The opening ceremony of the “Bible Ministry Exhibition of the Protestant Church in China” was held at the oldest church in Chicago– First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple on October 11, 2011. This was the second venue for the exhibition, following its first at Washington D.C on 28th September.
President of the China Christian Council, Rev Gao Feng, praised God for “the miraculous blessings of God on the Church in China.”And the miracle was that more than 55 million copies of Bibles including Bibles in the ethnic minority languages were printed as of 2010. Each year, 3.5 million copies of Bibles are printed at Amity Printing Press in Nanjing, China, to meet the needs of the growing Christian population.
Rev Gao, in his opening speech, acknowledged the generous help and support of the United Bible Societies and the American Bible Society in the publication and distribution of Bibles in China, thus turning this miracle into a reality.
After the guests at the ceremony exalted God with a litany based on Psalm 150, Senior Pastor at Willow Creek Community Church, Rev Bill Hybels’s first remark was, “I stand in awe of the Bible!” His exclamation reiterated the power of the Word of God in transforming lives and changing hearts.
Bishop Mark Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, encouraged the people by saying, “the world is to hear the Good News of Jesus, let’s not just put our Bibles on the shelves.” This was an appropriate reminder to “Dedicate them to yourself by means of the truth; your word is truth” John 17:17 (GNT) which was also the theme verse for this exhibition.
After attending this special ceremony, guests had a tour of the Exhibition to witness and behold God’s miraculous work in China.
Written by Min Lee Chiong
Edited by Pamela Choo
