Bibles in China
Two American men were
traveling in a location so remote that they claimed even the cows
stared at them. There they gave a "linguistically challenged
presentation" of the Gospel to a Chinese man and left him a Bible. When
they returned to visit him two weeks later, he had accepted Christ!
Once again God's sword had cut straight to the heart of man.
Throughout China there is a
great hunger for God's Word. An American summer teacher was amazed when
one of her Chinese students asked for permission to just touch the
teacher's Bible, not dreaming that she could hold it, read it, and even
own it. A house church trainer was moved when he realized that several
ladies in his group shared one Bible, not only in class, but in their
daily life. Many others have witnessed the inexpressible joy of Chinese
friends receiving a Bible for the first time.
Tragically, China has long
been known as a country where Christians and seekers have limited
access to Bibles. It is true that Bibles can be purchased at
government-sanctioned registered churches, and it is also true that
Amity Printing, the publishing arm of the government churches, has
printed 41 million Chinese Bibles in recent years. But the numbers pale
as one looks at the needs of as many as 60 million Chinese Christians,
and more than one billion lost people.
Despite the dearth of
adequate Bibles for her own people, China will produce one-quarter of
all the world's Bibles by 2009! With Amity relocating to a larger
facility, Bibles in 90 languages ranging from Slovakian to Swahili will
soon roll off its presses and be exported to countries around the
world, including the U.S. and Great Britain.
To meet the demand of the
world's most populous country, some are taking great risks to make
large quantities of Bibles available. A house church leader was
arrested last August in northwest China and charged with receiving
three tons of Bibles from a source outside of China. In December of
last year, the Chinese owner of a Christian bookstore near Beijing's
Olympic Village was detained and charged with the illegal printing and
distribution of Christian literature.
Bibles are purportedly being
illegally published, stored, and shipped in locations throughout China.
Hundreds of thousands of Bibles are also being distributed popular
tourist destinations worldwide to Chinese people with hands
outstretched to receive them.
Please join us in praying
that everyone who longs to read God's Word will have access to a Bible.
Go to www.peopleofchina.net
for more prayer requests for China.
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