“Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.” (Deuteronomy 11:18)

On December 8, 2024, the Bible Day book club activities, hosted by CCC&TSPM, took place at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Shanghai. Following the theme of Chinanization of Christianity, the Bible Day themes over the past five years included hand-copying, reading, singing, drawing and living out the Bible. This year, the theme was “Reciting the Bible”. Under the warm winter sun and in front of the red brick cathedral, where the ginkgo trees had turned golden yellow, participants engaged in various activities, such as hand-copying the Scriptures, bookmark-making, quiz game and book club.

Rev. Shan Weixiang, Residential Vice Chairperson of National TSPM, gave a speech at the book club. Rev. Shan recalled the achievements of Chinese churches in Bible ministry since the reform and opening up. God’s grace and blessings are evident in the work of the Nanjing Amity Printing Company, which printed bibles not only for China but also for overseas countries, as well as in the manifold styles and editions of Bibles published by CCC&TSPM.

The annual Bible Day event, organized by CCC&TSPM, aimed to encourage believers to read and love the Bible, and to absorb and live out the Word. The event also intended to arouse their attention to the needs for Bibles in remote areas and to receive support for CCC&TSPM’s Bible ministry.

Rev. Shan and special guests unveiled the new book launch of The Bilingual Bible in Mandarin Chinese and Zaiwa Language of Jingpo Ethnicity, The Chinese Pinyin Bible, and The 2024 Christmas Edition Bible with Guided Reading.

Ms. Chen Hongli from the Media Department of CCC&TSPM briefed on the preparation and production processes of these Bibles. The Bilingual Bible in Mandarin Chinese and Zaiwa Language of Jingpo Ethnicity took 11 years to complete, and 200 copies have already been sent to the Zion Church in Yingjiang County, Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. The coming out of The Chinese Pinyin Bible took five years, which featured innovative designs -- this version of Bible utilized ultra-thin papers, with each piece of paper weighing only 19 grams. And The 2024 Christmas Edition Bible was full of festive ambiance in its design.

At the book club, Rev. Chen Zhihua, Vice President and General Secretary of Zhejiang CC, and senior pastor of the Saint Church in Ningbo, gave a lecture titled “Do You Understand What You Are Reading? A Hundred Questions about the Bible.” Rev. Chen elaborated on the causes of Bible challenges, including textual context, cultural background, word meanings, transcription, modern science, practical application. The audience asked questions about difficulties they encountered when reading the Scriptures, and Rev. Chen responded thoroughly.

Following the lecture, there was a quiz game and a Scripture recitation session. One devoted sister recited an entire passage of Scripture. One enthusiastic brother shared his handwritten copy of the entire Bible, which was passed around by the audience. The event concluded in a fervent and warm atmosphere with a prayer by Rev. Lin Yujie from the East China Theological Seminary.

Translator & editor: Bei Feng