Kevin and Julia Garratt were completely blindsided when plain-clothed Chinese authorities snatched them from inside a restaurant in the northern city of Dandong in August 2014.

The Canadian couple was tossed into separate cars that sped out of town to a remote compound where they were interrogated as foreign spies.The ordeal saw Kevin jailed for over two years on espionage charges. Julia was detained in isolation for six months before being placed on house arrest in China.

Now, three months after Kevin was deported back to Canada and re-united with his family, the couple is speaking out about their harrowing ordeal at the hands of China’s state security apparatus.

“All of a sudden these people just kind of grabbed us. There were people with video cameras. We assumed (they were) local police,” Kevin told CTV News Channel. “I think someone flashed a badge, but I couldn’t tell.”

“Then when they said they were the FBI and started driving me out into the middle of nowhere to a compound, I was incredulous and terrified. I thought, ‘Am I going to get out of this alive?” said Julia.

The Garratts had spent the past three decades living in China as Christian aid workers, helping orphans and the elderly, and running a popular café in a politically sensitive region near the North Korean border -- which they crossed on occasion to pursue aid projects.

The Chinese Communist Party is officially atheist and religion is a sensitive topic.

The Garratts’ coffee shop was a hot spot for students and foreign journalists, as well as locals who were eager to hear about the Canadian couple’s travels to the hermit kingdom next door. Visiting dignitaries, like then-Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, were a small portion of those that frequented the café, but Kevin says it was enough to raise eyebrows in China and at home in Canada.

“We had some talks with CSIS. They contacted me once while I was in Canada. (It was) kind of a routine visit (since) I had been to North Korea. They said ‘What are you doing there?’ Just kind of a follow up, and making sure we were following sanctions and not doing anything illegal,” he said. “It put us on a higher radar for the Chinese.”

A world away in Canada, U.S. authorities were aggressively pursuing the extradition of a Chinese citizen living as a permanent resident in Vancouver. Su Bin was accused of plotting to electronically steal information from American military contractor Boeing and sell it to companies in China. The incident is widely believed to have played a role in the Garratts’ arrest.

“It had nothing to do with what we had done in 30 years. They (the Chinese authorities) told us straight up. It had to do with something bigger that was going on in the political arena,” said Julia.

Kevin developed a number of illnesses and health concerns during his more than two years in custody. His only communication with the outside world was through a Canadian embassy official.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised Garratt’s case in meetings with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper also raised the issue in a meeting with Premier Li in November 2014.

As a convicted spy, Kevin is not allowed to travel to China for at least five years. But he does not rule out the idea after that.

While the Garratts have suffered as a result of the ordeal, their thoughts frequently return to the marginalized people they dedicated their lives to helping.

“Orphans went without care because those (our) projects were suddenly stopped. It ended up hurting the people that were already marginalized more than it hurt anyone else,” said Julia.

“We love China and we love the people,” said Kevin. “The system did this to us. The people did not. The people are still our friends.”