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Chao-xing saw how transformational the Bible could be—and realized it may have been part of a long legacy of faith
When Chao-xing (not her real name) was a young girl in the early 1980s, her mother brought her to a house church. She lived in a province in eastern China, and the country was just beginning to allow open expressions of faith in Jesus after the long Cultural Revolution.
"I was still in my school age at that time, but I was introduced to Jesus and accepted Him as my Savior at an early age," shares Chao-xing, now in her 50s.
"If one household had a few pages and another had a few more, we pieced them together like puzzles until we were able to complete a chapter or a book. This was how we read our Bible."
Chao-xing*, Chinese believer
During the worship service, she was given an assignment: write songs on a paper for everyone. "I was one of the few people who knew how to write," she remembers. "One of my tasks at church was to handwrite and copy every line from the hymn books, so the rest of the brothers and sisters could refer to and sing them."
She remembers how the church was earnestly praying to have Bibles for its members. In those years, it was hard to find a copy of God's Word in her part of China. Chao-xing's area is one of the most populated regions in China, and the demand for biblical resources was higher than in other regions. It was so scarce that they had to divide the portions of the Bible among church members. The parts were rotated among them to give each one access to the parts.
"I still remember in our home we only got the Book of Acts," she says, eyes sparkling with the memory. "Actually, no, we only got a few pages of it. It was not even the complete book. We shared whatever chapters we had with the rest of the community. If one household had a few pages and another had a few more, we pieced them together like puzzles until we were able to complete a chapter or a book. This was how we read our Bible."
The pages would wear out over time, so people had to make handwritten copies to preserve their part of the scriptures. They had one Bible for the whole congregation, and that's how they made it last.
One day, to her surprise, she saw her mother with a new, shiny copy of the Bible. She did not know where her mother got it, but Chao-xing remembers her mother was very happy.
"My mother was illiterate when she was younger, but this did not stop her from knowing God more," Chao-xing says. "She taught herself how to read. Every day, she read the Bible pages she had. She studied God's Word bit by bit. Every day, she learned more words, and her desire to read the entire Bible grew."
Chao-xing's mother prayed to God that she would have a copy of the entire Bible.
"God is a God who answers prayers!" Chao-xing explains. "He answered my mother's prayer! She got the Bible from a friend, but I don't know where her friend got it from."
Sometime in March 2023, Chao-xing joined a training for Open Doors' local partners. In the training, she learned about Open Doors' history and Project Pearl—the delivery of 1 million Bibles in one night in June 1981. Chao-xing realized there is a real possibility that her mother's precious Bible is one of the millions delivered.
"As I learned more about the project, the more familiar it sounded to me," she says. "Looking at the timeline, the Bible that suddenly appeared in our home—given to my mother for free—could very likely have come from Project Pearl! The chances are very high that my mother's answered prayer—that precious Bible— was from Project Pearl. And we are undoubtedly grateful for it, as it was incredibly hard and nearly impossible to obtain a complete Bible at that time. Today, we can read it on mobile apps, but back then, only the printed version was available."
In 2018, China banned the online sale of Bibles as part of a broader crackdown on religious freedom in the country. While owning a Bible remains legal, it can only be legally obtained in government-sanctioned churches. Despite these restrictions, Christians in the country continue to seek ways to access God's Word.
And whether the Bible received by Chao-Xing's mother was one of the million copies delivered through Project Pearl, its impact is undeniable. God's Word continues to transform lives across China, guiding people to the truth and anchoring their hope in the living God.
*Pseudonym used for security reasons.
