‘I Want My Dad Back:’ Inside the CCP’s War on Underground Churches | Grace Jin Drexel
American Thought Leaders
The Epoch Times
4.9 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 20 February 2026
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So let's go back to 2018, a wave of general persecution on many Christian churches and |
| 0:07.5 | many other religious organizations as well. |
| 0:10.4 | You saw tearing down of crosses, putting portraits of Xi Jinping and Mao Zedong on church buildings. |
| 0:16.8 | In this episode, I sit down with Grace Jean Drexel, the daughter of detained pastor Ezra Jean. |
| 0:22.7 | Last October, her father, the founder of one of China's largest underground house church networks, |
| 0:29.5 | was arrested, along with 27 other pastors and church leaders. |
| 0:33.9 | There is no such thing as a fair trial because his crime is not really a crime. |
| 0:39.3 | They just made the law to do whatever they want. |
| 0:42.3 | And so I have to speak out for my father in order for him to come back to us, |
| 0:48.3 | be able to join us in the U.S. |
| 0:50.3 | Jean's father, who suffers from severe diabetes, remains behind bars. |
| 0:55.9 | Will he ever see justice? |
| 0:57.3 | The church was officially deemed illegal business operations. |
| 1:01.3 | My father had continued to want to minister to his congregation. |
| 1:08.0 | So we started doing this online, offline, hybrid model, and we didn't know where that |
| 1:14.9 | was going to go. |
| 1:16.3 | This is American Thought Leaders, and I'm Yanya Kellick. |
| 1:24.3 | Grace Jean, such a pleasure to have you on American Thought Leaders. |
| 1:28.3 | Thank you so much for having me and thank you so much for having me again. |
| 1:32.3 | Well, we did a little short bit at the International Religious Freedom Summit, |
| 1:38.3 | which seems to be very popular. In between that time, now Jimmy Lai, of course, the owner of the Apple Daily, |
| 1:48.1 | now has been sent as to 20 years. And I just wanted to hear your reaction, especially |
... |
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