Archbishop of Canterbury visits Amity
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams visited Global Ministries partner the Amity Foundation in Nanjing on October 11th, 2006 as part of his first official tour of China. The visit is co-hosted by the State Administration for Religious Affairs and the China Christian Council/Three-Self Patriotic Movement.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams visited Global Ministries partner the Amity Foundation in Nanjing on October 11th, 2006 as part of his first official tour of China. The visit is co-hosted by the State Administration for Religious Affairs and the China Christian Council/Three-Self Patriotic Movement.
The Archbishop’s key concerns are to engage with the church in China and its changing context, including challenges posed by economic development, environmental issues and the discussion on the impact of Christianity on China’s changing society. Dr. Williams has expressed great interest in the work of the Amity Foundation, the largest faith-based NGO in China today. In the past 20 years, the Anglican Church has given much support to the development work of the Amity Foundation and the Amity Printing Press. Visiting Amity constitutes one of the most important parts of the Archbishop’s stay in Nanjing.
At the Amity Printing Press, Wednesday afternoon, Dr. Williams and his entourage were welcomed by the Amity Foundation General Secretary and Amity Printing Press Chairman, Qiu Zhonghui, the Amity Printing Press Vice-Chairman, Zhu Dan, and the Amity Printing Press Executive Deputy General Manager, Li Chunnong.
Peter Dean, assistant to the General Manager, explained the development and future plans of the Amity Printing Press. It was established in 1986 as a joint venture by the Amity Foundation and the United Bible Societies with the purpose of printing Bibles and other religious literature for the Chinese Protestant Church. Its publications include Bibles in 8 minority languages, such as Miao, Lisu, Korean and in Braille. By the end of 2006, at least 52 million copies of Bibles will have been printed. With the construction of its new factory, which will cover an area of 10 hectares, production is expected to rise to 12 million copies of the Bible every year. The Archbishop expressed his amazement at the large number of Bibles that have already been printed by Amity.
Qiu Zhonghui presented Dr. Williams with an unusual, large copy of the Bible as a souvenir. Later that afternoon, Dr. Williams visited the headquarters of the Amity Foundation, where he was welcomed in a unique drum ceremony. Associate General Secretary Zhang Liwei gave an outline of the history of the Amity Foundation, the development of its projects, plans for involving the church even more in social work and the challenges facing Amity.
The Archbishop expressed especially strong interest in Amity’s micro-finance projects and HIV/AIDS prevention work. During his stay at the city of Xi An he is scheduled to visit an Amity-supported project – the Dong Zhou Children’s Village in Shaanxi Province, which is a home for children of prisoners. He is also going to meet the Reverend Wang Jun, who manages Amity supported church-run projects such as the micro-finance and goat-raising project in Yongshou County.
The Amity Foundation is an independent Chinese voluntary organisation. It was created in 1985 on the initiative of Chinese Christians to promote education, social services, health, and rural development from China’s coastal provinces in the east to the less well developed areas of the west.
Abiding by the principle of mutual respect in faith, Amity builds friendship with people at home and abroad. Through the promotion of holistic development and public welfare, Amity serves society, benefits the people, and strives to promote world peace.
In this way, Amity contributes to China’s social development and openness to the outside world. It makes Christian involvement and participation in meeting the needs of society more widely known to the Chinese people and serves as a channel for people-to-people contact and the ecumenical sharing of resources.
The Archbishop began his first official tour of China by joining in a thanksgiving worship with 1,000 Christians at Mu En Church in Shanghai on October 8th. The Archbishop was received in Shanghai by the national leadership of the China Christian Council and the Three Self Patriotic Movement.
The Amity Foundation Protestant Churches in China Press Release from Archbishop’s Official Website Archbishop’s Sermon at Mu En Church Archbishop’s Speech in Nanjing