April 3rd - 9th
Week 14: CLC Global Events Monday (3rd) – Philippines:
We thank the Lord for all who attended our annual Daily Vacation Bible School (DVBS) training workshop that was held on April 1st. It is our prayer that many children (and their parents!) will be reached during the months of April and May when most DVBSs usually occur. ~ Romualdo Macinas, Asia Pacific Regional Director
Tuesday (4th) – Panama::
We thank God that we were able to hold our first ‘Reading Circle for Children’ in March. Five sessions were held at the Vía España bookshop, and it is our hope that God will speak directly to the heart of each child in attendance. Join us in praying that each day these children will grow closer to Jesus. Please also pray that nearby private schools will continue to open their doors to our ministry. It is our hope that they will allow us to participate at their school fairs and events. We have a wonderful selection of resources that we believe would really impact their students, faculty and parents. ~ Sara De Gracia, National Director
Wednesday (5th) – United Kingdom:
It will once again be the Sunday School Prize Giving season in the UK throughout the month of May. The month is going to be especially hectic for the Highland Bookvan team as they are planning to do a variety of bookstalls with the children’s books for the Sunday School teachers, along with working in the Inverness bookshop and attending CLC UK’s annual conference. ~ Esther Dowey, CLC UK Trustee
Thursday (6th) – Switzerland:
Over the next few months, we are planning to attend at least four meetings at different churches, accompanied by Luca Durante, a Christian musician. Luca will perform a few songs that we hope will touch hearts, and share his testimony. We will also bring a bookstall along, and it is our hope that our visit will illustrate how much CLC wants to serve and partner with them. ~ Carlo Ciafani, National Director
Friday (7th) – Sierra Leone:
We will be celebrating our 50th Anniversary in February, 2018, so we are planning to have a whole year of celebrations. We launched our first celebration this past February (2017) at the Wesley Methodist Church. Please pray that we will continue to plan successful events that allow us to share the incredible testimonies of God’s goodness to us throughout the last 50 years! ~ Donald John, National Director
The Weekend (8th/9th) – United Kingdom:
CLC UK’s annual conference will be held May 21-23. Please pray for the UK team as they gather for the annual conference as this is the one occasion during the year when most of the team
can meet together. Pray for a time of encouraging, learning and giving glory to God. It is not easy to maintain Christian bookshops in our cities, but this is our commitment. ~ Neil Wardrope, National Director April 10th - 16th
Week 15: Current Needs Around the World Monday (10th) – Germany:
Currently, we mail out Christian resource catalogues fairly regularly to our customers. However, with the increase of internet sales and the rise of postage costs, we are beginning to wonder how long printed advertising will be the best way to reach our supporters. Please pray that God will help us to develop new ways of advertising so that we can continue to be the best stewards of the resources He has provided us with. ~ Valentin Schweigler, National Director
Tuesday (11th) – Mozambique:
The rent at our Maputo bookshop increased by 70% in January 2017! Since this is the first increase in five years, we cannot complain! However, clearly, this is a big jump. Kindly pray with us that we will indeed be able to meet this new financial challenge (through increased book sales) and that the Lord will help us to reach more people with Bibles and books. The bookshop is ideally located in a theological seminary and both CLC and the seminary are pleased with this partnership. ~ Liz Patten, Africa Regional Director
Wednesday (12th) – Panama:
We praise God because we were able to finalise 2016 without losses. However, in order for us to reach this outcome, we had to make a lot of cutbacks and changes. Currently, we still have a number of publisher invoices that are unpaid, and we are asking for prayer that God would help us find the right path forward. Above all, we wish to maintain good working relationships with our suppliers and be seen as a ministry of integrity. ~ Sara De Gracia, National Director
Thursday (13th) – Kenya:
We now have a new landlord and, if we do not agree on a new lease with them, we will be forced to move our operations to another location. In order to ensure the ministry is self-sustaining, we need to see an increase in our sales. Please join us in asking God for help in coming up with new and effective ideas. ~ Patrick Omukhango, National Director
