Episode Details

CrossPolitic One-on-One — Show Notes: China Update with Missionary Ben

On this episode of CrossPolitic One-on-One, the Waterboy sits down with Missionary Ben — host of China Compass on the Fight Laugh Feast Network and himself a deportee from China — for an update on the underground church. The conversation covers Pastor Ezra Jin's miraculous July 4th release from prison (and the eight still behind bars), the latest crackdown on Pastor Wang Yi's church network, how Christians should think about doing business with China, and what the American church can learn from brothers and sisters who are forced to make hard decisions for their faith every single day.

Timestamps

03:35 — Intro — Fight Laugh Feast conference update and Business Makers Network

07:06 — Meet Missionary Ben — deported from China, host of China Compass

08:11 — Pastor Ezra Jin: from Tiananmen Square to Zion Church — and his July 4th release

10:32 — How Zion Church grew and why it became a target — the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and Xi Jinping's crackdown

12:22 — October 2024: Jin's arrest, the simultaneous network raid, and the eight still in prison

13:04 — Did Trump broker the release? The May meeting with Xi and why this one worked when others haven't

14:45 — Jin's Wall Street Journal op-ed: "I'm Free Now. Pray for China." — Hebrews 13:3

16:19 — Zion Church splits into house churches — and may now be larger than before the arrest

17:22 — Why not just join the state-sanctioned church? — a stopgap, not a home

18:16 — How should Christians think about doing business with China?

21:05 — What can ordinary believers do? — going to China, sharing the gospel, meeting the church

23:32 — How should Trump engage Xi? — befriending, influencing those around him, holding cards close

26:46 — What the American church can learn from the underground church in China

28:43 — Pastor Wang Yi update — seven and a half years in, sentence nearing end, no word from him directly

30:01 — Recent crackdown: 50 SWAT officers at a Wang Yi church plant, 20–30 arrested

32:22 — Missionary Ben's book Unbeaten, Mission Catalyst, and the Malaysia conference for Chinese house church leaders

Connect with Missionary Ben

Podcast: China Compass (weekends) & Prison Pulpit Series (midweek)

Network: Fight Laugh Feast Network — available in the FLF app

Book: Unbeaten — $4 on Amazon

Ministry: Mission Catalyst International — training indigenous pastors and missionaries

Give: mci3.org

Fight Laugh Feast 2026: Holy Wars

Join us October 1–3 in Franklin, Tennessee at The Factory in Franklin for the Fight Laugh Feast Conference. This year's theme is Holy Wars — Just War, the Crusades, and the Christian Life. Featuring Doug Wilson, Joe Boot, Pastor Toby, Ben Merkel, Jared Longshore, and more. Pre-business makers conference Thursday 1–5 PM. Pastor/church leadership luncheon Friday. Business luncheon Saturday. Booths are nearly full — sponsorship opportunit