The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

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3-2-1, Go! The group of Chinese Christians rushed with excite- ment towards what appeared to be a regular suitcase sitting on
the floor in the middle of the room, but
this was no ordinary suitcase. In a con-
trolled chaos, each person lunged toward
the bag to grab one of nearly fifty Bibles
that were in it. The looks on their faces
reminded me of the look that children
get when they turn the corner on Christ-
mas morning to find the presents that
await them. Some began clutching their
Bible as though they had just seen a lost
loved one, while others cried out blasts
of squeals and laughter. Slowly the laugh-
ter and excitement settled into a delicate
moment of sobbing over the reality that
they were actually holding a Bible in their
hands. As some of the oldest individuals
who had anticipated this moment for
over six decades dared to crack their Bi-
bles open, a young twenty-something at-
tempted to gather herself enough to utter
the following precious words, “This came
to us through the blood and sweat of our
brothers and sisters. This is the book we
really need at the present time. We really
need this book.”
A gamut of emotions poured over me
as I watched the events in this recent
video unfold. I couldn’t restrain my own
tears from flowing, as I felt like I was
rejoicing with them. Unspeakable joy
overtook me as I pondered all that had
to have taken place in order for that mo-
ment to happen. How many missionar-
ies were involved with smuggling those
Bibles into that little room? How much
blood had been spilled, and how many
people were imprisoned for commit-
ting such a crime? While it is not illegal
to own a Bible in China, the communist
government strictly enforces serious
restrictions on the production and dis-
tribution of Bibles in order to maintain
control over Christian activities. The
amount of people who would like to own
a Bible far outweighs the available stock,
which is why many have undertaken the
task of smuggling Bibles into the country.