50 Million Chinese Bibles and Counting . . .
December 7, 2007
September 11 probably isn't a date the vast majority of the world thinks about with fondness, but for workers at the Nanjing Amity Printing Company, it marks a happy anniversary. On September 11, 2007, the Amity Press published its 50 millionth Bible for legal distribution in Mainland China, and they will mark this occasion with celebrations this December 8.
Since 1989, the Amity Press has distributed over 42 million copies of the Bible within China, another 8 million Bibles worldwide, and the presses continue to roll. They’ve even added a new one this year, and by next year Nanjing will be the largest producer of Bibles worldwide.
Roy Lloyd of the American Bible Society (ABS) is extremely pleased with the news. The ABS has been working with the Amity Press since its inception, and Lloyd has been impressed by the enthusiasm of the U.S. Christians towards sending Bibles to China. He says sending BIbles to China is most critical concern of U.S. Christians who contact his ministry.
According to Lloyd, the major problem with getting Christian literature into China isn't the government interference, it's the lack of paper. The Amity Press, which is the only legal printer of Bibles in Mainland China, hasn't had the capacity to keep up with the growing demand. In response, the ABS has launched an initiative to distribute 250,000 more Bibles to China by equipping the Amity Press and other Christian groups with more paper and resources.
The issue of "lack of paper" or general lack of resources brings up another question- why doesn't the Chinese government allow other international groups, who have more paper than they know what to do with, to send Bibles to China?
Even though the new printing press and extra financial resources will help expedite legal Bible production, many other Christian groups have taken matters into their own hands, beyond the watchful eye of the Chinese government. The Bible League had an extensive radio campaign earlier this year, which raised enough money to send 250,000 Bibles to China. Their current campaign is raising money for Bibles for Southeast Asia, but this March they'll launch a new effort to send more Bibles to China. The Voice of the Martyrs' Bibles Unbound project has sent nearly 30,000 Bibles to China with plans to send over 50,000 in total.
Other ministries have also been working in China through official and unofficial channels to send other types of Christian teachings and materials in China, ranging from Bible studies to Billy Graham's sermons to hundreds of thousands of copies of Christian films.
Earlier this year the China Christian Council teamed up with Campus Crusade for Christ to release a DVD of the Jesus Film for legal distribution throughout Mainland China, and Dallas Theological Seminary now has an online seminary arrangement with 30 Chinese students.
As I've discussed in past blogs ((WARNING- shameless plug ahead!) like An Olympic Bible Blunder, China's Great Bible Debate, China's Bible Debate Heats Up, China Puts Bibles in Hotel Rooms for the Olympics)) several different approaches towards Bible distribution exist.
Groups like the ABS only work legally, and feel that illegal Bible distribution can compromise the safety of Chinese Christians. Other groups like the Bible League or Voice of the Martyrs, take a different approach, and believe that Christians should do anything they can to provide Bible literature to people who need it.
While well-intentioned, well-educated Christians will probably not form unanimous consensus on the appropriate methods of distributing Bibles in China any time soon, they can agree on the most important issue: the demand for Bibles in China continues to grow, which is a pretty good problem to have. Naturally, it would be much better if the supply could meet the demand, and I'm sure many overseas Christian groups would eagerly fill that demand if given the chance.
Nonetheless, considering the circumstances, Amity's December 8 celebration of 50 million Bibles is a huge milestone that would have been considered impossible 20 or 30 years ago. As the presses continue to roll and more and more Christians desire their own copies of the Bible, it's only a matter of time before 100 million Bibles make their way into China. The remaining question, is if that time will come soon enough.
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