From November 10 to 11, a 24-hour online prayer and sharing event titled “IDOP China” took place, focusing on the situation of Beijing Zion Church’s Senior Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri and 21 detained coworkers (22 in total), as well as the ongoing restrictions faced by other unregistered house churches across China.
The event opened on November 10 with a series of audio and video segments, including an excerpt from a sermon by former Early Rain Covenant Church pastor Wang Yi before his arrest, the hymn “I Have Left All Things Behind,” an overseas adaptation of “Five O’Clock in China,” and Zion Church’s recording of “By Gracious Powers”—a song based on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s poem “Von guten Mächten” written in Nazi prison.
Pastor Jin Mingri and 21 of his coworkers were detained about a month ago. The 24-hour online prayer meeting, themed “IDOP China,” called on believers around the world to intercede for Zion Church and all persecuted house churches in China. The gathering followed the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP), organized by the World Evangelical Alliance’s Religious Liberty Commission for over two decades, serving as a global platform urging Christians to pray and act on behalf of those suffering for their faith.
The prayer event was hosted by Rev. Boli Zhang, Senior Pastor of Harvest Chinese Christian Church in the U.S. He noted that since Pastor Jin’s arrest, overseas churches have shifted from a passive stance to active solidarity—circulating prayer letters, voicing support, and interceding collectively. He also mentioned that the U.S. government has shown strong concern for religious freedom in China, citing a bipartisan Senate resolution introduced by Senator Ted Cruz condemning China’s repression of Zion Church and the abduction of Pastor Jin and others. Fu quoted Cruz as saying that the resolution sends a clear message to China: “Faith is not a crime.”
Rev. Zhang recalled that since the 1990s, China’s urban professionals and returnee Christians have driven the rapid growth of house churches—once among the world’s fastest-growing church networks. However, in recent years, several influential congregations such as Early Rain Covenant Church, Beijing Shouwang Church, and Beijing Zion Church have come under increasing restrictions, drawing international attention.
Rev. Yujian Hong, Senior Pastor of Faith Chinese Baptist Church, said in a short message that his congregation has been praying for China’s house churches for 16 consecutive years. Quoting the biblical principle that “if one part suffers, every part suffers with it,” he urged believers in free nations not to be indifferent to their persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ.
Rev. Bob Fu, founder of ChinaAid, cited data suggesting that the number of Christian martyrs in the 20th century exceeded that of the previous nineteen centuries combined (source unspecified). He emphasized that suffering for faith is a “spiritual privilege” and added that ChinaAid is advocating for congressional action in the United States to support rescue efforts.
The event also featured video prayers from Sam Brownback, former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, and Nadine Maenza, Co-Chair of the International Religious Freedom Roundtable. Both expressed hopes for the early release of Pastor Jin Mingri and other detained Christians in China.
As of publication time, the prayer event was still ongoing and being livestreamed globally on platforms including YouTube.