Friday (14th) - Papua New Guinea (PNG):
Much-needed new stock was shipped to Port Moresby, PNG, from CLC Philippines at the end of 2016 and was to clear customs on January 5, 2017. To our dismay, we discovered in February that it had instead been offloaded in Lae (PNG), which is some 307 km from Port Moresby. The Lae Port officials are demanding that our team pay the additional shipping charges, in full, before they will ship our cargo across! This also means that storage charges are beginning to accumulate while we try to resolve the situation. Please pray for us as we need this stock in order to continue to generate sales and pay our suppliers. ~ Vere Babona, National Director
The Weekend (15th/16th) – USA & Canada:
Sales in the last quarter were much lower than expected for CLC USA and Canada. Please join them in praying that sales will rebound this quarter and that they will develop the wisdom to creatively attract people into their stores to see the variety of available resources. Please also pray that CLC Canada’s advertising efforts, particularly those associated with their Montreal Est/East store, will bear much fruit to help ease their financial situation. ~ Amanda Lutes, on their behalf 2
April 17th - 23rd
Week 16: Answers to Prayer Monday (17th) - Chile:
In March, we held our annual CLC conference in Santiago. This was a time of coming together and prayerfully seeking God’s will for our ministry. By tradition, during the last two days of conference, we are joined by the representatives of seven publishers. Once again, we were incredibly blessed by their workshops, presentations and, most importantly, by sharing times of devotion and intercessory prayer. We praise the Lord for this time of brotherhood between ministries that complement each other in their spiritual work and fellowship. ~ Isaac Zúñiga, National Director
Tuesday (18th) - Mexico:
We thank God for the support we experience, every day, from the people of Mexico City for the ministry of CLC. We were so blessed to discover that our sales grew by about 50% during 2016. Praise God with us! ~ Maria del Carmen, National Director
Wednesday (19th) - Romania:
We thank the Lord for helping us to significantly increase the quality and number of great Christian titles we are publishing. We are also thankful that 2016 was probably our best year of sales in the last 10 years. With so many of our teams describing their struggles, we hope our story is one of encouragement in how God will make a way! ~ Ronela Micula, National Director
Thursday (20th) – Spain:
We thank God for the improvement in sales in all our departments (bookshops, online and wholesale). As many of you know, we have been struggling financially for quite a few years now, and this improvement is a real encouragement to our team. Please continue to pray that we are able to strengthen the personal and business relationships that we have with pastors and local churches. ~ Darwin Vergel, National Director
Friday (21st) – Canada:
A couple of our customers are thinking about starting a book club that would be associated with our Montreal Est/East store as they really want to help us keep it open! This initiative fills us with joy, and so we thank the Lord for this couple and the love they have for our ministry. Please pray that the Lord will continue to help us find the necessary resources (human and financial) that will permit us to advance and have a lasting impact in Quebec’s evangelical community. ~ Antoine Roberge, National Director
The Weekend (22nd/23rd) - Barbados:
We praise and thank the Lord for the Sheffield (UK) church that donated the necessary funds to retile our shop floor and for the much-needed shelving donated by CLC USA. We are also extremely grateful for the loan we received from CLC Colombia. Please pray that God will give us good sales so we can repay this loan as quickly as possible. ~ Jefferson Alleyne, on behalf of CLC Barbados April 24th - 30th
Week 17: Struggling Economies Monday (24th) – Portugal:
Carlos Cunha, the Portugal Director (and only ‘staff member’), requests prayer for his family’s financial situation as they continue facing some difficulties due to Portugal’s economic situation. 3
He says, “This situation is impacting a number of companies, including where Lídia, my wife, works. She has recently had a drastic reduction in her salary.” Please pray that the Lord will ‘make a way’ for the Cunha family.
