The 17 supporters, accompanied by three Bible Society staff, departed from Sydney, Australia, last Thursday for the two-week trip that includes visits to local churches, seminaries and local Bible study groups within rural congregations. Participants will help with the distribution of 10,000 Bibles into Nanjing, Xian, Zhengzhou and Shanghai, China.

“China is experiencing a great freedom of worship,” said Bible Society CEO, Daniel Willis. “With this wonderful change the church is spreading rapidly with the number of Christians in China now estimated to be over 100 million.”

The Bible Society works with Amity Printing Company, China’s only state-approved Christian publisher, to provide Bibles to the Chinese people. Chinese Christians can only legally obtain Bibles printed by Amity and distributed by state-registered churches.

In communist China, Christians are not allowed complete freedom of worship in the sense that they can only legally worship in churches belonging to the government-sanctioned Protestant body, the China Christian Council/Three Self Patriotic Movement (CCC/TSPM), or its Catholic counterpart.

Underground Christians, or those belonging to churches not registered with the government, are frequently harassed, imprisoned and even tortured. The number of underground protestant Christians is estimated to be as high as 100 million.

Despite its shortcomings, China often boasts about its respect for religious freedom – which has improved significantly in the past decade – while denying or playing down violations.

China has been especially proud of its Amity Printing Company, which last year became the world’s largest Bible printing facility after expanding its facility. Amity says that its new facility can print up to 12 million Bibles a year, up from six million the previous year.

“Each Chinese Christian would like to experience the joy, peace and inspiration that owning their own Bible brings – but unfortunately for many, obtaining a Bible is difficult and often out of their reach financially,” said Bible Society CEO Willis.

“Our goal is to break down the barriers of distance and isolation and make Bibles available to our Chinese brothers and sisters in Christ,” he said. “Those on the tour will be able to share in the joy of a fellow Christian receiving a copy of God’s Word for the first time.”

Bible Society, with the approval of the Chinese Government, has been printing and distributing Bibles through Amity Press since 1987. During that period, more than 40 million Bibles have been printed and distributed within China.

The China Bible distribution tour will end on April 30, with the Bible Society planning another similar trip in October.

Source: Christianity Today: Bible Society in visit to China

Dr Sam Mings founded the initiative nearly 25 years ago at the Los Angeles Olympic Games. At this year’s Olympics in Beijing, China, he is leading the outreach initiative RT2008BM (Right Track 2008 Beijing Mission) in what will be his seventh Olympics outreach.

Each year, Christians in the host city play a vital role in putting the event together and so the tradition continues in Beijing, where expats church the Beijing International Christian Fellowship are key organisers of the main event, the ‘More Than Gold Evening with the Stars’. The event takes place within wider evangelistic efforts over the Olympics under the clarion banner, ‘What we’re about is worth more than gold’.

The outreach event and service will be joined by one of the greatest Olympians of the century, US sprinter and committed Christian Carl Lewis when it takes place at Beijing’s 1,800 capacity 21st Century theatre on Sunday.

At a time when persecution watchdogs are warning of greater persecution over the period of the Olympics, a huge banner promoting the RT2008BM event drapes the front of the theatre, located in the heart of downtown Beijing.

“To organise such an evangelistic rally within the midst of an Olympic festival, to arrange for athletes to come and speak in the middle of their contests, to prepare the promotional materials, advertising paraphernalia and to motivate the local Christian community to get on board, is a marvel beyond words,” says Mark Tronson, Baptist minister and International Prayer Network director for RT2008BM.

Dr Mings and Tronson anticipate that the turnout of athletes and locals will surpass any previous outreach event in an Olympic host city.

“This will be incredibly significant in China, a communist country; something like this has simply never previously been dreamed of,” says Dr Mings.

“The Olympians sharing their ‘power and inspiration source’ must be unprecedented.

“Even more impressive is that the message will go out from the host city to the world. The situation is unparalleled.”

Adds Tronson, “This is what has been achieved since 1984. Each host city’s evangelical community has mobilised behind this remarkable outreach.”

The Beijing International Christian Fellowship serves as a worship centre for expats, with members from no less than 70 nations. Its international make-up is the basis for its permission from authorities to function openly as a Christian church in China, where religious freedom is curtailed by the communist government.

“Once again the Lord had established a situation whereby the RT2008BM might function during the Beijing Olympics,” notes Mark.

The ‘Evening with the Stars’ event will kick off with a ‘Parade of the Stars’, in which the Christian Olympians will be greeted by Carl Lewis, Dr Mings and the pastor of the Beijing International Christian Fellowship, Jon Davis.

For Dr Mings, though, the stars are there for one purpose and one purpose only.

“It will be a historic moment to remember forever in the glorifying of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Source: Christianity Today: Greater than gold: Witnessing Christ in Beijing

In a letter to supporters, the General Secretary of the Langham Foundation Hong Kong, Victor Sun said that the church in China was thriving in the new age of economic and social development.

He added, however, that the growth of Christianity was coupled with a “severe lack” of pastors and Bible teachers in China today.

“There are too few seminaries to keep pace with the staggering growth of believers. This is where John Stott Ministries-Langham Partnership International through the Langham Foundation in Hong Kong can contribute to building a healthy church in China,” he said.

There are currently 10 Chinese Langham scholars. The Langham Foundation, meanwhile, is helping to stock the libraries of a number of seminaries and universities in China with evangelical books. Langham, which is a John Stott ministry, will hold its first preaching seminar for China mainland pastors in September.

Sun welcomed the opportunities for Christian fellowship and engagement brought by the Beijing Olympics, saying that local churches were making the most of the Olympics by hosting special cultural and musical shows.

With the Beijing Olympics in full swing, “China is not only showing her best face to the world, she is also sending out a clear message that the country is ready to take her rightful place in the family of nations after re-emerging as [a] global economic giant,” he said.

“One day we hope to see that the church in China can become a blessing to the nation and the world,” he added.

The Beijing Olympics are now in their third day, after opening in spectacular style on Friday with fireworks and hundreds of impeccably choreographed dancers.

Source: Christianity Today: Now is time for healthy church in China, says Langham leader