The Gideons International and The People`s Republic of

The Gideons
International
and The
People's
Republic of
CHINA
by Arnie Burk
We simply could not get inside the meeting hall. They had heard of
these visitors who were coming to give away Bibles, and the building
was overflowing with people desiring a copy of God’s Word. So there
we stood, waiting at the gate with 1,000 Bibles. As they passed by,
each person humbly bowed their head, reaching joyfully for their
own personal copy. As the last person passed, we noticed Li Xiu, a
severely crippled woman crawling along the concrete. What an honor
to be the one who placed a copy of God’s Word into the hands of one
so needy. She rejoiced over the gift, saying she had prayed for many
years for her own copy of God’s Word – today was her day.
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Shortly after, another needy person arrived, begging
for a copy, but the box was empty. And then the most
amazing thing happened. From her place on the floor,
Li Xiu offered the copy she had just received to the
begging person. I was stunned and speechless. Then
God reminded me of an extra copy in the truck. I went
to the truck and retrieved that special copy just for
Li Xiu. Through the selflessness of Li Xiu that day, I
saw the faithfulness of God. And such is this special
opportunity that God is providing to The Gideons
International, for He is faithful.
Welcome to The People’s Republic of China. This
country is literally a vast sea of souls waiting for God’s
Word to be made known to them, and their eyes are
looking in God’s direction. The time of harvest is not
near – it is here; and God is faithful.
When we consider the Great Commission
given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ, “Go
into all the world and proclaim the gospel
to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15), there
is a huge challenge presented before us.
For many years, prayers seemed to have
gone unanswered for a door to be opened
to The People’s Republic of China. With over
1.35 billion people, The People’s Republic of
China is the world’s most populous country.
However, it seems as though God is now
answering our prayers.
-International President
Dr. William E.G. Thomas
Christianity in Mainland China
As early as 600 AD, the Christian Gospel entered
China from Persia. However, because Christianity did
not become firmly rooted in the soil of Chinese society
and culture, it was not widespread, almost vanishing
at times. In the 19th century, protestant Christianity
came to China from Western missionaries. As a result,
Christianity was generally considered by Chinese
people to be a foreign religion.
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In 1949, there were approximately 700,000 protestant
Christians in China. As a result of the Cultural
Revolution, from 1966 to 1976, churches were
closed. However, in 1979 they began to re-open, and
in 1980 the China Christian Council (CCC) was
established. Within the CCC, institutional protestant
denominations do not exist, and believers worship
together, treating differences in theological or liturgical
background with mutual respect.
Today, more than 55,000 churches and meeting places
have been opened, 70 percent of which have been
recently built. Of the more than 16 million protestant
Christians, the majority live in rural areas. Lay training,
theological education, and Bible distribution are among
the top priorities of the CCC. There are currently 18
theological seminaries, and other lay training centers
throughout China, and in the period from 1980 to
2004, 36 million Bibles were printed in China.
Among the legal religions—Christianity, Islam,
Buddhism, and Taoism—Christianity is the fastest
growing religion in China. The growth has been
particularly impacted by the loosening of restrictions
on religion, although organized religious practices are
still often tightly controlled by government authorities.
The Chinese government is very strict in not allowing
sects or cults to be planted. Reports of sporadic
persecution against Christians accused of forming a
cult have caused concern among outside observers.
China and The Gideons
International
In the late 1990s, the leadership of The Gideons
International began investigating the opportunity to
bring the Gideon ministry to mainland China. Several
visits by various leaders were carried out in an effort to
build relationships and establish trust.
In recent years, the International Cabinet approved the
formation of tgiGlobal, operating as a strictly defined,
separate outreach of The Gideons International. As
such, tgiGlobal was given the specific responsibility to
oversee and manage the Scripture distribution work in
China with the objective of “winning others to the Lord
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Jesus Christ through the placement and distribution of
God’s Holy Word.”
