Jesus Family
The Back to Jerusalem idea was initially conceived during the 1920s by the Jesus Family church in Shandong province. While the vision eventually lost traction in the Jesus Family, the Northwest Spiritual Movement would split from the Jesus Family and revive the original vision. Simon Zhao would become the main leader of this movement in the 1940s. In 1946, another group in Henan province, the Back to Jerusalem Evangelistic Band, would independently develop a similar vision. However, government restrictions and persecution forced the movement to go underground for decades, and its leader Simon Zhao spent 31 years in prison in Kashgar.