(AgapePress) - A ministry that serves the persecuted Church worldwide is launching a massive Bible distribution and training project for Christians in China.Open Doors USA has launched the Lighthouse Project, the goal of which is to provide 3.4 million Bibles, study Bibles, commentaries, hymnals, and other resources to Christians in unregistered Chinese house churches. Open Doors' Jerry Dykstra says there is a huge need both for religious teaching and instructional materials to equip a growing body of believers. "Training is so important in countries like China, where the growth of housechurches is just tremendous," Dykstra says. "But theyneed those resources, and they need the training. This is what OpenDoors will do, and it will have a potential of impacting thousands ofChristians."The ministry spokesman notes that already, it is known that about 15,000to 20,000 Christians are coming to Christ every day in China, eventhough as recently as last month the Communist government thereinstituted new laws to regulate religious expression. Inthe official state church of China, the so-called "Three-SelfChurch," the Communist government closely monitors andrestricts religious activities, even limiting what pastors can preachabout and setting strict guidelines for them to follow. For example,Christian pastors must avoid preaching on certain Biblical topics;may not engage in ministry freely off Church grounds, and are notallowed to teach young people under age 18 about Christ. Meanwhile, the government also limits the printing and distribution of Bibles,which can only be obtained through two narrow avenues – theThree-Self Churches and government-sponsored bookstores insome of the larger cities. Obviously, these limitations make it nearly impossible for the house church Christians to meet their need for Bibles and other Christian literature.Dykstra says the materials being provided through the Lighthouse Project will be a blessing to many young Christians in China. He notes, "There are an estimated 500 million youths under 18 years old in China. Idon't know if we can really grasp that fact, but that is just a tremendous, tremendous opportunity [for ministry] -- and they are really the future of the Church in China."Many house churches have no tools to reach out to these children and youth, Dystra points out. However, he says, "Open Doors plansto send 125,000 children's Bibles and one million pieces of Sunday school curricula." The international ministry has already provided children in China with more than 1.2 million Bibles over thepast decade.Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
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