| In Back-rooms of Their Homes |
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| During very difficult times in China, faithful members continued to copy and print our books. Click here to view a short video highlighting this. Be sure and read "Buried for Three Years." |
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Literature Evangelism Still Works in China
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Ma is a woman from an Islamic family in northwestern China. She is also a librarian. The pioneer missionary team in her area recently met Ma in a library and shared The Desire of Ages with her. No doubt Ma's job as a librarian gives her special interest in literature, so literature evangelism proved to be a perfect avenue to her heart. After asking many questions and ultimately studying the Bible with the pioneer missionaries, Ma became an Adventist and now works on a voluntary basis as a literature evangelist. She even used her literary skills to edit a book about the natural world and took the opportunity to explain how amazing the Creator God is.
When Abram LaRue introduced Seventh-Day Adventism to China at the end of the 19th century, literature evangelism was simultaneously cultivated there. Ma's story is a testament to the fact that this age-old evangelism technique still works in China.
The foundation of early Chinese literature evangelism was established by distributing booklets, brochures and an evangelistic magazine co-founded by William Miller. Before the takeover of religious management by the Chinese government in 1951, a group of literature evangelists from 7 local conferences actively worked to develop the literature ministry in China.
After the Cultural Revolution in China, restrictions on religious activity began to loosen. Since the country was basically devoid of materials of literature evangelism at that time, enthusiastic members voluntarily organized publishing works by hand copying and stencil printing new literature. During this time, the Gospel message was spread near and far as members, passionate about their Jesus, distributed Christian literature.
Today, many churches still have copies of the Bible and Ellen White’s books which were copied years ago by church members. |
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| No Longer Just One, but 70 LEs |
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Several years ago, an enthusiastic sister followed a local pastor to learn about literature evangelism, ultimately becoming an ardent gospel worker. Not only was she able to earn a living by selling books, she also convinced many members to join her in literature ministry, establishing a small outreach group. In 2013, she motivated about 10 members to participate in local literature evangelism. In order to support the work and cultivate even more of its kind, the Chinese Union held several training events overseas, inviting members from China to participate.
These members became local trainers themselves. In 2014, they set up a Literature Evangelism Department and a training center where lectures and class work are done in the morning. In the afternoon, instructors and students alike leave the classroom and sell books on street corners and along roadsides.
God is blessing this Literature Evangelism Training Center in China, tucked away in one to the largest cities in the world. When the center opened last year, there were only 6 LEs (Literature Evangelists). Now there are over 70. |
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During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), being found in possession of spiritual or religious books meant facing imprisonment.