Tuesday (25th) – Venezuela:
We continue to pray for our country, asking for economic and political stability. We pray for a solution to the current crisis that continues to affect the entire population. High inflation and prices have reduced the purchasing power of Venezuelans and, coupled with this, there is still a scarcity of many important ‘basic needs’. We need a miracle! Please pray with us that God would restore our nation. ~ Yohel Peña, National Director
Wednesday (26th) - Barbados:
Please join us in praying for the state of our economy as it is having a negative impact on people’s ability to purchase more than just their ‘basic needs’. For us, this means that although our customers are still visiting the shop (thankfully!), they are unable to purchase the resources they need. It is a growing concern as some days the sales are incredibly low. ~ Jefferson Alleyne, on behalf of CLC Barbados
Thursday (27th) - Switzerland:
Rapid advances in digitalisation are changing the rules and the risks of businesses in Switzerland. At the moment in our country, both the government and the postal service are improving their digital technologies. This means that we have to change our software in the most costeffective way while still keeping within a very tight budget. Please pray that we will be able to quickly choose the best software, learn how to use it and help our customers to understand its advantages. Please pray for God’s wisdom and guidance. ~ Carlo Ciafani, National Director
Friday (28th) - Uruguay:
Due to our economy, we have experienced a drop in distribution. This, coupled with the rise of the dollar, is making it very difficult to sustain our ministry budget. In spite of everything, God has sustained us and we are grateful. Our team is prayerfully seeking the Lord’s help to develop and implement new ideas and plans that will improve our financial situation without reducing our number of staff. ~ Humberto Urrutia, National Director
The Weekend (29th/30th) - French West Africa:
Please pray with us for a change in the difficult economic situations we face in French West Africa (Benin and Burkina Faso in particular). We know that even in the midst of such circumstances, the LORD will help us manage our bookshops well. Pray that our team members will continue to work together in a spirit of openness and Christian fellowship in these countries and also in Cote d’Ivoire. We also pray for the LORD’s leading and guidance so that in due course, we may be able to relaunch the CLC work in Togo, which sadly closed down a few years ago but which remains a much-needed and missed ministry. ~ Emmanuel Ladeyo, Director May 1st - 7th
Week 18: New Opportunities: Monday (1st) - Philippines:
One of the goals of CLC Philippines this year is to open up a new bookshop. Please pray that we will find the right location, premises and personnel to see our ministry grow. Please also pray for God’s guidance for our publications team in titles selection so that our Biblically-based titles best reflect the needs of our customers. ~ Romualdo Macinas, Asia Pacific Regional Director 4
Tuesday (2nd) – Kenya:
We thank God for the recent launch of the Oasis Africa Study Bible which took place in March. We feel incredibly blessed to be the main distributor for the Bibles. Please pray that this Bible will be a real source of wisdom and help for those in our country. ~ Patrick Omukhango, National Director
Wednesday (3rd) – Belarus:
We are thankful for the invitation to provide our first bookstall for the Eastern European Medical Congress. There will be about 300 participants from most of the former Soviet Union Republics, as well as many guests from other countries. The Congress will take place from May 6th – 9th at the ‘Pearl Children Centre’, which is a former Soviet military base that has been converted into a Christian children’s camp. Please pray that we will take the right selection of books and gift items and know the right books to recommend to these Christian doctors. ~ Lina Pinkevich, National Director
Thursday (4th) – USA:
We are hoping to host, for the first time, a Clergy Appreciation Breakfast in New Jersey. This event is scheduled to take place in May and is a major outreach to the local community. Please remember our team organising this event in prayer and pray too that it will be well received by all. ~ David Almack, Regional Director (North America & Caribbean) Photo of 2016 Clergy Appreciation Breakfast in Philadelphia
Friday (5th) – Trinidad:
Please continue to pray that, even in the midst of a tightening economy, God will help us develop strategies for reaching out to nearby communities, especially to schools, hospitals and prison ministries. It is our hope that by improving our outreach opportunities we will also find that our financial situation will improve. ~ Sandra Robinson, National Director
