China #4: Amity Printing Company and Jiangsu Theological Seminary
by Dale Keller, First Presbyterian Church, Wilmington, NC
The Outreach Foundation Mission group visited two important Nanjing Christian centers on October 18, 2018: The Amity Printing Company and the Jiangsu Theological Seminary.
Amity Printing Company:
God’s Spirit is hard at work at the Amity Printing Company. Our group was warmly welcomed to the company, briefed on plant operations, toured the print operation, and hosted in an employee lunch dining room.
The Amity Foundation and the United Bible Societies founded the Amity Printing Company in 1988 to meet the mission of printing Bibles and hymnals for the Chinese church. Operational within one year, the company printed one million Bibles by 2007; 100 million by 2012; and by 2018 over 178 million Bibles were printed in 100 languages and distributed to 110 countries worldwide. Certified as National Printing Demonstration Enterprise and Key Enterprise for Culture Export, Amity has received the prestigious ‘Benny’ award of the Premier Print Awards.
Far more than a printing company, Amity is driven by a deep Christian faith to serve people in China and worldwide. It provides service through its employees and company policies. Amity provides rural development, emergency response teams for emergency and disaster assistance worldwide. It also offers educational, social, and health services as well as employment opportunities for special needs individuals in Amity Bakeries. These services are focused within China.
We left Amity with a better understanding of God’s handiwork in the hearts of Amity’s people.
Jiangsu Theological Seminary:
What a wonderful afternoon for our group to make new and renew friendships with the leaders and staff of the Jiangsu Seminary as it celebrated its 20th Anniversary! We arrived as alumni were introduced to the Seminary staff. Our group has members from two churches with a special relationship with the Seminary, the First Presbyterian Church, Wilmington, NC and the University Place Presbyterian Church, University Place, WA.
After a warm welcome by Seminary President, Rev Zhang Ke Yun; First Presbyterian Mission Committee member, Julia Worth, a descendant of the first medical mission in the 1890s, presented a small gift consisting of a nativity scene made from wood in Jerusalem. Rev. Mike Moffit’s gift commentated the friendship between the Washington church and the Seminary.
Our group was hosted for a delicious meal by our Chinese Christian friends. God’s love was present among us as we prayed, dined and sang praise the Lord.