First Opportunity 21 ‘Gospel wagon’ takes Scriptures to rural churches

Unloading Scriptures from the ‘Gospel wagon’ in a village in Jiangsu ProvincePR China — Christians in remote and impoverished northern districts of Jiangsu Province were delighted when the first Bible distribution van to be purchased by the China Christian Council (CCC) with funds from Opportunity 21 (O-21) arrived in their villages with 3,000 Bibles and hymnals.

Dubbed the ‘Gospel wagon’, by the villagers, the new van was greeted with applause and thanksgiving everywhere it stopped during its 700-km maiden distribution journey in February.

First fruit

The van is the first fruit of a US$2 million O-21 project to expand China’s Bible distribution network, which is currently limited to 70 distribution centres in urban areas. Rural churches often struggle to obtain Scriptures through the current network.

Church pastors in northern Jiangsu, for instance, which has a particularly poor transport infrastructure, have to travel for two or three days to Nanjing in order to buy Scriptures for their congregations. The CCC in Jiangsu is concerned about the effects that this Scripture shortage is having on churches in this area, which has seen a proliferation of cult teachings.

It is hoped that the new van, which has been permanently assigned to serve this province, will help alleviate these problems by making Scriptures more readily available. In addition, pastors, many of whom are subsistence farmers who volunteer as church leaders, will be able to spend more time with their congregations. (WR 361/19 - 7/8.01) [PHOTOS]