The Weekend (6th/7th) - France:
CLC France has started a new project this year in partnership with the Geneva Bible Society, where they will be publishing large print Bibles in four different formats. Please pray for good working relationships in this joint project and that the result will sell well and be a blessing to many. ~ Herve Lessous, National Director May 8th - 14th
Week 19: Team Requests: Monday (8th) – Russia:
Health problems have recently become a special challenge for the team — both for the staff and their families. Please join us in prayer for strength and good health for our team (and families) so they can joyfully carry on the work of CLC’s ministry. ~ Nikita Sapunov, National Director
Tuesday (9th) – Mexico:
Our team has been blessed with the opportunity to present CLC’s ministry to a group of pastors in the cities of Monterrey and Piedras Negras. It is our prayer request that God will give us grace and wisdom in sharing with these church leaders so that we will find ways of working together to best support one another. ~ Maria del Carmen, National Director 5
Wednesday (10th) - Bulgaria:
The last months were tough for two of our teammates due to several unexpected and unfortunate events which led to them needing to take a short leave of absence. We are only a team of three people so, as you can imagine, we are very much behind schedule. Please pray for us as we need God’s wisdom, strength and grace that we will soon catch up on our workload so things can return to normal. ~ David Anachkov, on behalf of CLC Bulgaria
Thursday (11th) - Trinidad:
Join us in praying that God will continue to help us with team building and support by
strengthening the relationships amongst our staff. Please pray also for Godly wisdom in dealing with our customers. ~ Sandra Robinson, National Director
Friday (12th) – USA:
Please pray for the CLC USA team as we embrace the idea of ‘ReSet’ for 2017. The idea is to re-evaluate all aspects of our ministry in light of CLC’s primary purpose, ‘to make evangelical Christian literature available to all nations’. We desire that all areas of our ministry are focused on this important and worthy goal. ~ David Almack, Regional Director (North America and Caribbean)
The Weekend (13th/14th) – United Kingdom:
We are still looking to fill some very key roles within our ministry. Please join us in praying that the Lord will guide and direct those He has called to join us, and that we will find new channels of reaching them. ~ Amanda Lutes, on behalf of CLC UK May 15th - 21st
Week 20: Partnerships Monday (15th) - Portugal:
Earlier this year, CLC Portugal and the Portuguese Bible Society (PBS) decided to develop a way that they could better work together. PBS offered us a consignment of about €16.500 of Bibles, and they are telling their customers who are in the north of Portugal that they can now easily purchase their products in our bookshop! They have also agreed to promote CLC Portugal’s publications to their customers. Praise God with us! ~ Carlos Cunha, National Director
Tuesday (16th) - Colombia:
Our team in Colombia has a social foundation and are partnering with a number of different ministries and outreach groups in the country. The team has asked us to pray especially for the children of Colombia as they are noticing a rise in reports of sexual abuse and mistreatment. Please also pray for their work with the indigenous communities and for the Thompson Bible Seminars they host in jail for the prisoners who are searching for God or wanting to grow in their faith. ~ David Pabon, National Director
Wednesday (17th) – Netherlands:
Please pray for our publishers and suppliers that they will continue to publish and provide good and reliable resources for the Christian trade. In our shop, we are especially dependent on our publishers since we have only recently begun publishing. As our goal is to help people grow in their relationships with God and others, we need to make sure the resources we make available to them are Biblically strong and helpful. ~ Bertus Keuter, National Director 6
Thursday (18th) - USA:
You may recall that CLC USA took ownership of the Multi-Language Media (MLM) ministry last year and their director, David Almack, is pleased to report that, “The MLM department continues to grow, and we are excited to now be providing resources in over 80 languages from our warehouse in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. We are working very hard to launch a new website this quarter and hope to see many more books and Bibles shipped out during 2017.”
