Amity Foundation Explained

The Amity Foundation is an independent Chinese voluntary organization.[1] it is the largest charity in China.[2] It was created in 1985 on the initiative of Christians in China with the late Bishop K. H. Ting as its founder.[3] Its main objective has been to help develop poor areas of the country.[4] Amity's headquarters are in Nanjing. The organization includes the Amity Printing Company (APC, also sometimes called Amity Printing Press),[5] the largest Bible producer in China. Amity Printing Company opened a branch in Ethiopia in 2016. Amity Foundation has an office in Hong Kong[6] and opened a liaison office in the Ecumenical Center of the World Council of Churches[7] in Geneva in 2017.

Ideals

Some have described Amity as a faith-initiated organization that works with Christians, while others, such as the current General Secretary Qiu Zhonghui, has described it as a faith-based organization.[8] Various partner organizations have praised the work and activity of the charity.[9] [10] [11] Recently the charitable organisation has been highlighted in both domestic and international media for its action and prompt relief work in China in response to natural disasters.[12]

Activities

Amity Printing Company

The Amity Printing Company (APC,) in Nanjing is the largest producer of Bibles in China, and one of the largest in the world.[16] [17] It is a joint venture with the United Bible Societies.[18] In its first year (1988), it printed 500,000 Bibles on a press donated by UBS.[19] Since 1988, it has published Bibles in Mandarin and in several ethnic minority languages, as well as in many other languages for export. It is China's only legal printer of Bibles.[20]

The APC has so far published more than 100 million Bibles. Most of the Bibles printed are the Chinese Union Version (1919), the Chinese Bible translation used by the Protestant churches, or the less commonly accepted but more modern Today's Chinese Version. Recently the Pastoral Bible used by the Catholic churches has also been printed here. All Chinese Bibles are distributed not by the state-run bookstore chains (such as Xinhua Bookstore), but through the network of officially registered Protestant churches.

Since China's adoption of the New Regulations on Religious Affairs in 2018 that banned online bookstores from selling Bibles, the APC has been facing difficulty in printing Chinese Bibles. This has caused a shortage of Catholic Bibles in Hong Kong.[21]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Reference in Chinese Charity overview . Chinacsrmap.org . 2013-07-10 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120310120104/http://www.chinacsrmap.org/E_OrgShow.asp?CCMOrg_ID=370 . 2012-03-10 .
  2. http://archive.beijingtoday.com.cn/tag/pfrang-association Breaking a circle of ignorance and crime
  3. Book: John Peale. The Love of God in China: Can One Be Both Chinese and Christian?. 2005. iUniverse. 978-0-595-33619-7. 56.
  4. Web site: Amity website. https://web.archive.org/web/20100311024545/http://www.amityfoundation.org/wordpress/?page_id=14. dead. March 11, 2010.
  5. Web site: Welcome To Amity Printing CO.,LTD . Amityprinting.com . 2013-07-10.
  6. Web site: Hong Kong Office.
  7. Web site: World Council of Churches.
  8. Book: Gerda Wielander. Christian Values in Communist China. 2013. Routledge. 978-1-317-97604-2. 73.
  9. Web site: Christian Aid backs the work of Amity in quake-hit China . Ekklesia . 2013-07-10.
  10. Web site: Amity Foundation expands social outreach in China . https://archive.today/20120707135613/http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=2&mid=9039 . dead . 2012-07-07 . Archives.umc.org . 2006-11-06 . 2013-07-10 .
  11. Web site: Amity Foundation Aids China Earthquake Victims . Globalministries.org . 2013-07-10.
  12. Web site: Thomson Reuters Foundation . Thomson Reuters Foundation | News, Information and Connections for Action . Alertnet.org . 2013-07-10.
  13. Web site: Amity Teacher blog . News.haverford.edu . 2013-07-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121014010140/http://news.haverford.edu/blogs/amity-foundation/ . 2012-10-14 . dead .
  14. Web site: Back to School Program.
  15. Web site: Thomson Reuters Foundation . Thomson Reuters Foundation | News, Information and Connections for Action . Alertnet.org . 2013-07-10 . 2008-06-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080626063931/http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/284081/120715740055.htm . dead .
  16. News: Zhou. Jing. Where is the world's largest Bible printer?. 2 August 2016. China.org.cn.
  17. News: Steffan. Melissa. World's Biggest Bible Publisher? China. 2 August 2016. Christianity Today. November 13, 2012.
  18. News: Understanding Amity. 13 June 2017. Amityprinting.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20170612005820/http://amityprinting.com/understanding-amity2. 12 June 2017. dead.
  19. News: In the beginning was the ideogram. 13 June 2016. The Economist. March 30, 2013.
  20. News: Zylstra. Sarah. Why Your Bible Was Made In China. 13 June 2016. Christianity Today. October 23, 2014.
  21. Web site: Printing troubles spark Catholic Bible shortage in Hong Kong . . August 2, 2022 . . October 17, 2022.

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