The Amity Foundation (simplified Chinese: 爱德基金会; traditional Chinese: 愛德基金會; pinyin: Àidé Jījīn Huì) is an independent Chinese voluntary organization.[1] As of 2010[update] it is the largest charity in China.[2] It was created in 1985 on the initiative of Christians in China,[3] with the main objective of helping poor areas of the country to develop.[4] Amity's headquarters are in Nanjing. The organization is also known for its Amity Printing Company (APC, also sometimes called Amity Printing Press),[5] the largest Bible producer in China.
Contents |
One of the driving forces behind the Amity Foundation has been the desire of Chinese Christians, who like other religious groups had experienced persecution especially during the Cultural Revolution, to contribute to the rebuilding and development of society. From the start, it has worked to spread education, social services, health, and rural development from China's coastal provinces in the east to the minority areas of the west. Amity sees itself not as a faith-based but a faith-initiated organization and works with Christians, members of other religious communities and atheists alike. Its president is Bishop K. H. Ting. Partner organisation have praised the work and activity of the charity.[6][7][8] Recently the chartitable organisation has been highlighted in both domestic and international media for its action and prompt relief work in China in response to natural disasters.[9]
The Amity Printing Company (APC, Chinese: 爱德印刷有限公司) in Nanjing is the largest producer of Bibles in China, and one of the largest in the world. Partly in cooperation with the United Bible Societies, since 1987 it has published Bibles in Mandarin and in several ethnic minority languages, as well as in many other languages for export.
The APC has so far published more than 50 million Bibles. Most of the Bibles printed are the Chinese Union Version (Chinese: 和合本, 1919), the Chinese Bible translation used by the Protestant churches, but recently Pastoral Bible used by the Catholic churches has also been printed here. The Chinese Bibles are distributed not by the state-run bookstore chains (such as Xinhua Bookstore), but through the network of officially registered Protestant churches.