‘My father was arrested for pastoring a church in China. Please pray for his release’

When Grace Jin Drexel was growing up in China in the early 2000s, people didn’t even know what being a Christian meant. There were no kid’s Bible songs or any church youth groups. In fact, under 18s were banned from stepping into a church full stop.

“In China, it’s considered evil to minster to children,” Grace explains. Christian content for kids was limited to Bible stories committed to memory and shared in secret.

Growing up as a Christian, she was persecuted from a young age. “I remember a teacher picking on me because my family were ‘bad’. I was the only kid not allowed to wear a patriotic red handkerchief around my neck,” she says. She was also banned from joining the Young Pioneers of China – a mass organisation operated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which today boasts 113 million members aged 6-14 – and was the only pupil prohibited from saluting the flag in her school playground.

In 2002, the family relocated to the US so her father could pursue doctoral studies at a seminary in California. They returned to China five years later to found Zion Church, which would go on to become one of China’s largest independent churches. “We wanted to be salt and light in our society, so we didn’t start a secret church in our kitchen,” Grace explains. “Things seemed slightly more open. But I was naïve about the relationship between the Church and the government.”

Fear and scrutiny

Ordained by the State, Pastor Jin knew he would always be under the scrutiny of the CCP. Zion Church – one of several unregistered urban Christian gatherings in Beijing – grew from a small church with just 20 followers to 1,500 people attending five weekly services in multiple languages.

Then, on 9 September 2018, the church was suddenly shut down. “One hundred policemen raided the building,” Grace recalls. “We were thrown out into the street.” All Christian materials were confiscated and the Chinese authorities demanded that 23 facial recognition cameras be installed. When Pastor Jin refused, he was taken into custody.

On his release, Pastor Jin launched Zion’s gatherings online. When Covid-19 struck a few months later, he found himself ministering to around 10,000 people in 100 church plants across China.

Grace returned to the US with her mother in late 2018. Pastor Jin, banned by the Chinese government from leaving the country, was forced to stay behind. When Grace got married, her father was not there to walk her down the aisle. He has never met his grandchildren.

In October last year, a crackdown by Chinese officials saw Pastor Jin detained and charged with the illegal use of information online. As of yet, no date has been set for his trial, and his family are unable to phone or even write to him. Grace believes he is being denied medication and worries about his health. His arrest was part of a wider roundup of 30 Christians linked to the Zion Church network, and follows new laws passed in China aimed at curbing the rapidly growing underground church movement and restricting online church activities.

Campaigning for freedom

In America, Grace began to receive threatening phone calls and eventually left her job at the US Senate to campaign full-time for religious freedom. Visiting the UK recently, she urged the Church to unite in prayer for the release of her father and countless others being held in China.

“The Chinese government should stop persecuting Christians, because it’s not deterring people,” Grace says. “Pastors are willing to be detained – or even give their life - for their faith. It’s so counter-cultural, but it’s attracting thousands of Chinese people who seek to turn from wealth and success as a form of happiness.”

“If we really want to stand up for our values, I believe God will bless us,” she says. “But we must do the right thing and uphold the freedom of the persecuted. It’s heartbreaking to realise that a lot of [Western] leaders stand for religious freedom but it’s far from what they practice.”

Grace is hopeful that US President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing next month could put pressure on the Chinese government to release her father. “I believe it’s possible that God could achieve a miracle in Beijing,” Grace says. “Bringing freedom for my father and other Christians who are being held captive would be a powerful legacy for [Trump] to leave.”

In the meantime, Grace continues to campaign for freedom, not only for her father but for many persecuted Christians whose stories are yet to be told.

“My family’s experience is not unique – many children have watched their parents being treated as criminals, and I pray for comfort for them. May they know God is near,” she says. “The power of prayer is integral. We believe in a God who is the ultimate liberator, who opened prison doors for Peter, Paul, Silus and many others. If we all join as a global Church in prayer, I believe we could see incredible things. The whole world needs to live more boldly, outside of our comfort zones. I hope for a revival, and I hope for freedom.”

Grace Jin Drexel was speaking to Premier Christian News. Read the full news story here

You can hear the full interview with Grace on an upcoming edition of ‘The Profile’ podcast.