From the 1980s to the end of 1990s， a series of naturaldisasters occurred in China， like floods in northeast China，earthquake in Yunnan Province， forest fires， and especially theflood in 1998 which endangered more than 10 provinces andmunicipalities and was quite unusual in Chinese history. Peoplethroughout the nation， including Christians， were most concerned about those living in the flood-stricken area and made manydonations. In an evening event sponsored by CCTV （ChinaCentral Television）， the two church organizations donated 1million Yuan （＄120，000）。 Besides， the Amity Foundation initiatedby Christians donated 10 million Yuan （＄1.2 million）； ShanghaiChristians raised 500，000 Yuan or ＄60，000 for the ShanghaiMunicipal Red Cross. The Christian churches in different placeslaunched many activities to mobilize funds for the stricken people，and many Christians voluntarily donated their clothes to thechurches， and these were gathered and transported to the floodstrickenareas. Besides donations， the Christians also activelytook part in the struggle against the flood. In Jiayu County， Hubei Province， which was seriously inundated， the local church openedits doors and accommodated more than 300 homeless refugees.
Charity donation has become a prominent tradition of the ChineseChristian Churches. In recent years， and the beneficiaries includethe China Welfare Foundation for the Disabled， ShanghaiChildren"s Welfare House， etc.
Among all the Chinese Christian organizations engaged insocial services， the Amity Foundation established in April 1985 has been one of the most prominent. It is a non-governmentalorganization initiated by some Chinese Christians with the helpand support from people of different industries as well as overseasChristians， and mainly engaged in charity work and such social services as medicine，education， social welfare in rural areas.
It became a new approach for ChineseChristians to join theirefforts in social services. Between 1995 and 1996， the Amity Foundation collected more than 30 million Yuan （about＄3.7 million）， and contributed all the funds to society， of whichnearly 20 million Yuan （about ＄2.4 million） was invested inmedical services in rural areas and disaster relief. The work ofthe Amity Foundation was not simply poverty relief or to solvematerial difficulties， but to help the poor regions improve theproduction， education and healthcare system through its services，so as to enhance people"s living standards. During the process ofoffering help， the Churches kept close co-operation with the localgovernment and people， and strengthened church ties withsociety. For example， Fan village in Henan Province was in greatneed of water， lack of which had gravely hindered its developmentand had posed a threat to the livelihood of the villagers， leaving more than 4，000 households and 20，000 people in poverty fordecades. But lack of funds held up the launch of a planned largescaledrawing water project. The local Church informed the AmityFoundation of the problem and it immediately input over 2 millionYuan （＄240，000）。 The project started as it had been planned andwas completed successfully. The water problem that had beenannoying the village for a long time was eventually resolved.
The villagers were very thankful for the financial support， andthe Church and the Amity Foundation also realized their valuein this process. The Amity Foundation focused its services in thepoverty-stricken areas and ethnic minority areas scattered mainlyin the central and western parts of China by investing in projects for the comprehensive development of the rural areas to helppeople out of poverty as soon as possible. They also offeredtechnical and English training programs， as well as healthcareprograms. Besides， they provided financial aid to children whohad dropped study for poverty for them to go back to school. In2001， the Amity Foundation accomplished more than 10，000 cataract extraction operations in Ningxia， Gansu and Hubeiprovinces and trained thousands of doctors and nurses for thecounties， towns and villages there. It also invested about 350 million Yuan or ＄40 million in publicity on AIDS preventionand community care programs in five counties in YunnanProvince， where 1.14 million people enjoyed benefits. In addition，it collaborated with the China Health Education Association tomake videodiscs about AIDS， and sent more than 10 thousandcopies free to the concerned departments. Since its establishment，the Amity Foundation has attracted much attention from theChristian churches all over the world， including the WorldChristian Churches （WCC）， which also conveyed its willingnessto help.
To expand the range of social services provided by theChinese churches， the two organizations established a "SocialService Department‘ in May 2002， aiming at concentrating their attention， energy， and resources both at home and abroad tocontribute more to the poverty-relief program， public servicesand aid for emergencies. The first project was to donatewheelchairs to the disabled in Zhengzhou， Henan Province， whichled some young students from Zhengzhou University to expresstheir willingness to join team of volunteers. The social servicework by the Chinese Christian churches has generated quite goodsocial effects.
At present， altogether 45 social service projects are underconstruction by the churches across the country， ranging fromhomes for the elderly， kindergartens， clinics， health center fordisabled children and aid for poor school-aged children to enterschool， etc. The local churches and two organizations in variousplaces are trying hard to do a good job in their social servicework by caring for the disadvantaged social groups and carryingout charity and public activities. Although they have just startedtheir efforts and their work is still on the initial stage and on asmall scale， the Chinese churches have demonstrated theirfledgling vigor. They will strive in line with what was put forwardby the seventh National Conference of the Chinese Christianityto "continue to serve the society and the people and act as a witnessfor the goodness of Christianity‘。
