We are deeply grieved by the departure of Elder Fu Xianwei, Chairman of the TSPM National Committee of the Protestant Churches in China and a close friend and ministry partner of the United Bible Societies. Elder Fu went home to be with the Lord in the early morning of 20 August 2018. He was 74.
Elder Fu served as the top national leader of the Protestant churches in China from 2008 till his departure and was instrumental in promoting the Bible cause in China.
We thank God for the life and ministry of Elder Fu, for his faithful devotion to the Lord, his sacrificial service to the Church, his commitment to the Word of God and to the Bible ministry of the Church in China.
Under Elder Fu's leadership, the Church in China printed and distributed more than 37 million copies of Bible in Mainland China over the past ten years, bringing the total number of Bibles distributed since the late 1980s to 80 million copies of Bible! More Bibles have been printed by the Church in China over the past decade than any previous decades in the history of the Church in China. Millions of Chinese believers have been blessed with the Word of God, souls are saved, faith nurtured and lives transformed!
Growing up, Elder Fu's love for the Lord and His Word was nurtured under the godly influence of his grandmother and his Sunday School experiences. He later left a stable teaching job and served the Church full-time in 1987.
Elder Fu was totally committed to ensuring that all Chinese Christians would have a copy of the Bible, especially those from the poorer rural areas and the ethnic minority groups who live in the mountainous regions of China. He had passionately pleaded for more Bibles to be printed and provided for the poor and the needy.
Not only was Elder Fu passionate in providing Bibles for the poor, he was also committed to ethnic Bible translation and publishing different editions of Bible to meet the growing and varied needs of Chinese believers - including Bible stories for children, Scriptures for young people, Manga Gospel and Financial Stewardship Bible.
To help equip China's pastors and lay preachers, and to encourage believers to go deeper into God's Word, Elder Fu initiated and personally oversaw the translation and adaption of the English Standard Version Study Bible notes into Chinese. His efforts culminated in the launch of the Chinese Study Bible in Dec 2017, which marked a historic milestone in the Bible ministry of the Church in China.
Without the strong friendship and personal encouragement of Elder Fu, the United Bible Societies would not have been able to serve and support the Bible ministry of the Church in China so effectively. We are immensely grateful to Elder Fu for giving us this privilege and for his acceptance of us as valuable partners of the Church in China.
We pray for the family of Elder Fu during this time of loss and grief. We also pray for the Church in China as they mourn the loss of their great leader. Please pray along with us.
"PRECIOUS IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD IS THE DEATH OF HIS SAINTS." PSALM 116:15
Originally from: UBS China Partnership
CCD reprinted with permission.
