Pastor Ezra Jin Honored With Human Rights Prize One Year After China Arrest
Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, who spent nearly nine months imprisoned in China before being released to the United States in July, is set to receive a human rights award marking one year since his arrest.
Jin said he intends to use the recognition to keep drawing attention to eight leaders of Beijing Zion Church who remain in detention.
The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice announced Friday that Jin will be awarded the 2026 Lantos Human Rights Prize, one year after Chinese authorities began a broad crackdown on Zion Church leaders in October 2025.
Jin established Zion Church in 2007, and the congregation later became one of China’s largest unregistered Protestant house church networks. The church had faced mounting pressure from authorities since 2018, when leaders refused to install facial-recognition cameras in the sanctuary. Authorities later closed the church’s facility, prompting members to meet online and in homes, hotels and other locations.
Pressure on the congregation escalated in October 2025, when nearly 30 pastors and church members were initially detained across more than 10 cities. Most were eventually released, but Jin remained behind bars for 266 days.
Speaking in a statement to The Christian Post, Jin said he was grateful for the honor and hoped the award would bring greater attention to religious persecution in China.
“The Chinese Communist Party has targeted my church community and so many other communities, spanning many different faith and belief traditions. It is vital for people around the world to come together to advocate for greater religious freedom for the people of China; this right is fundamental to any peaceful and just society,” Jin said.
“I am especially focused on advocating for the release of eight of my brothers and sisters from Zion Church, who remain unjustly imprisoned. I will not rest from speaking out until they are free and reunited with their loved ones,” he added.
Katrina Lantos Swett, president of The Lantos Foundation, praised Jin’s response to persecution, saying he “has inspired people throughout the world with his unyielding courage and unshakeable faith in the face of persecution.”
“He may not have set out to become a powerful advocate for the foundational right of freedom of belief, but he rose to the occasion when called upon. I am deeply honored to award the Lantos Prize to an individual who lives his beliefs and values so fully and whose example should inspire each of us to do likewise,” Swett added.
Since his release to the United States on July 3, Jin has continued advocating for hundreds of Christians imprisoned in China because of their faith.
The eight Zion Church leaders still being held are Gao Yingjia, Wang Lin, Yin Huibin, Wang Zhong, Wang Cong, Liu Zhenbin, Lin Shucheng and Wu Qiuyu.
