China can't get enough Bibles
The elderly woman is wrapped up against China’s bitter sub-zero winter. The cause of her delight is the fact that she’s just bought five Bibles.
‘I want to preach the gospel to my neighbours and friends,’ she says. ‘I’ve been saving money every month to do this. Hallelujah. I’m so excited to be buying these Bibles.’
Zhang Fang Rong is one of the 1,500 people who worship at St Paul’s Church in Nanjing, south-east China. The church holds six services over the weekend in order that everyone can attend and every service is packed, with people sitting in freezing side rooms in order to take part.
Since the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976, when the Bible was banned, confiscated and burned, it has become China’s best-seller. What’s more, it is now printed in China, rather than being smuggled into the country.
Nanjing’s Amity Printing Co has so far produced some 70 million Bibles, 50 million of which have gone to Chinese Christians. Last year alone it printed 4 million copies.
‘At the beginning, when we started, we couldn’t have imagined that we would have expanded so big,’ says Qiu Zhong Hui , chairman of the board of Amity Printing Co. ‘It’s amazing growth.’
Bible Society helps to fund the paper on which Bibles are printed. This in turn means that Bibles can be sold at a knock-down rate in China’s cities like Nanjing and some are given away free to Christians in its rural heartland, where low incomes prevent people from buying a copy.
Bibles, though are not currently available in mainstream bookshops, are sold in churches across the country.
At St Paul’s Church, its small bookshop is crowded by 8am with people literally snatching copies of the Bible off the wooden shelves.
British-based Bible Society’s subsidy of the cost means that millions more people are able to afford a copy of the Bible each year. The cost is reduced from around 60 Yuan (£6) to 15 Yuan (£1.50). But, in the rural areas of China, a day’s living expenses could be just 5 Yuan, so distributing Bibles for free is also vital.
Official estimates report that there are approaching 29 million Christians in China, but it is believed that as many as 90 million Chinese Christians. And, every day thousands more come to faith, according to local experts, so the demand for Bibles continues to grow.
‘As more and more people are joining the Church they are asking for a Bible,’ says Kua Wee Seng, Co-ordinator of United Bible Societies’ China Partnership. ‘This is a time of opportunity in China,’ he adds. ‘If we don’t share the word of God we will miss a whole generation of Chinese. Many of us feel that we mustn’t miss this opportunity or people will turn to something else, other than Christianity.’
in Features
About Hazel
Hazel Southam is an award-winning journalist who reports on religious affairs, international development and the environment. She has covered four G8 Summits.
She wrote for The Sunday and Daily Telegraph for 10 years. Her work has also appeared in The Guardian, The Independent, The Independent on Sunday, The Daily Mail and The Evening Standard.
Reporting assignments have taken her to places including Bosnia, Zimbabwe, Mongolia, Albania, Nagorno-Karabakh, Senegal and the Arctic Circle.
In the UK, she has also delivered media training to the MOD and leading businesses.
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