Friday (19th) – Germany:
We were blessed at the end of February to have local author, Tamara Hinz, return to our shop for a book reading and signing. She visited us in 2016 and was so well received that this year we actually had over 50 people attend. That’s a very full bookshop! Tamara is a mother, and pastor’s wife, who has been through a number of difficult situations in her life that have helped her write some incredible Christian books. Praise God for this reminder that great books and authors still have the ability to impact lives. ~ Valentin Schweigler, National Director
The Weekend (20th – 21st) – Romania:
Although we were sad to see the ministry of CLC Austria close, we are so thankful that the shelving from their former bookshop has been sent to us. Actually, there is so much shelving that we ask for prayer as we organise it to create a new layout and determine which titles are best suited to each area. We hope that this refurbishment will breathe new life into our shop and that our customers will be pleased with these improvements. ~ Ronela Micula, National Director May 22nd - 28th
Week 21: New Team Members / Director Monday (22nd) - Mozambique:
From April until August (2017), it is our plan to employ a second Mozambican worker to strengthen our work in Maputo. Johane Armando recently graduated from the theological seminary where we have our bookshop, and he has a proven affinity with Christian books. We hope that after the initial six months, we will have sufficiently increased sales to generate his salary on a longer-term basis. With a second worker, we can extend the opening hours of the shop and also reach out to the various theological institutes in and around Maputo by visiting them with our books. ~ Liz Patten, Africa Regional Director
Tuesday (23rd) - Netherlands:
Praise God for our new part-time staff member, Wilco, as he is truly an answer to prayer for us. Please continue to pray for him as he settles into our team and learns more about CLC’s ministry. Wilco’s time will be divided between the Apeldoorn bookshop and working on our new website. ~ Bertus Keuter, National Director
Wednesday (24th) – Central Asia (CA2):
Praise God that we now have a new local Director and for the opportunity she recently had to attend a consultation for ministries across Central Asia. We are thankful that it was a real time of encouragement and vision. Please pray that God will use this event to strengthen the relationships between CLC and the local pastors. We are here to serve all the churches in the area, please pray that we will do so with grace and wisdom.
Thursday (25th) - Romania:
For quite some time we have had a shortage of staff, and we are so thankful to now have two
7
new full-time workers, Ema Juganaru and Damaris Musat. Please pray that they will quickly understand their new duties and that we will work well as a team. Please also remember Andreea, who is now on maternity leave. ~ Ronela Micula, National Director
Friday (26th) – Portugal:
From February until April, we were blessed to have a Christian art and design student, who is attending the University of Leiria, intern with us. He worked on some of the CLC Portugal publishing projects (book covers, publicity, etc.). As we still have no extra funds for the help we desperately need, this university programme was a real answer to prayer as it was an unpaid internship. Last year we did this with another student from the university in Coimbra. We praise God for these opportunities. Please pray that we can continue to regularly meet young Christian students that require fieldwork experience and encouragement in their studies as they are such an encouragement to us! ~ Carlos Cunha, National Director
The Weekend (27th/28th) – Korea:
We praise God for sending us new team members that have successfully fitted into our community and are growing with us. Please pray that they will continue to learn and grow as they work with us so that our ministry may better serve the church in Korea. ~ Gwangsu Jo, on behalf of CLC Korea May 29th - June 4th
Week 22: Current Challenges Monday (29th) – Chile:
Forest fires in Chile have devastated thousands of hectares, and over a thousand houses have burned down. We thank God for the help we received from several countries in fighting the fires. Please pray that the Christian church in general will have the wisdom and strength to continue helping those impacted by this tragedy long after the smoke is gone. ~ Isaac Zúñiga, National Director
Tuesday (30th) – Bolivia:
