ONLINE PETITION CALLS ON TRUMP, XI TO LET CANCER-STRICKEN PASTOR RETURN TO FAMILY IN U.S.
A humanitarian campaign is calling on U.S. President Donald Trump to raise the case of Pastor John Cao with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the scheduled September 24 meeting between the two leaders. Organizers say that the goal of the campaign is to secure permission for Pastor Cao, who has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, to travel to the United States to reunite with his wife and two children.
Pastor Cao, a U.S. permanent resident, spent seven years in a Chinese prison after years of Christian humanitarian work serving impoverished communities along the China-Myanmar border. Although he completed his full sentence and was released in 2024, Chinese authorities have continued to prevent him from leaving the country by withholding his passport.
The situation is now urgent, according to Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley, one of several groups uniting for the campaign. Pastor Cao is currently battling stage 4 prostate cancer that has metastasized to his bones and spine. He has undergone chemotherapy and radiation treatment while separated from his wife and their two sons, who are U.S. citizens. Representative Foley says that Pastor Cao has never met his one-year-old grandson.
A banner promoting the campaign calling for cancer-stricken Pastor John Cao to be permitted to return to his family in the U.S.
“This is no longer simply a religious freedom or human rights case — it is an urgent humanitarian appeal,” said Representative Foley. “Pastor Cao has already served every day of his seven-year sentence. With advanced cancer threatening his life, we respectfully urge President Trump to personally ask President Xi to return Pastor Cao’s passport and let him come home to his family. There is no justification for prolonging this separation.”
The joint campaign by international Christian organizations including Voice of the Martyrs Korea seeks to gather 100,000 signatures before September 24. Representative Foley says that the goal is to demonstrate broad international public support for the request to permit Pastor Cao to return to his family in the U.S.
Pastor Cao in hospital in April
The petition can be signed online at www.bringcaohome.com.
Sam Brownback, former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, posted on X: “China should allow Pastor Cao to return to his family in America. He has served his sentence for fictitious crimes. It is cruel to make him stay in China, especially now that he has Stage 4 cancer. I hope @POTUS raises his case with President Xi.”
Pastor John Cao upon his release from prison
Another prominent advocacy group, the American Center for Law and Justice, is also raising the issue. “We call on U.S. officials, human rights organizations, and faith communities to advocate clearly, consistently, and urgently for Pastor Cao’s immediate humanitarian release,” wrote ACLJ Senior Counsel and International Legal Director CeCe Heil. “This is a moment for governments, advocates, and communities to speak with one voice.
Pastor John Cao, who is 65 years old, became a Christian in his 20s. In 1988, he married an American woman, Jamie Powell, and entered Nayong Theological Seminary. Ordained after graduation, he became a permanent resident of the U.S. in 1990 but chose not to apply for citizenship. “He strongly believed China was his calling,” says Representative Foley. He eventually turned his attention to Myanmar beginning in 2014, where he built 16 schools and launched anti-poverty programs in the Wa State region bordering China.
Pastor John Cao performs baptisms in October 2024 (photo: China Aid)
After three years of crossing the border between China and Myanmar without incident, Pastor Cao was arrested on March 5, 2017, and eventually charged with organizing illegal border crossings and sentenced to seven years in prison in March 2018. Voice of the Martyrs Korea conducted a global letter writing campaign on behalf of Pastor Cao during his imprisonment.
“Pastor Cao said he created a ‘Bible’ by writing down the scriptures he received in those letters,” says Representative Foley. “Later, Pastor Cao was moved to another prison because of his evangelistic activities among the prisoners. There, he was prevented from receiving letters and even had prisoners assigned to him around the clock to stop him from sharing the gospel.”
Representative Foley says that Pastor Cao practiced daily morning prayer in prison despite the lack of a clock and a prohibition on speaking aloud. “He told associates that he woke up on his own at 5AM every day and turned sideways to cover his praying activities,” says Representative Foley.
Now, says Representative Foley, one of Cao’s associates describes the pastor’s current pain level as “excruciating”.
“We need to pray for the Lord to heal Pastor Cao, grant him relief from pain, and enable him to return to his wife, children, and grandchild in the U.S.,” says Representative Foley. “We call on Christians in Korea to join with Christians around the world in the humanitarian act of signing the online petition on behalf of Pastor Cao at www.bringcaohome.com.”