s a co-worker in China who has been working for East Gates Ministries International (EGMI) for many years, I want to dedicate this article to those brothers, sisters and friends who have been faithful and dedicated in supporting this ministry.
East Gates is a unique ministry. It is unique because East Gates was initiated by House church believers in Mainland China. In time, participating believers from the United States, Hong Kong and Australia who had a heart to serve the Church in China came on board. Some of them came from American missionary families born in China who were well-respected by the people of China and the US. Some were overseas Chinese from Hong Kong who worked in Bible distribution.
Ned Graham’s initial involvement which eventually led to taking the helm of East Gates was one of the most important factors in making East Gates what it is today. He could have started his own ministry in the US but he chose a ministry to China, a road filled with hardships. He continues in the footsteps of his mother, Ruth Bell Graham, who was born in China and his grandfather, Dr. Lemuel Nelson Bell, who served China as a medical missionary for 25 years. The Bell family has a deep and abiding friendship with the Chinese people, the Church in China, pastors and countless believers. This love knot cannot be broken.
Project Light
East Gates has always been a ministry that adjusts to the movement of God’s Spirit, therefore adapting to changing times and ideas. In the early 1990s, we felt the need to start what we called, Project Light. This project would enable us to provide Bibles legally to believers who chose to meet at home.
There is a testimony that needs to be told about a young pastor who served in a village. He had a Bible that was published in China. Eventually, the Public Security Bureau (PSB) confiscated his Bible. This young pastor knew he had done nothing wrong so he persevered and patiently but firmly negotiated with the PSB. Finally, the PSB, who seldom backed down on their decisions, unexpectedly, returned his Bible because they could not refute his claims.
Ned Graham continues in the footsteps of his mother, Ruth Bell Graham (center child), who was born in China and his grandfather, Dr. Lemuel Nelson Bell, who served China as a medical missionary for 25 years. The Bell family has a deep and abiding friendship with the Chinese people, the Church in China, pastors and countless believers. This love knot cannot be broken.
This incident occurred in a remote inland village and obviously did not make news to the outside world. A female believer, who for years had been providing Bibles to the House churches, heard the story and was inspired. She wondered, “Could it be possible for there to be understanding between the Chinese government, the China Christian Council (CCC) and Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), the United Bible Society and believers who choose to meet in their homes? Could they all work together so the House church members could also receive Bibles? Read on to see how God used East Gates to accomplish this.
During the last few years of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) until the late 1990s, China experienced a great gospel revival. This not only occurred in the villages but especially in the big cities. A large number of Chinese intellectuals came to Christ and changed the demographics within the Church in China. This phenomenon also affected the Christian knowledge base among the believers. During the time of this revival, the churches lacked Bibles, Christian reference books to help study the Bible and quality pastors who could expound on God’s Truth.
In the mid-1980s, the Chinese government and the United Bible Society (UBS) came to a mutual agreement to print Bibles in China. This was a significant event with profound meaning in Chinese Church history. With the assistance of the UBS, the Amity Printing Company was established. Based in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, Amity began printing large quantities of Bibles. In 1992, 970,000 Bibles were printed and by 1996, over three million were coming off the press.
China, however, had historically associated Christianity with Western imperialism. In addition, the divide between government entities and the common people created caution among the House churches who did not trust the government run CCC/TSPM. As a result, some continued to obtain Bibles smuggled in from overseas organizations. They received them in gratitude but always with fear as many confessed this went, “against their Christian conscience.”
Finally the Chinese government, CCC/TSPM and House church members were able to work together so that large quantities of Bibles could be delivered to House church believers. A miracle had truly occurred! Three well-respected House church pastors from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou made a promise to support this endeavor and greatly assisted the implementation of the project. What was once perceived as impossible for man, was made possible by God. When East Gates authorized me to distribute Bibles to House church believers, I made only one special prayer. I prayed that in time, we would work ourselves out of a job. My hope and prayer was that eventually Bibles could be bought in bookstores and churches throughout China. I did not ask God to give us more co-workers to help - but I had a greater vision, Project Light, and the goal of showing other ministries how to distribute the Bible legally, impartially, widely and with as great a success as we have.