We thank the Lord that despite the economic difficulties across all of Latin America (LA), our sales have grown by 6% in 2016. Glory to God! Please continue to pray for us, and all our CLC LA teams, that the Lord will continue to sustain us and help us create new channels of distribution to further His Kingdom. ~ Gamaliel Padilla, National Director
Wednesday (31st) – United Kingdom:
We thank God that Lucinda Sparrow, the CLC Cambridge manager, has coped very well since an experienced worker left last November. She still manages to do bookstalls each month, and she has a slot on the Christian radio every Sunday. Please continue to pray for Lucinda and her team that they will have the stamina and good health to continue these community outreach activities. ~ Geoff Fanning, Head of Retail
Thursday (1st) – Germany:
Praise God that amidst the many challenges our team is facing, our team’s outlook is positive and we are united in our purpose and plans. We recently had a staff party that allowed us to spend time together outside of our work environment and to strengthen our bonds of fellowship. ~ Valentin Schweigler, National Director 8
Friday (2nd) – Liberia:
For three days in February, all the businesses were shut down during a protest action organised by the Patriotic Entrepreneurs of Liberia (PATEL). This was due to the Liberian dollar’s depreciation and high tariffs on imported goods. At the time of writing, the petroleum dealers were also threatening to shut down their operations. Please pray that God will intervene in the tense economic situation we are currently facing in Liberia. ~ James Cooper, National Director
The Weekend (3rd/4th) – Dominica:
Please pray about the rise of violence in our country. At the time of writing, one missing person has been found dead while another, a Christian believer who attends the same assembly as I do, has been missing for over three weeks. We are also seeing a rise in traffic accidents, often leading to death or critical conditions. Most recently, we’ve had a young boy who has lost both his legs. Please pray for these difficult situations as we find that many of our customers knew or were related to these victims. Pray also that God will continue to give us the right words and actions which will reflect God’s love and comfort to those who are hurting. ~ Davis Laudat, National Director Photo of the Dominican Team June 5th - 11th
Week 23: Project Updates Monday (5th) – Mozambique:
We were delighted to finally be able to refurbish our bookshop in Maputo at the end of 2016 thanks to our‘Mozambique Container Project,’which involved shipping second-hand fittings from CLC UK! The bookshop looks great, and we have had many compliments from our customers, such as: “This looks like a real bookshop now!” We now need to do the same with our bookshop in Beira, some 1,211 km to the north. Please pray with us that we can find a way to transport the remaining shelves and units to Beira. Pray also that we will know the right time to go there and upgrade our bookshop as the roads are potentially unsafe at the time of writing. ~ Liz Patten, Africa Regional Director
Tuesday (6th) – Indonesia:
We are so thankful to the Lord for the grant application our Regional Director, Romualdo Macinas, and Mark Ridenour (CLC USA) recently completed on our behalf. The grant is to enable CLC Indonesia to also have a Print-on-Demand (POD) system. Please pray with us that the grant will be awarded as we know it will greatly impact our ministry and our country. ~ Donny Kairupan, National Director
Wednesday (7th) – Sierra Leone:
The Publish4All Print-On-Demand (POD) equipment has been shipped from Minnesota to Sierra Leone. Once it arrives and clears customs, Mark Ridenour (CLC USA) will be travelling to Freetown (Sierra Leone) to work with the local team and a trainer/installer from P4A. Please pray that it will all arrive safely and that Mark will be able to make this visit by no later than June, 2017. ~ Donald John, National Director
Thursday (8th) – Portugal:
Please pray for Carlos Cunha and his team of volunteers as they work to make Christian Portuguese ebooks available on their website. Currently, CLC Portugal is in negotiations with The Good Book Company, seeking the rights to translate and publish their Questions Christians Ask series. It is hoped that they’ll be able to make one title available each year in both formats (print and e-book). ~ Carlos Cunha, National Director 9
Friday (9th) – Romania:
Please pray that God will continue to give us the wisdom needed to choose the best titles to publish and for the necessary resources to do so. Please also pray that the quality of our work and the professionalism of our team will increase over time and that God will guide me in their training. ~ Ronela Micula, National Director
