We get a different portrait painted of the church in China.

China (MNN)–You’ve heard the stories about the persecution hounding China’s underground church. But China Partner Ministries’ Erik Burklin paints a very different picture of the above-ground church in China.

In fact, they’re helping to train a new generation of church leaders. “We were able to ship 380 theological study books to three different Bible schools in China. In addition to that, we were able to ship 100 Life Application Bibles to two Bible schools. The Life Application Bible, by the way, is a very handy tool for the emerging Christian leadership.”

Burklin says the once critical shortage of Bibles is also now being addressed. “Over five million Bibles were printed in China at this Amity printing press in Nanjing. The total of all the Bibles printed there now reaching close to 40-million since 1987. Many Christians and non-Christians, for that matter, will benefit from the fact that there will be more Bibles available.”

Not only are the tools available, but training facilities too. Burklin says they attended the dedication of two new churches, both of which CPM supported.

It’s the story of a ministry come full circle. Burklin says in the days of Communism, evangelistic activity was nearly invisible. This is where his grandparents began their work in Jiangxi Province, and decades later, he was standing at the dedication of the facilites in Jiangxi, along with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.