asian and vague, and they were like, do you know what's gonna happen? And he says, yes, and then, are you still gonna go back? And he said, yes. And then that was the conversation, apparently. But I think we are all extremely proud of my father and know that he truly feels like God's heart in China as well. And he knows that over and over again, God had sent so many, including Western missionaries in the past as well, the best and the brightest, to go back to China and to minister to this land. He just felt this, like, yearning that he couldn't leave his church behind at a time of need. But now we also know that he hasn't been with his family for the last seven years, and he wants nothing more than to just come to the US and retire. And his church has many leaders under him that is willing to also take up the mantle, either with this church or start their own church, et cetera. So that is our hope and prayer for the situation right now.

[John Bickley]

Has the Trump administration been in contact with your family? Any movement from them on getting him released?

[Grace Jin Drexel]

We're just so grateful. I mean, it was a miracle to know that the President of the United States knew of my father. Such an amazing, like story about America that the most powerful man in the world would know about my father's case and would be advocating for my father, a pastor in China, and bring it up to the second most powerful man in the world at such a consequential summit. And so for that, like, I just feel like, what an honor to be an American. What an honor to, like, witness this as history. We've been told, just like many in the media, that the President raised the case and that Chairman Xi Jinping is seriously considering the release of my father. We are all waiting to see what would happen within China and see, like, another miracle. We've been praying for the softening of heart from Chairman Xi Jinping, and we know that he also has a daughter around my age, and we're hoping that he will hear the plight of the daughters and release my father to come to America.

[John Bickley]

Has your own faith been affected by all of this? Watching your father go through this?

[Grace Jin Drexel]

Since my father's detention in October, it's just we've very much felt like, been thrown into this. I haven't really thought much about what I'm doing per se, except that I need to get my father released. But, like, as I am in this, just watching so many people come, like the whole church community, like my church community, my neighborhood, and just people that I've never, like, even known or met come and help and lend a hand. Like, it truly seems like God is like, God doesn't let you go through these things alone. And we're just so grateful for the universal church, for the global church community as well. And at the same time, still knowing that this is both a earthly battle, but also a spiritual battle as well. Like, it's kind of unfathomable that Christians are being targeted. We were not a threat to the regime in any way. We were loving our neighbors and loving God, and that's all that we were asking for as Christians in China. So, like, I think there is an element of spiritual battle in this as well. And so asking for prayers from people far and wide and hoping that we will also witness in our generation what God can do at this time.

[John Bickley]

Have you had any communications directly with your father? If so, when? When was the last time you talked to him?

[Grace Jin Drexel]

No direct communication is allowed between family members. We weren't even allowed a phone call. This, like, visitations are a definite no. We also weren't even able to give any, like, things to my dad. Like, in the winter, we wanted to make, bring him some blankets and even his medication that the doctor prescribed him. We weren't allowed to bring those into the, to the detention center or jail center. At all. The only way that we were able to communicate with him were through the lawyers. And the lawyers are only able to meet with him sporadically as well. And obviously, with the limited time that they have, they also go through a lot of legal matters. Whereas for family members, all we care about is, like, how he's doing, whether he's being fed well, like, where is he sleeping, et cetera. And all of those information we don't know too much about. We know that his prison condition is not great. He's sleeping in a cell that was meant for like, maybe 16 people, but they're cramming in over 30 people. Sometimes he's sleeping on the floor on some sort of a mat, and there's not even a bed for him again, because he's not given medication that the doctor prescribed him. He has pretty severe type 2 diabetes, along with an array of other health issues that kind of comes from. And we're just worried that whether or not he is being properly taken care of, whether the doctor has seen him, whether he has given any sort of medication, we don't have enough information on any of these things.

[John Bickley]

Well, I cannot imagine. I honestly cannot imagine. Final question. What are the next steps for your family? Is this about raising awareness, maybe trying to affect the hearts of the decision makers in China, or does this come down to the Trump administration leaning on the Chinese government more? What are you looking to do?

[Grace Jin Drexel]

Yeah, I mean, I honestly don't know either. I mean, I was very much thrown into this as well. And I have been so thankful that Trump administration has raised this. And we're hopeful that there will be subsequent negotiations or goodwill gestures, especially as Chairman Xi Jinping is coming to the US In September. So we're hoping that there will be some movement, but like you said, we don't know how the miracle will happen. It could be within China. It could be other nations coming in and asking about my father, Pastor Ezra Jin, as well. We're also expecting our third baby any moment, actually. I am currently 38 weeks pregnant. And so my hope is that my father would be able to meet his third grandbaby soon in person and really hoping that that will be very soon and not down the line.

[John Bickley]

Well, I truly hope so, too. We'll pray for that. Grace, thank you so much for coming on.

[Grace Jin Drexel]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for this time.

[John Bickley]

That was Grace Gin Drexel, daughter of Pastor Ezra Jinn, and this has been a weekend edition of Morning Wire.