‘I Want My Dad Back:’ Inside the CCP’s War on Underground Churches | Grace Jin Drexel

Feb 20, 2026

Grace Jin Drexel, daughter of detained Pastor Ezra Jin and an advocate against religious persecution in China. She recounts mass detentions of underground churches, the 2018 crackdown on Zion Church, online‑offline worship shifts, portraits of Xi replacing crosses, medical and communication limits for her father, and transnational harassment of her family. She urges international attention and reunification.

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ANECDOTE

Family Separated by Exit Ban and Detention

Grace Jin Drexel describes being separated from her father since 2018 due to an exit ban and later his October 2025 detention.
She missed pivotal family moments like her wedding and her child's baptism because he could not leave China.

INSIGHT

Online Worship Fueled Church Growth And Scrutiny

Zion Church moved to an online-offline hybrid after being shut down, which expanded nationwide during COVID.
That digital growth likely triggered a renewed wave of persecution starting in 2025.

INSIGHT

Normal Sermons Deemed 'Illegal' Online

Zion Church broadcast openly online, assuming authorities watched and reopening accounts if shut down.
Authorities later charged them with 'illegal use of information online' despite sermons being standard worship content.

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In this episode, I sit down with Grace Jin Drexel, the daughter of detained Pastor Ezra Jin, the founder of one of China’s largest underground house-church networks.

Last October, Pastor Jin was arrested along with 27 other pastors and church leaders from Zion Church. It was one of the largest assaults on independent Christian congregations in China since the Cultural Revolution, said Drexel. She has since become a prominent voice speaking out against religious persecution in China.

State repression of Zion Church began in 2018 amid a broader wave of Communist Party efforts to subjugate faith communities, Drexel said.

“You saw the tearing down of crosses [and] putting portraits of Xi Jinping and Mao Zedong on church buildings,” she said.

Zion Church was deemed an illegal business operation, forcing them to shift to a hybrid online model of worship. Authorities also placed an exit ban on Pastor Jin.

“There’s so many parts of our lives that he has missed out on. He was not able to walk me down the aisle at my wedding. He was not able to attend my baby’s baptism,” Drexel said.

She sees her father’s detention as part of a new wave of persecution targeting not only her father’s church but also many other underground churches and religious groups as well. As in 2018, authorities are again installing pictures of Xi in churches again, sometimes even replacing crosses, to “showcase who is the true leader of the church,” she said.

Another sign of a new wave of suppression is the sentencing of Jimmy Lai, the 78-year-old founder of Apple Daily and a practicing Catholic. He was recently given 20 years in prison, which marks the longest sentence handed down to date under Beijing’s national security law.

Since Pastor Jin’s arrest, he has not been allowed any family visits, phone calls, or even letters from his loved ones. He is also suffering from severe Type 2 diabetes, and Drexel is deeply concerned about his wellbeing.

Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.