The Weekend (10th/11th) – Kenya:
Praise God for the amazing time we had ministering to those at the Grace Children’s Home in Nairobi. It was a blessing to be used by God to show His love to these children and their teachers. We brought along some snacks, drinks and some great books to help them start up a library at the orphanage. Please remember them in your prayers. We’re also thankful to God that He helped us start up an Authors’ Programme. This programme is a one-stop-shop for local authors that includes help with editing, design, layout, copyright regulations, and many other services. It is our hope to further develop this programme in 2017 so it can be extended to pastors. ~ Patrick Omukhango, National Director (Photo on the left) June 12th - 18th
Week 24: Trusting God... Monday (12th) – Russia:
With the Lord’s help, we are planning to publish three new books this year. Please pray for the timely provision of finances to cover the printing and translation costs, as well as a demand for the books we publish. ~ Nikita Sapunov, National Director
Tuesday (13th) – Bolivia:
Please pray that God will provide the means for us to open a ‘CLC Express’ bookshop, like CLC Colombia did last year. These smaller shops (like Tesco Express shops in the UK) will enable us to have a presence in more areas of Bolivia without huge overhead costs. Please pray that the Lord will help us to determine the best location and provide the needed resources, shelving, personnel and inventory. ~ Gamaliel Padilla, National Director
Wednesday (14th) – Myanmar:
Please continue to remember the health and stamina of our team. As many of you are aware, they have been working very hard both in the bookshop (and at events) and on translating and formatting the first ever Burmese Study Bible. They are hoping to print the Study Bible this year, and we praise God that they’ve already received funding that will cover 50% of the printing costs! Please join us in praying that God will make a way for them to complete this project and that it will impact many Burmese lives. ~ Jacob Mung, National Director
Thursday (15th) – Mexico:
Please continue to pray that God will provide a means of transportation for our ministry. There are some cities that we visit which are located quite a distance away from Mexico City. Having our own vehicle would be a tremendous help and blessing to our ministry. ~ Maria del Carmen, National Director (Team Photo)
Friday (16th) – France:
It is our hope that we will have a new, modern website this year. Please pray for us as we continue to collaborate in its design and content with Cristi Cotovan (CLC International’s Webmaster). 10
~ Herve Lessous, National Director
The Weekend (17th/18th) – Philippines:
Please pray for our bookstore in Cebu and that many people will be reached through this outlet. We need God’s wisdom and help that the staff will be committed to seeing this shop not just remain open, but thrive. ~ Romualdo Macinas, Regional Asia Pacific Director June19th - 25th
Week 25: CLC Publications Monday (19th) – Netherlands:
In 2014, we published the book, Why Pro-Life?, by Randy Alcorn. This year we will publish the book, Love Unleashes Life, from Stephanie Gray. It is an apologetic book that enables us to learn how to ask people the right questions so that they might reconsider their arguments. It is a great follow-up to the pro-life book because it can be applied to many areas in life. ~ Bertus Keuter, National Director
Tuesday (20th) – Portugal:
This year it is our hope to translate and publish the Portuguese version of A Christian’s Pocket Guide to Loving the Old Testament by Alec Motyer, My First Books and More by Carine Mackenzie and Philip S. Ross and also Mulheres em Missão (Women in Missions) by Arlete Castro, a Brazilian author. Please pray for good health and stamina, and that these titles will be well received. ~ Carlos Cunha, National Director
Wednesday (21st) – Indonesia:
Praise God! The Church of the Open Door by Warren Wiersbe (a CLC USA publication) has just been translated and published into Indonesian. We thank the Lord for this opportunity as CLC Indonesia (known locally as Yakin) is relatively new to publishing. What a blessing it is for our ministry! ~ Donny Kairupan, National Director
Thursday (22nd) – Belarus:
