It’s hard to describe exactly what freedom feels like. But for me, I can capture it in a single moment.
I was arrested last October when the Chinese government conducted coordinated raids on members of the church where I serve as lead pastor. They arrested nearly 30 of us, and later charged 18 of us with manufactured charges such as illegal use of information networks and illegal business practices. It was one of the largest raids on China’s underground churches in four decades.

I spent 266 days in prison, convinced I would be there for at least a decade. Until one day I was unexpectedly whisked away from my cell and transported to an airport. There, I was told to board a plane, where I found myself next to an official from the United States of America. I found out that President Donald Trump personally raised my case with Chinese president Xi Jinping and negotiated for my release. I was in complete shock. Is this what freedom felt like?

Not yet. Freedom, to me, was the moment I stepped off the plane in Los Angeles, on American soil, and I saw my family for the first time in eight years. Prior to my arrest, the Chinese government had banned me from leaving the country, prohibiting me from seeing my wife and three kids who live in the United States. When I exited the plane and saw them all standing there—including my eldest daughter, who held her 1-month-old third child in her arms—I felt a flood of emotions. I embraced them all, and held my youngest grandchild in my arms. His name is Ezra, my daughter told me. They named him after me.
At this moment, I thought, This is what home feels like. It felt like a dream. And that is what freedom felt like for me.

But while I am free—the result of a miracle and a unique show of goodwill between the United States and China—eight others from my church remain in Chinese prisons today. Read more»

Ezra Jin | “Pastor Ezra Jin: Free My Fellow Church Leaders in China” | The Free Press | September 22, 2026

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