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Zion Church: China's arrest of 30 Christians sparks fears of a bigger crackdown

1 min read
Zion Church: China's arrest of 30 Christians sparks fears of a bigger crackdownSaralnama

Last Friday Grace Jin Drexel received a text from her father in China, the prominent pastor Jin Mingri, telling her to pray for another pastor who had gone missing. The text said that the other pastor had been detained while visiting the southern city of Shenzhen. "Shortly after that, I got a call from my mum. She said she couldn't contact my dad," Ms Jin Drexel, who lives in the US, told the BBC. Within hours her family realised that Mr Jin had also been caught up in what has been described by activists as China's largest arrest of Christians in decades. Some now fear that last weekend's roundup of 30 Christians linked to the Zion Church network, which Mr Jin founded, marks the start of what could be a wider crackdown on underground churches. They point to new laws… (Updated 16 Oct 2025, 09:36 IST; source: link)

Key Points

  • Last Friday Grace Jin Drexel received a text from her father in China , the prominent pastor Jin Mingri, telling her to pray for another pastor who had gone missing
  • The text said that the other pastor had been detained while visiting the southern city of Shenzhen
  • "Shortly after that, I got a call from my mum