{"id":58734,"date":"2026-04-28T11:39:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T02:39:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=58734"},"modified":"2026-04-28T16:07:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T07:07:48","slug":"vomk-report-395","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2026\/04\/28\/vomk-report-395\/","title":{"rendered":"CHINA: FORMERLY IMPRISONED PASTOR JOHN CAO DIAGNOSED WITH LATE-STAGE PROSTATE CANCER"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”58754″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”A pastor in China who previously served a seven-year prison sentence for his ministry activity on the China\/Myanmar border, is now hospitalized, unable to sleep at night or stand during the day. That\u2019s the report from persecution watchdog Voice of the Martyrs Korea and its American partner ministry, China Aid.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left|color:%23111111″ google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” css=”” el_class=”headline”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”58751″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Pastor John Cao, who is 65 years old, completed a seven-year prison sentence in Kunming, Yunnan province in March 2024. He was charged by Chinese authorities with \u201corganizing others to illegally cross the border\u201d in connection with his work of preaching,\u00a0<\/span>establishing<\/span>\u00a0schools, and benefiting more than 2000 local students in poverty-stricken areas along the China Myanmar border. Though Pastor Cao has permanent residency in the US where his wife and two sons live, he has not been\u00a0<\/span>permitted<\/span>\u00a0to return home since his release from prison. Instead, he lives with his 88-year-old mother in Changsha City, Hunan Province.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]\u201cWhen Pastor Cao was released from prison, he was already suffering from a variety of chronic health conditions as a result of his imprisonment,\u201d says Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr. Hyun Sook Foley. \u201cSince his release, he has\u00a0<\/span>remained<\/span>\u00a0under surveillance by Chinese authorities, including constant video monitoring. Authorities refused to issue him an ID card, which made it difficult for him to receive medical care, even when he contracted coronavirus.\u201d<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Now, says Representative Foley, doctors\u00a0<\/span><\/span>have diagnosed him with<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>l<\/span><\/span>ate-stage prostate cancer, but those close to Pastor Cao believe the diagnosis may not be correct. They want permission for Pastor Cao to travel to the United States for\u00a0<\/span><\/span>further\u00a0<\/span><\/span>medical evaluation and treatment<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>and to reunite with his family<\/span><\/span>. That would require permission which the Chinese government has so far not granted.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Pastor Cao has no medical insurance.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Pastor Cao has told friends he has no plans to retire.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”58761″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Pastor John Cao performs baptisms in October 2024 (photo: China Aid)” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13|text_align:center|color:%23111111″ css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]\u201cWhen he finished his prison sentence, he said, \u2018I am now more willing to\u00a0<\/span>be broken<\/span>\u00a0with my life,\u2019\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cSince then, even though he has\u00a0<\/span>remained<\/span>\u00a0under constant surveillance by Chinese authorities, including CCTV at his home, he has continued to do ministry, even being briefly detained by police in\u00a0<\/span>Zhenxiong<\/span>\u00a0in October 2024 for\u00a0<\/span>participating<\/span>\u00a0in a public baptism service. Local police near his home told him that they intended to supervise and \u2018educate\u2019 him for five years, but in fact Pastor Cao is educating them about that the\u00a0<\/span>unstoppability<\/span>\u00a0of a man walking in the power of Christ.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Pastor Cao became a Christian in his 20s. In 1988, he married an American woman, Jamie Powell, and entered\u00a0<\/span>Nayong<\/span>\u00a0Theological Seminary. Ordained after graduation, he became a permanent resident of the US in 1990 but chose not to apply for citizenship. \u201cHe strongly believed China was his calling,\u201d 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\u00a0<\/span>Wa<\/span>\u00a0State region bordering China.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]After three years of crossing the border between China and Myanmar without incident, Pastor Cao was arrested on March 5,\u00a0<\/span>2017<\/span>\u00a0and 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.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”58759″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Pastor John Cao in hospital” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13|text_align:center|color:%23111111″ css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]\u201cPastor Cao said he created a \u2018Bible\u2019 by writing down the scriptures he received in those letters,\u201d says Representative Foley. Later, she says, Pastor Cao was moved to another prison because of his evangelistic activities among the prisons. There, he was prevented from receiving letters and even had prisoners assigned to him around the clock to stop him from sharing the gospel.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Representative Foley says that Pastor Cao practiced daily morning prayer in prison despite the lack of a clock and a prohibition on speaking aloud. \u201cHe told associates that he woke up on his own at 5AM every day and turned sideways to cover his praying activities,\u201d says Representative Foley.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Now, says Representative Foley, one of Cao\u2019s associates describes the pastor\u2019s current pain level as \u201cexcruciating<\/span>\u201d.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”58819″ img_size=”medium” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”Pastor John Cao upon his release from prison” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13|text_align:center|color:%23111111″ css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]\u201cWe need to pray for the Lord to heal Pastor Cao and to grant him rest,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201cPastor Cao is not best described as a \u2018former prisoner<\/span>\u2019.<\/span>\u00a0He should be described as a pastor who continues to do powerful ministry in China despite serious and painful health problems and the continued oppression of the Chinese government.\u201d<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Individuals interested in donating to Voice of the Martyrs Korea\u2019s work in partnership with the house church Christians of China can visit www.vomkorea.com\/en\/donation<\/a> or give via electronic transfer to:<\/span><\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]KB Bank: 463501-01-243303<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Account Holder: (<\/span>\uc0ac<\/span>)<\/span>\uc21c\uad50\uc790\uc758\uc18c\ub9ac<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Please note \u201cChina\u201d on the transfer<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_column][\/vc_column]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”58754″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css=””][vc_custom_heading text=”A pastor in China who previously served a seven-year prison sentence for his ministry activity on the China\/Myanmar border, is now hospitalized, unable to sleep …","protected":false},"author":1959,"featured_media":58755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[235,869,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-special-column","category-china-special","category-vomk-report"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1959"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58734"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58818,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58734\/revisions\/58818"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}