Bible Smuggling Isn’t New The idea of secretly transporting Bibles from the free world into the hands of believers living in closed countries is not a new one. For as long as the Bible has been printed or transcribed in any form governments and social groups have sought to block the spread of God’s Word. 477 years ago William Tyndale was strangled and burned at the stake in Belgium for his efforts to distribute the Bible in the English language. Today the Bible remains very difficult, if not impossible, for millions around the world to obtain. China is no exception. With more than 1.3 billion citizens and an estimated 130 – 140 million Christians the market for Bibles in China is tremendous. Many argue that China prints more than enough Bibles for its own people, but what few understand is that the distribution of those Bibles is highly controlled by the Communist Party. In fact it’s believed that the majority of Bibles printed in China are actually exported around the world for profit rather than sold to the Chinese themselves. Why we Must Continue Bible Smuggling into China For the past several decades the fact that Christianity is growing in China at a tremendous pace has been well known. On a recent trip to the country ICC was told by one long-time observer of the house church movement that as many as 20,000 new believers join the church body every day. With this tremendous growth comes tremendous need and our partners constantly report not being able to fill all of the requests for new Bibles. Just recently we heard from one pastor who was able to give all of the children in his congregation their very own Bible. These children had never owned a personal copy of the Word of God and were excited to receive one. BY RYAN MORGAN
Posted on: Thu, 25 Jul 2013 16:55:39 +0000
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