USA (MNN) — "I've been blacklisted from China. I'm not allowed to go back into China," says the founder and president of Vision Beyond Borders Patrick Klein.
During the Summer Olympics, Klein and three others were trying to take 300 Bibles into China. They were detained at the airport and told it was against the law to bring so many Bibles into the country. After negotiations the team left the airport. Upon leaving the country, the Bibles were returned.
Klein says, "It just amazes me that I've been blacklisted just because I brought Bibles into the country. For a country that says they have freedom of religion, that is not freedom of religion."
Vision Beyond Borders isn't stopping their outreach to China. Klein says the need is still great, despite reports Bibles are being printed in great numbers. Klein says the reports are only half true. "Everybody's going to China to print Bibles because it's so much cheaper — labor costs and production costs. So people are printing a lot of Bibles inside China. And China is giving the impression to the world that they're printing tons and tons of Bibles, but they're not for mainland China."
Klein says, "From our sources, everything we're hearing, they cannot get Bibles. Last I saw, there's a 20-year wait. In the cities, there's a great need, but there's an even great need in the villages, and people are not able to get them in the villages at all. Some are available in the cities, but not in the quantity that they need."
While Vision Beyond Borders just sent a team into China to take more Bibles. However, Klein says, "I'm praying now, 'Lord, where do I go next?' It's been on my heart to get more involved in the Islamic world and start providing more Bibles to Muslim countries to reach people there."
While he's disappointed that he's been blacklisted from China, Klein says, "I'm hoping through this that more of the church will get involved. If all of us are reaching out to help China to pray for China, [and] if we can go and help carry Bibles, it will help meet our brothers and sisters needs in a tremendous way."
For more information about helping Vision Beyond Border get Bibles into China, click here.