At the beginning of Project Light, I wrote a letter to a brother in the Northeastern part of China to let him know that East Gates had a new ministry from God. We were to deliver as many Bibles as we could to House church believers. He quickly replied in a letter, “When we were not able to get God’s Word, we prayed to God and wept bitterly. The minute we received your letter, our whole church family knelt down and gave thanks to God!” The entire East Gates staff was greatly encouraged by this message. Our two main goals for the immense task of delivering thousands of Bibles to our thirsty brothers and sisters were, “quickly and safely.” It occupied most of our waking hours. That year we delivered 10,000 copies of Bibles to them—all different sizes. We also delivered over 180,000 Bibles to three Northeastern provinces.
In those early days, pastors and believers were very creative in the way they received our main Bible deliveries and then distributed them throughout the countryside. They quickly had a great network established. In one situation, we delivered 20,000 Bibles to a small town in Anhui province. Waiting at the distribution point were tractors, tricycles and small boats. Due to the increasing need for Bibles and the cooperation of all parties, the goal of distributing one million Bibles in five years was achieved in two and a half years! As a result, East Gates requested that a new agreement be signed to provide an additional one million copies of Bibles which were also distributed in two to three years.
While East Gates was busy with Bible distribution, so was the CCC/TSPM. Because of the considerable profit they could receive, they set up distribution points throughout China to meet the growing House church demand. (In spite of the motives, more Bibles were getting into the hands of believers.)
Mini-libraries
Since the late 1990s, we have distributed another one million Bibles as well as Christian reference books to every province in China. Project Light now focuses more on Bible distribution to the minority tribes and border provinces—regions that are very hard to reach.
As with all ministries that are God-breathed, one phase leads to another. Ten years ago, the Church in China was primarily comprised of believers who were peasants and farmers in small villages. The majority was illiterate and the pastors had at most a primary or junior high school education. Few had gone to high school and it was very rare for one to have attended a university.
For the Church in China to truly grow, we felt the level of education and spiritual understanding of the pastors and believers had to improve. Therefore, we began to provide Christian reference books (i.e. concordances, Bible dictionaries, study guides etc.) so those who could read could diligently teach those who could not. To balance their education, we also provided books on moral ethics, history and geography written by Christian authors.
The rise in demand for Christian materials has caused the number of Christian publishing organizations to grow in China. It is estimated that China now has over 60 bookstores that offer Christian literature and that number keeps growing. They still cannot sell the Bible but in every other way, they are similar to Christian bookstores in the West.
Theological Training
At present, there are 23 official seminaries and numerous Bible schools in China. Several hundred graduate every year but they cannot keep up with the demand in the churches. Provinces like Zhejiang and Jiangsu have a higher percentage of believers who conduct Lay Leader Training Classes or form their own Christian Training Center.
East Gates helps seminaries, Bible schools, lay leader training classes, and training centers in China by equipping them with computers, theological software programs and Christian reference books published in Hong Kong and China. We also subsidize school fees and living allowances for seminary students who live in remote and poor areas.
Most House church believers form their own kind of theological learning center with names such as “The Wilderness Seminary,” or “Wild Country Seminary.” Their names seem to reflect the more austere conditions in which they have to study and train. Most of their Bible Training Classes differ in format, duration and curriculum. On occasion, some of the training centers will have overseas pastors and seminary teachers instruct them but the majority of the teachers are local pastors. Their resources cannot be compared to what the CCC/TSPM or official seminaries supported by the government offer, but over the past 20 years these promising, hard-working pastors and students have become the backbone of the Church in China. In the last ten years, East Gates has strived to increase the quality of theological training within the official Open and House churches by providing much needed Christian literature and trainers.
Gradually, China is becoming the country with the largest number of Christians in the world. History has shown us that when the gospel traveled to the United Kingdom and then the United States, theologians and theological systems were set in place in each of these “new worlds.” The same will hold true for China. God will entrust China with its own theologians and theological system to spread the gospel. We know the journey will be long and it may take several generations but this is what the Church in China is preparing for.
East Gates is a unique ministry. Its long term goal is to help the Church in China fulfill the great commission. In this context, its main purpose is to impartially serve the needs of our brothers and sisters throughout China. By the Spirit and grace of the Almighty working through a prayerful and committed staff, we have been able to accomplish the impossible in these past 15 years. East Gates will keep this vision alive and continue to expand and enhance the many diverse ministries God empowers us to in the coming years. We deeply appreciate your partnership and together we can work hard with all churches and brothers and sisters to build God’s Kingdom here on earth.
Mr. Zhang
East Gates China Field Staff