Chinese pastor barred from leaving country to visit family in US

Posted at My Christian Daily:

Published August 7, 2025

In his early years, he studied theology in the United States, where he married an American Christian woman, and they have two sons together. He holds U.S. permanent resident status. He returned to China to serve as a missionary in obedience to God’s calling, focusing on impoverished areas along the China-Myanmar border.

A Chinese pastor has been barred from leaving his country to visit family in US after being released from prison a year and seven months ago.

Pastor John Cao, a 66 year-old native of Hunan who was imprisoned for seven years, shared bittersweet news on social. ChinaAid reports that he joyfully announced that his son, Cao Qianxing, and his wife, Jenny, welcomed a baby boy on July 18 in the United States, officially making him a grandfather.

Pastor Cao expressed profound gratitude to God for this blessing upon his family.

However, he also revealed that despite being released from prison a year and seven months ago, the Chinese government has still refused to allow him to renew his passport, preventing him from traveling to the U.S. to be with his wife, children, and newborn grandson to share their joy together, to which he expressed profound sadness over.

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