Chinese Bible App Gets 10M Downloads

Chinese Bible App Gets 10M Downloads

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Chinese Bible app, WeDevote, achieved what many thought was impossible—getting 10 million installations in July 6.

WeDevote attracted many users from mainland China because of its user-friendly interface, understandable Bible reading plans, respect for copyright, and offline accessibility, reports World Magazine.

Under China’s tightening environment, outsiders thought there was no way we can create this app and survive, but we were able to do it. —Levi Fan, WeDevote co-founder

China only allows its government-sanctioned church, Tree-Self church, to distribute and sell Bibles. This makes it difficult for Chinese Christians to obtain a copy of Scriptures. The app is the easy way for them to read and study the Bible.

WeDevote co-founder Levi Fan celebrated the app’s achievement, a historic milestone in a country where there’s a crackdown on Christianity. “Under China’s tightening environment, outsiders thought there was no way we can create this app and survive, but we were able to do it,” he said.

A week after the milestone, the communist government implemented efforts to block its users’ access to the six-year-old app and removed it from app stores.

As of 2018, China’s new religious regulations were used to intimidate and control religious minorities. In addition to shutting down Christian bookstores, Beijing has also targeted online retailers. Popular online stores, Taobao and JD.com, felt the pressure from the government that they decided to stop selling Bibles.

Researchers explained that China continues to clamp down on Christianity because the government was uneasy with the growing number of Christians in underground churches, according to The Guardian.

“The government has orchestrated a campaign to ‘sinicize’ Christianity, to turn Christianity into a fully domesticated religion that would do the bidding of the party,” said Lian Xi, a professor at Duke University in North Carolina.

Local governments have closed hundreds of unregistered churches, or house churches. Last year, Guangzhou Bible Reformed Church was shut down for three months. “The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) wants to be the God of China and the Chinese people,” said Huang Xiaoning, the church’s pastor. “But according to the Bible only God is God. The government is scared of the churches.”

Despite the communist party’s tightening grip on Christianity, the number of Christians worshiping in small groups is increasing.

“It’s hard to imagine, you look at the environment and it feels like you can’t do anything, but actually there are great opportunities,” said Fan.

Joyce Dimaculangan
Joyce Dimaculangan
Joyce has more than 15 years experience writing news, industry articles and blogs for the private and public sectors. Most of her career was spent writing technical documentation for a software company in the Philippines. She earned a B.A. in Communication Arts with a concentration in writing from the University of the Philippines, Los Baños. During her leisure time, Joyce pursues her interest in reading fiction and playing with her dogs. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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