The Amity Foundation’s Chinese name has two characters that serve as the basis of the name: 爱 and 德.  The first character means “love” and is in reference to the verse in 1 Corinthians 13:13.  The second character helps form the words for “morality” and “ethics.”  Serving as a bridge for the Christian Church and society, the Amity Foundation works diligently with Christian churches to launch social service programs, strengthening the ability of workers in church-based social service programs, and improving the efficiency of social service programs in order to provide a new means of participation in social works for Chinese Christian churches.

The Amity Foundation’s Christian and social service programs are underway in most provinces around China.  The main projects are located in Henan, Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Jiangsu, and Sichuan.  Current programs include church-run hospitals and clinics, church-run elder care facilities, HIV/AIDS prevention and control, free gynecological care, religious dialogue, and rural development projects.

Christians energetically serve with the Amity Foundation to contribute to causes improving China’s education, health and sanitation, public welfare, and rural development.  At the same time, this provides opportunities for the general population in various regions to better understand the outstanding contributions of Chinese Christians.

The Distribution of Christian Social Services

Example projects

In the countryside surrounding Nanjing, about 3,000 villagers have received free medical services.

HIV/AIDS Home Care Program

HIV/AIDS patients who lack proper care see their condition quickly deteriorate. Many HIV/AIDS patients who were infected with the disease when selling their blood have already deceased, but there are still many patients suffering from the disease. In situations where health organizations are lacking services, how to provide more complete home care and extend lives has become as issue receiving widespread attention.

In early 2008, we started an HIV/AIDS home care treatment program in 34 villages ravaged by HIV/AIDS in Zhoukou City in Henan Province. This program aims to increase the quality of home care as well as improve the home living environments of HIV/AIDS patients and their psychological health. By forming small household groups focused on mutual aid, we are increasing communication between households and opportunities for assistance. At the same time, by having health professionals participate in the program, we are strengthening the social health care network. All of this serves to provide a sound foundation for enhancing HIV/AIDS prevention.

Inter-religious dialogue

The Amity Foundation is continuously devoted to inter-religious dialogue and exchange, promoting religious groups to make contributions towards building a harmonious society. Inter-religious dialogue relies on programs to strengthen cooperation between various religions, integrate various resource strengths, and develop social services.

Presently, the Amity Foundation is bringing together Protestants, Catholics, Buddhists, Taoists, and Muslims to build sound, cooperative relationships. Starting in 2006, our work in Shangqiu District in Henan Province promoted cooperation between Christians and Muslims to develop HIV/AIDS prevention and education training programs, expanded HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns, and achieved great societal results. In 2007 in Zhoukou District, we brought together the leaders of the five main religions and carried out a dialogue to enhance cooperation and develop a program for HIV/AIDS information dissemination. The leaders and followers of the five major religions were extremely supportive of this program. With the availability of widespread human resources, we were able to quickly disseminate information on HIV/AIDS prevention.

AIDS prevention awareness disseminating and training program

The Amity Foundation starting working through the Christian Church in 1996 to launch programs for HIV/AIDS awareness and training. This training is currently carried out in Yunnan, Guangdong, Henan, Shanxi, Hunan, Sichuan, and Inner Mongolia. There are currently 40,000 people directly receiving benefits from this program.

The Amity Foundation is particularly interested in two aspects of working with the Christian Church to promote the development of HIV/AIDS awareness and training. The first is providing HIV/AIDS awareness and training for the leaders of the Christian Church. The second is carrying out HIV/AIDS information training for the laity. Amity initially trains a group of teachers to serve as the core of HIV/AIDS awareness programs. After that, Amity works through those teachers to reach out to leaders of the Church in various regions to provide information training. Those serving as the core of the HIV/AIDS awareness program who received training are responsible for disseminating information to laity within the Church. The laity then serves as the main force for disseminating information into the society at large. By raising awareness about HIV/AIDS to their family members and neighbors, we can reach our goal of quickly disseminating information.

A church-run hospital in Lingqu County

Church-run Hospitals and Clinics

Church Clinics are a traditional social service activity within the church. Services are generally much cheaper and the physicians are also Christians. They primarily provide service for the poor. Currently, the Amity Foundation has already financially assisted church clinics in Henan, Hebei, Shandong, and Sichuan by providing additional medical equipment and training for health workers. Church clinics can develop quickly with Amity’s assistance and the level of medical care has clearly improved.

Gynecological Disease Screening

Women who stay behind in the countryside are among the most disadvantaged in today’s society. Because of education and cultural influences, the incidence of gynecological diseases on average reaches up to 60%. Gynecological diseases severely endanger the health and safety of rural women. Such diseases are also a major reason why peasants become impoverished or return to poverty.

The Amity Foundation pays special attention to women left behind in the countryside. We make full use of the resources from our church-based hospitals and clinics, providing free examinations and treatment for numerous women in the vast, impoverished countryside. This focuses on improving their health and knowledge of health and sanitation, and restoring their self-confidence. Amity is presently involved launching gynecological health centers with the assistance of church-based clinics in Songshu Village in Dancheng County, Henan Province and Hanting District in Weifang City, Shandong Province. The program in Dancheng County as of the end of 2007 has performed examinations for 3081 people and treated 1672 people for various illnesses. The program in Hanting District is just starting and is expected to start offering services in May of this year.

Church-run Elder Care Facility Program

Assisting the elderly and providing a warm home during their later years is currently a focus of many social works projects within Christian churches. Because churches have economic constraints, church-run elder care facilities and management are still lacking. The Amity Foundation is raising money and gathering resources from various sources to help build better elder care facilities. At the same time, Amity is organizing classes for elder care training for the nursing staff.

The Amity Foundation has been supporting the construction of elder care facilities in Weifang City and Anqiu and acquiring more equipment for the facilities. At the same time, nursing staff in church-run elder care facilities in Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, Hebei, Gansu, Anhui, Sichuan, Chongqing, and Jiangsu are participating in the Amity Foundation’s nursing training classes. The level of nursing care has had a noticeable improvement.