Pastor Ezra Jin: 'God-poured words' sustained me through 266 days in a Chinese cell

By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter Friday, October 02, 2026

Editor's note: This article is Part 1 of a two-part series based on The Christian Post's interview with Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri of Beijing Zion Church following his release from a Chinese prison and return to the United States. Read Part 2 here. Watch the interview here. 

WASHINGTON — When Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri of Beijing Zion Church found himself confined to a squalid cell at the Beihai No. 2 Detention Center in the southern Chinese province of Guangxi, he remembered the sign of Jonah.

"I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple," were the words the prophet prayed from the belly of the fish before he was delivered. Jin said they were also the words the Lord gave him last October on the first day of his imprisonment, which would extend for 266 days and draw international attention.

During a recent interview with The Christian Post at the Museum of the Bible, the founder of one of the largest unregistered "house church" networks in China offered new details of his personal testimony, reflections on the theology of suffering, and insight into the plight of persecuted Christians, such as the eight Zion Church leaders who still remain detained.

"It is only when you undergo persecution for righteousness' sake, or suffer for the name of Christ, that you experience the true blessings promised by the Lord," he said through his daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, who served as his translator for the interview. 

Called to suffer

On Oct. 10, 2025, police surrounded Jin's home in the large port city of Beihai, where he had moved from Beijing after years of growing pressure from Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials, which included shutting the church down in 2018 when leaders refused to install facial recognition cameras. As he was finishing dinner with his elderly mother-in-law, authorities stormed his residence, confiscated his electronics and took him into custody.

Though the CCP had long been harassing them, Jin would learn that he had been swept up in an unprecedented crackdown against Zion Church, which has swelled to a network with thousands of members since he founded it in 2007. Nearly 30 pastors and members across more than 10 cities were initially detained in what observers described as China's largest coordinated action against an urban house church in more than 40 years.

"We've had repeated arrests here and there almost every other week, with different church members and leaders being detained and questioned, but they had been released afterward. This was the first time that it was in such a large-scale arrest, and possibly one of the largest-scale crackdowns in China in recent years," Jin said.

Charged with "illegally using information networks" and later with "illegal business operations," Jin was locked up with dozens of other prisoners in an overcrowded, roughly 1,000-square-foot cell. Some developed sores and constipation as they spent their days sitting on hard benches. They could stand only after raising a hand to request permission. Nights were spent in fitful sleep on floor mats or on one large platform bed they shared.

Jin, who at first anticipated a sentence of up to 15 years in such a dismal place, told CP that while he was with the others in prison, they often asked themselves why they were being called to suffer so profoundly.

"Were it not for our faith, we could not have endured such suffering," he said. "Ultimately, this experience gave us a deeper insight into the biblical perspective on suffering."

'God-poured words'

Jin said the psalms, the Pauline epistles and the first epistle of Peter were especially encouraging as he wrestled with the pain of his persecution. He was allowed to receive a Bible after two months following pressure from his lawyers, though at first he had to rely on his memory amid his silent cries to God.

"Once we got inside the detention center, the very first warning they told us was that we were not allowed to preach the Gospel to others. And then, every single hour of the 24-hour day was fully planned out," he said.

"Therefore, there was no possibility of offering prayers aloud; one could only pray silently in one's heart. Nor was it possible to attend worship services. In the early days, there were no Bibles available, so one had to rely on memory and meditate on the words of Scripture."

Amid his grueling circumstances, Jin realized he needed to cling to his faith. He prayed that the Lord would speak to him by bringing to his mind the portions of Scripture that He desired him to consider.

"Thankfully, God provided His Word week after week," he said, noting that the first verse he received was the cry of Jonah's affliction and his hope for deliverance from Jonah 2:4.

"This kind of Word — what we call 'words poured out by God' — is very different from how we usually read the Bible. Normally, reading the Bible involves analysis and meditation. But these God-poured words are often unexpected, things you hadn't thought of," he said. "Sometimes it even takes several days of holding on to them and thinking them through before you can discern where God's will is. And they tend to be more specific and targeted."

As wind and rain poured through the paneless windows of his cramped cell, Jin ruminated over what the Holy Spirit was revealing to him through Jonah. At first, he was troubled to remember that the prophet's unpleasant situation was the consequence of his own disobedience in fleeing from God.

"When I first received the verse, I thought, 'Is there something in my life that you wanted me to reflect on, to confess to? Are there things I need to repent of?' Because this verse is typically a verse of repentance," he said.

Jin then remembered that Jonah's cry was also one of faith in dire circumstances.

"This is also a verse about resolve. No matter what happens — because I didn't know how my case would develop — Lord, my heart is already set; I will look to You," he said.

Holding on to God's grace

Jin said a pivotal thing for any Christian to consider is whether their suffering is for the sake of Christ, which he said God can use to draw one into closer communion if they hold fast to Him amid their pain.

"There is a particularly important distinction to be made: are we suffering because of our own sins, or are we suffering for the sake of Christ's name? This point is crucial," he said, adding that suffering has a purifying effect for the Christian who is led by it to repent of the parts of himself that have drifted from God's will.

"The most important thing about this is to hold on to God’s mercy and grace. Suffering without holding on to or understanding God’s grace is a negative suffering," he said. When he was in prison, he confessed his weakness to God and pleaded that he would not be separated from Him, knowing that suffering without a sense of His presence is "a cursed experience."

Jin said he experienced the Lord's special presence many times in prison not because of the magnitude of his own faith or strength, but because of His promise and the grace He bestowed through suffering.

Some are also called to suffer for the benefit of others, Jin explained, citing the frequent times Paul spoke of the sufferings he would endure for the rest of his life for the sake of Christ's church.

"The grace experienced along the way, in a sense, actually purifies the church and encourages it," he said.

Another reason for suffering is ultimately to elevate the Christian to a greater closeness with the Lord by accomplishing His higher purpose, Jin said. Like Jonah and Joseph, he discerned in hindsight that he had been brought low so that God could use him more mightily to bless others.

'Miraculous rescue'

Jin thought he was being taken to face trial when authorities removed him from his cell and packed him into a van on July 3. Instead, they took him to the airport and flew him to Los Angeles to reunite with his family, less than two months after President Donald Trump raised his situation with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

He grew emotional as he remembered seeing his family members for the first time in years and meeting his month-old grandson and namesake, baby Ezra. In what he described as "a miraculous rescue," Jin again remembered Jonah and his sudden change of circumstance.

"It was actually very much like Jonah in the belly of the fish — Sheol. Sheol is a kind of death experience. Suddenly I was brought to America, reunited in fellowship with my family, and received deliverance," he said.

"This also made me see that the deliverance I experienced has brought hope to many people where there wasn't any hope. For people in China who are going through hardships, because they have seen what I went through, they are especially encouraged," continued Jin, who has been pressing for the release of the eight Zion Church leaders still detained.

"Many people have asked if there was some sort of deal between China and the United States that secured my freedom; honestly, I don't know. These are two powerful nations, the greatest powers, and their relationships are complex. Regardless, I am a Christian pastor, and I hope to be a beacon of hope — much like Jonah, who brought hope to so many," he added.

When the second chapter of Jonah came to his mind in prison, Jin remembered at the time that the next chapter recounts Nineveh, the capital of a great empire, repenting "from the greatest of them even to the least of them." Now a resident of the Washington, D.C., area, he said he has since encountered both strangers and political leaders who have asked to pray with him, expressing how his testimony has encouraged them.

"Whether addressing people in the U.S. or the general public back home, my message remains clear: God is alive, and He is willing to show mercy and grant salvation to all who repent. The power of His wisdom and grace is able to sustain us," he added.