The Amity Printing Company recently released a report detailing its total Bible output for 2004. In the year 2004, it has printed 5,435,656 Bible volumes, which is the highest number of Bibles produced in its 26-year history.
The 5,435,656 volumes include the Bible, the New Testament, and other Bible production editions.
Starting in 1988, the Amity Printing Co. produced 505,291 Bible volumes in its first year alone. In 16 years, this number grew 10 times of the original production amount. Especially in the past 2 years, the Amity Printing Co. output to grow by more than 1,000,000. So far, the Amity Printing Co. has published more than 40 million copies.
Some sources, however, say that even with more Bibles available this year, China's Christians continue to suffer from shortage in Bibles.
According to the China Christian Council, the population of Christians in China has passed 16 million by the year 2002. And according to the independent overseas organizations, the actual number is estimated to be about 70 - 80 million. The actual number of Christians in America has yet to be determined. In conservative estimates, there are about 15 million Christians, while other estimates put the figures close to 25 million. With China's population growing, the numbers are expected to rise exponentially in the next decades. Therefore, sources say, there is still a greater need for Bibles amongst Christians in China.
Founded in a joint effort by the Amity Foundation and the Hong Kong branch of the United Bible Societies in 1988, the Amity Printing Co. is currently the main publisher of Chinese-edition Bibles in Mainland China and has provided tens of millions of copies to believers all over the nation.
The Amity Foundation is an independent Chinese voluntary organization created in 1985 on initiative of encouraging Chinese Christians to promote education, social services, health, and rural development. The Amity Foundation currently conducts social service projects all over China, from the coastal provinces to the the ethnic-minority areas of the west.