Because formal organization using the “traditional”
Gideon model was not possible, the International
Cabinet determined to conduct projects to provide
Bibles through registered churches and participating
with them in distribution as an initial means to
accomplish our primary goal. The focus of those
projects was two-fold:
(1) Bible distribution with the presentation of the
Gospel through registered churches
(2) Presentation of Scriptures by Christian business
owners at their places of business
Since we do not have camps and members there yet,
the work is carried out by the tgiGlobal team. As an
example, three projects were carried out by tgiGlobal
in 2011, totaling just over 80,000 Scriptures placed in
China, with some 250 to 300 known decisions for Christ
during those projects. The Gideons International has
now been given a wonderful opportunity to work
within these current limits as we distribute the Word
and see people come to Christ.
Our gracious and sovereign God is answering prayers
as we continue to pray on the first day of each month
for China, and that this new door will continue to be
opened to us. This exciting news can now be shared
with churches in the rest of the world so the thirst for
the Word of God in China will not go unquenched.
This is one of the most exciting and yet challenging
developments in the Gideon ministry in recent years.
The thirst for the Bible in China is huge, and our
prayer is that we, the membership of The Gideons
International, will grasp the significance of this
opportunity. However, we must meet this need without
in any way diminishing Scripture distributions in the
rest of the world. We must pray God will bestow upon
us the hearts, the hands, and the feet to go out, raise
the funds, and provide the manpower to continue
sending His Word into a lost world – and now, by His
grace, into mainland China as well. Therefore, we must
share with God’s people in the local church this special
and specific opportunity that God has provided us.
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The Gideon Experience
The distribution program within China is very different
from the standard Gideon model. As we go in small
teams of three accompanied by Christian leaders in the
specific provinces, churches use our visits as a way to
let the whole town know that something is happening.
The buildings are usually full of people with absolutely
no room to even stand. Many times they have a band
playing and march through the streets to the church.
The thrill of going to church after church and seeing
the people so excited is a very humbling experience.
We are able to present a simple Gospel message and
share a Gideon testimony about the power of the
Word of God. We encourage each one to give their
Bible away to a family member, friend, or anyone who
does not know Christ.
Many times people are overcome with emotion just to
be holding their very own Bible. The hunger for God’s
Word in China is something you have to see in order
to believe. A recent survey of churches in one of our
targeted provinces indicates worship attendance in
those churches increased anywhere from 90 - 300%
in the 15-month period following such distributions.
God is indeed blessing!
Going Forward
On the International Daily Prayer Calendar, there are
numerous countries that are restricted from traditional
Gideon activities. In February 2013 the International
Cabinet recognized the need to accommodate
alternative methods in establishing the ministry of The
Gideons International in these countries and created a
mechanism whereby we can operate. Beginning July
2014, tgiGlobal will be dissolved and our activities in
China will be conducted by a subcommittee within
the IOC under the full reporting responsibilities of the
International Cabinet.
The church in China is exploding and the government
is allowing people to worship. In August 2013, the
tgiGlobal team was extremely blessed to see over
900 people come to Christ as we went to share the
Gospel and distribute Scriptures in specific church
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services. God is doing great things among the Chinese
people, and now is the time to take advantage of the
opportunities God is providing in China!
Here’s what you can do:
1.Pray.
2.Give.
3. Add to your church presentation the following information:
“The Gideons International is legally distributing Scriptures in The People’s Republic of China, and to date has
distributed more than 2.8 million
copies in 14 different provinces.
These Scriptures are distributed by
international Gideon teams and also
made available for distribution
through Christian-owned businesses.
We praise God for the open doors
across Asia where one out of every
three people live. For example, last
year over a million Scriptures per
month were placed in the country of
India, and we thank you for helping
make this possible.”
Editor’s Note: Arnie Burk is Chairman of the tgiGlobal
Board of Directors. He is a former International Trustee
and International Chaplain. Serving with Brother Burk
are former International President Larry Aspegren;
former International President Perrin Prescott; former
International Chaplain Randy Smith; Trustee for Norway,
Per Inge Langeland; Trustee for the Republic of China,
River Liu; and Executive Director Craig Warner.
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