Please scroll down to watch a short video from China that is sure to touch your heart.
Dear Friends,
We hope the new decade has started well for you and it will be a fruitful year for your live as the kingdom of God spreads through you.
In 2019, by the grace of God we were able to print and distribute more than 1.1 million full Chinese Bibles to the house church Christians, which is an increase of 42.4% on the previous year, and the highest number since 2014. We thank the Lord for this, and we appreciate everyone who prayed and gave so that the believers in China can access God's Word. In the present tense and oppressive environment in China, each copy of the Scriptures is a miracle.
We have been contacted by people seeking an explanation, because the Amity Press in China has been publicizing that they recently passed the milestone of printing 200 million Bibles inside China. Obviously if those claims are true then there would be little need for our project.
We would like to take a moment to explain the reality behind that extraordinary number. Some of you who have read our newsletters for years will already know, but for others this information will be brand new.
The Amity Press in China is by far the biggest printer on earth, secular or Christian. It's a massive business making many millions of dollars profit each year.
Yes, they may have produced 200 million Bibles over the last 30 years, but what they and their partners The Bible Society deliberately fail to mention is that at least TWO-THIRDS are exported out of China. If you go to most Christian bookstores in your country to buy a Bible, chances are that it was printed in China by the Amity Press. Then print millions of Bibles each year in all kinds of languages: Spanish, French, Swahili, Korean, English, and dozens of others.
Therefore over the last 30 years perhaps 60 million Chinese Bibles printed by Amity Press were permitted to remain in China. However, they are ONLY available to registered Christians in Three-Self (government-approved) churches. The 60 million or more house church believers that we serve are strictly forbidden from getting a single crumb of them.
And by the way, the Communist Party has now slashed the quota they allow Amity to print domestically to about 1/3 of what it was a few years ago, so even the registered churches are facing a huge shortage of God's Word.
Finally, instead of us writing more words, it is probably more effective to share the below short video (56 seconds), showing the reaction of Chinese house church Christians when they first received a shipment of Bibles. Although the video is not new, it sums up how precious God's Word is to them, and why we feel so privileged to serve God's people who are so desperate for His Word. Thank you for joining us in this strategic endeavor.
May our Heavenly Father continue to provide the Scriptures to all His children in China!
God bless you,
The team at Asia Harvest
www.asiaharvest.org