The Bible Ministry Exhibition of the Church of China
opened in Los Angeles on Thursday with an aim to demonstrate
how Christianity developed in China and how the Church contributed
to the society.
The exhibition, sponsored by China Christian Council (CCC) and
National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the
Protestant Churches in China (TSPM), bore witness to how Chinese
Christians enjoy religious freedom, how Chinese Christians love
God's Word and how the body of Christ has been built up under the
consistent guidance of the Bible, the organizers said in a press
release.
Hundreds of American Christians and Christian leaders attended
the opening ceremony at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove,
LosAngeles. The exhibition, under the theme of "A Lamp to My Feet,
a Light to My Path," will continue until May 4 and then move to
Atlanta and later to New York.
"Since China is increasingly in the news because of its rapid
economic growth and its many cultural exchanges with the United
States, few Americans, however, are aware of the history and growth
of the church in China, and its significant efforts to share God's
Word by publishing and distributing Bibles in China," said the
press release.
The exhibition was also "intended to bring new understanding
between the Americans and Chinese, and to create greater dialogue
between Christians in China and the United States, " said the
release.
The exhibits would help bring the two peoples closer, said David
F Thorne, who came from Australia to attend the ceremony.
The exhibition "will help dispel a lot of misunderstanding
thatexists in the minds of people outside China and help people
understand what has taken place within the church in China over the
last 20 years," said Thorne, who represented the United Bible
Societies in Australia.
"There is good evidence in the exhibition itself to
demonstratethat the church is growing and that the church is given
a lot of freedom in China," he said.
"People should recognize that there is considerable freedom
forworship and for growing up the church in China," Thorne
added.
Statistics show that there are about 16 million Protestant
Christians in China, with 55,000 churches and meeting points, and
more than 36,000 pastoral personnel. There are also more than
100,000 church workers helping to fulfill the ministries.
Besides the sponsor of CCC/TSPM, local host committees in Los
Angeles were helping to organize and coordinate the exhibition.
Chinese Protestant Christians founded the TSPM in 1954 in
orderto break away from the old image of "foreign religion" to
realize the principles of self-governance, self-support and
self-propagation of the gospel.
The CCC was established in 1980 to unite and provide services
for churches in China by encouraging theological education
throughseminaries and Bible schools and publications.
(Xinhua News Agency April 28, 2006)
