The Amity Foundation

Anniversary dinner in Hong Kong: 25 years of Amity

The Amity Foundation Hong Kong held a dinner to celebrate the 25th anniversary of he founding of the organisation at the Salisbury YMCA in Hong Kong on 18 June. More than 260 friends from various organizations and Christian denominations in Hong Kong took part. It was a beautiful night as we shared our history, growth and vision with those who have been walking with Amity.

Click this link to watch a gallery of photos taken during the dinner. Four video clips were shown at the dinner and are now available online (The Amity Foundation; relief and rehabilitation work; rural clinics; water projects).

Jiangsu church volunteers discover social work

The church in China has long drawn on the assistance of lay people to make up for the lack of pastors and other professional church personnel. Rural churches, above all, depend heavily on volunteers, who help with church ministry in remote villages where they work as lay preachers at so-called local preaching points.

Church volunteers are no less active in the cities where volunteering church-goers have been busy spreading the gospel among colleagues and neighbors since the 1980s. A great part of church growth over the last 30 years owes its success to these church volunteer activities.

Until recently, both urban and rural church volunteers mainly focused on the spiritual growth of the believers and on sharing the gospel with non-believers. Little attention was given to social needs inside the congregations and even less so to social ills beyond the church walls.

In recent years, however, volunteers in the church have been expanding their ambitions. Besides helping people grow spiritually, volunteers are set to become more committed to assisting people with dire material needs or with disabilities. There is now a much greater consensus among church-goers in China that being a Christian and living your faith can also mean doing social work.

(more…)

Social work training for church volunteers

A week ago, a volunteer training conference of the Jiangsu Christian Charity Fund was held at the Amity Foundation office. 35 church workers from 22 congregations in Jiangsu Province took part in it. The volunteer training conference put particular emphasis on raising awareness for opportunities and the need for social services done by church volunteers. Topics discussed included Biblical and theological foundations of volunteer work as well as basic methods and concepts of social work.

“Harmonious Church” skills training class

A capacity building seminar aiming more fully to develop the management skills of church workers was held on 2 and 3 November. Titled “Harmonious Church”, it was hosted by the American Plowshares Institute and the Jiangsu Christian Charity Fund. Forty church workers from different parts of Jiangsu Province took part.

(more…)

The Jiangsu Christian Charity Fund

“The son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28

The Jiangsu Christian Charity Fund was established as a joint initiative of the Amity Foundation and the Jiangsu Christian Council in March 2009 with the aim of developing social services offered by the Christian community in Jiangsu Province.

(more…)

New church building dedicated in Mianzhu, Sichuan

A new temporary church building was dedicated as part of a special service on Sunday, 18 January.

Mianzhu was one of the cities worst hit in the 512 Earthquake. Over 90% of the houses collapsed or damaged so badly that they became unsafe for occupation. The Mianzhu Church, built in 1923, was among the devastated buildings classified as “D-” on a scale of A to D. Simply put, it could no longer be used but for historical reasons it will be retained as a memorial for the earthquake.

(more…)

Mianzhu Church since the earthquake

When the Sichuan earthquake on May 12 shook the old Protestant church of Mianzhu, with parts of the roof and the facade falling off, Pastor Gu probably did not imagine that the congregation would grow fourfold in the following seven months. But it did. Since May, the number of people attending Sunday services has grown from around 180 to up to 1000 worshipers in December 2008.

(more…)

Reflections on Amity

Theresa Carino

Dr. Theresa Carino retired as leader of Amity’s Hong Kong Office this autumn. Anthony Tong Kai Hong took over as Executive Director in November. Theresa will be missed by Amity staff both in Nanjing and in Hong Kong, as well as by Amity’s many partners and friends in China and abroad. They are happy, though, that she has agreed to go on working as a consultant for Amity for at least another year. Below are her reflections on the organisation:

(more…)

This, too, is Christianity

Qiu Zhonghui’s speech at the 8th National Conference of the TSPM/CCC, January, 2008

My dear ministers and co-workers in the Lord,

In Christ, I bring my regards and wish for you all a peaceful New Year. God, by His grace, is leading the Chinese church into a new year. Many thanks to the national TSPM for arranging this opportunity for me to share with you all a few experiences and feelings about some of Amity Foundation’s endeavors in social service.

(more…)

Made-in-China Bibles for the 2008 Olympics

Speaking at the celebration of the printing of the 50 millionth bible by the Amity Printing Company (APC), Mr. Ye Xiaowen, Director of State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) announced that Bibles printed at APC will be made available at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. He underscored what Rev. Cao Shengjie, President of China Christian Council (CCC), said in her speech earlier, that the Olympics is a great opportunity for sharing between Chinese Christians and Christians around the world. The TSPM/CCC is preparing to provide free Bibles and church services during the games to participants.

(more…)