We are thankful to have recently translated and published You and Me Forever by Francis and Lisa Chan. Praise the Lord that we have already had a lot of positive feedback from readers. One pastor from Minsk shared with me that he planned to do four Sunday services devoted to this topic and would be recommending the book to his congregation. What an encouragement for our team! ~ Lina Pinkevich, National Director
Friday (23rd) – USA:
Praise God that we have just published these family titles: The Parent Map by Harold Sala, Faith that Lasts by Jon Nielson, and The Unfair Advantage by Harold Arnold. Please pray that they will be a real help to families around the world. This autumn we will also be publishing, Fight for the Family by Jill Briscoe. Please remember our editorial team in prayer. ~ David Almack, Regional Director (North America & Caribbean)
The Weekend (24th/25th) – Netherlands:
We have had the opportunity to publish another book from Francis Chan: Multiply. This is a very good and radical book about discipleship. The translation work is complete, but please pray for the process of editing, designing and printing of the book (we don’t like mistakes!). ~ Bertus Keuter, National Director 11
June 26th - July 1st
Week 26: Encouraging Stories from Europe Monday (26th) – Russia:
We thank the Lord for providing retail sales for our Moscow shop despite the fact that sales are decreasing all around us. In fact, 2016 was a positive year financially despite the market situation and new hefty taxes. It really was an incredible joy to see our Lord’s special care for our shop and team. Praise God with us! ~ Nikita Sapunov, National Director
Tuesday (27th) – Cyprus:
A Turkish Cypriot young lady was looking for a colouring book and, while online, she came across our website! After discovering we had quite a lovely selection, she came right downstairs and bought a couple! (She lives with her parents in one of the apartments above our shop). Please pray that the website will continue to reach people who wouldn’t normally come to our shop. ~ Eva Photiadou, National Director
Wednesday (28th) – Ecuador:
After three consecutive years of dropping sales at our branch in Quito, the Lord allowed us to move in March of 2016. The new place is much larger and gives us space for a conference room upstairs that our customers are thrilled to use for meetings and counselling. The response from our customers has been incredibly good, and we ended 2016 with a very positive growth in sales. We thank God for His continued faithfulness! ~ Carlos Marin, National Director
Thursday (29th) –Belarus:
Recently, I had a phone call from a customer who is involved in marriage counselling. She was really surprised by the content of ‘You and Me Forever’ by Francis and Lisa Chan as it was a real challenge for her. From the time she picked up the book, she was not very optimistic, thinking, ‘Great, another book about the marriage…’. She admitted to having absolutely no desire to read it, but later confirmed, “This is a very rare book about the root of marriage and the Christian life, and it’s very Biblical.” She also suggested that, at times, readers will find it challenging, and maybe even painful, as it requires having a heart fully submitted to God. She highly recommends it to those seeking to make their marriages not only survive, but thrive! ~ Lina Pinkevich, National Director
Friday (30th) – United Kingdom:
Lately, I have had some visitors in my shop that have encouraged me as a ‘bookseller’ to contemplate what we are doing day to day in our shops. One such visitor was the very first customer of the day, and she was a sweet elderly lady looking for a suitable card for her daughter in the hospice, suffering from cancer. The lady was almost blind and needed me to read the cards out to her. What a privilege to have been available to serve her. Please pray that we never lose sight of serving, as Jesus did, in the midst of running a busy shop. ~ Esther Dowey, CLC UK Trustee “The king will answer them, ‘I can guarantee this truth: Whatever you did for one of my brothers or sisters, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did for me.’” Matthew 25:40 (God’s Word Translation)
The Weekend (31st/1st) – Cyprus:
A Greek Cypriot young lady was in the psychiatric hospital for several months, and she asked me for a New Testament and some devotional books to read while she was there. She was thrilled when we were able to give her a New Testament, a ‘Daybrightener’ and a book of Bible promises. She is now at home and continues to read and grow in her faith and trust in the Lord. She is also now attending a local church regularly. Praise God, and please pray for her. ~ Eva Photiadou, National Director 12