The pastor of a prominent underground church in China who was imprisoned by Chinese authorities last year has been released and reunited with his family in the U.S., according to reports.Ezra Jin, founder of Zion Church, was one of nearly 30 Zion Church pastors and staff members detained in October during one of China’s largest crackdowns on evangelical churches in decades, according to the nonprofit advocacy group Luke Alliance.Jin was released from detention and arrived in Los Angeles on Friday, ChinaAid reported.According to the Christian human rights organization, Chinese authorities told Jin he was being released due to negotiations between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.During a high-profile state visit to Beijing in May, Trump raised Jin’s case directly with the Chinese leader.
On his flight back to the U.S., Trump told reporters that Xi promised to "strongly consider" the pastor's release.Ezra Jin Mingri, head pastor of the Zion Church, poses in Beijing on Sept.12, 2018, days after officials shut down one of China’s largest underground Protestant churches.
(Fred Dufour/AFP via Getty Images)PRESIDENT TRUMP REVEALS XI JINPING'S RESPONSE TO POSSIBLY RELEASING IMPRISONED CHINESE CRITIC JIMMY LAI"We are feeling so overwhelmed with joy.We thank God for this tremendous miracle," his daughter Grace Jin Drexel said in a family statement to CNN."We also thank President Trump and his administration for their tremendous leadership," she said, adding that this would not have been possible "without the direct intervention from Chairman Xi Jinping."The family had been separated for nearly a decade, after Drexel's mother and brothers fled China in 2018 after authorities shut down Zion Church’s physical sanctuary in Beijing.
Drexel previously told Fox News Digital her father felt called to stay behind in China.She had not seen him in person since 2020.Drexel also said that the family hoped Jin’s release would be "a signal of a positive tur...