Prayer Focus 2 (March - April 2012)

March 2012 1 Thu. Portugal - ‘Symposium’ CLC will have a bookstand at an annual ‘Symposium’ later this month. The event is organised by the catholic priests of the Central Hospital of Coimbra, in collaboration with some of the evangelical pastors. It will take place in the auditorium of the hospital and hundreds of people are expected to attend. Thank God for the opportunity to participate; please pray that Carlos Cunha and his volunteer helpers will choose relevant, helpful and enlightening books to take.

Praise God for good contacts CLC made at this event last year.

Portugal CLC Stand at Symposium

to have a conversation with her. Then they came across the CLC bookshop and saw the sign ‘Polish Books Available Here’! The couple were so pleased that they were able to buy the Polish lady two books in her own language. Even if they could not talk to her about Jesus, they could share the message with her through books.

5 Mon. Japan – Conference and a Closure Praise the Lord for over 54 years of CLC ministry and mission in Japan. Please pray for the Japanese team as they meet for their Annual Conference - March 6th and 7th. Ask the Lord to guide and bless them in their plans and decisions. One difficult decision made last year was to close one of the 8 CLC bookshops; CLC Sapporo. The shop will close on the 24th of this month. Praise the Lord for the seeds planted and the fruit produced from this shop over many years.

2011. Carlos Cunha is on the right.

2 Fri. Austria – Men’s Conference Please pray for volunteer helper Andreas Freudenberg as he takes CLC books once again to an annual men’s conference in Semmering this weekend. Andreas is a missionary and pastor and he is also the chairman of the Board of CLC Austria. Please pray that his enthusiasm for books will spread to those who visit the bookstand!

3-4 Sat/Sun UK – Inverness A Scottish couple - not from Inverness were doing outreach around the streets of Inverness recently. They met a Polish lady who had very little English and it was not easy

6 Tue. Spain - The CLC Family (photo above) Nacho Sanchez, the National Director, writes: “We give thanks to God for the CLC family around the world. We have been aware of their care, support and prayers during a time of difficulties and challenges for the ministry

in Spain. We are also grateful for the helpful input from our leaders in the International Office. We thank the Lord for His care and protection. His ways are perfect – even if we don’t understand everything that happens.”

“Will Secularism Triumph over the Kingdom of God?” with Melvin Tinker, a well known author, speaking. Pray that our stock selection will be right for the event and that we get other such opportunities in the future.

7 Wed. Central Asia 2– Books from Turkey Please pray for us as we are importing thousands of books from Turkey for the first time. Pray that we are able to prepare everything we need to import them and bring them through customs smoothly and quickly.

12 Mon. Council - Bookshops Please pray for the CLC International Council meetings in Panama at which CLC leaders from around the world will be gathered. Every day a different topic will be considered – each one reflecting an element of our vision statement. Today we will be considering the radical changes taking place in traditional bookselling and the way this is, and will, affect our bookshops.

8 Thu. USA – New Release Please pray for the release of Michael Catt’s fourth book with CLC called Upgrade: from Adequacy to Abundance. At the time of writing we trust this title will be launched at Michael’s ‘ReFresh’ Conference in early March. Michael is the pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church and the Executive producer of the movies Fireproof and Courageous.

This will be one of our biggest releases of the year.

9 Fri. Portugal – Volunteers Carlos Cunha is very grateful for the opportunity to attend the CLC Council meetings next week as an invited guest. He is also thankful to God for those who have helped with the travel costs. Carlos runs the CLC shop in Coimbra and he is the only CLC Portugal staff member. Praise the Lord for his faithful volunteer helpers who will keep the bookshop open while Carlos is away. Please pray for them – Samuel, Luis, Rafael, Susana and Henrique.

10-11 Sat/Sun. UK – Stockport CLC Stockport is providing the bookstall for a day conference on Monday the 12th of March at the British Isles Nazarene College in Manchester.

The subject is

13 Tue. International Council – Selling eBooks Today at the Council we will be investigating the implications of selling eBooks online.

Melvin Riviera of the American Bible Society will be sharing with us the plans they have and ways in which we can co-operate with them. eBooks represent a huge opportunity for the spread of the Gospel – but also a significant threat to traditional bookselling. We need clear guidance from the Lord as to how we should proceed.

14 Wed. International Council – Social Media Selling both physical books and eBooks online requires very different techniques to traditional bookselling. Woodley Auguste from Carisma publishers will be sharing some of the lessons they have learnt about social media.

15 Thu. International Council - Publishing Today Council members will enjoy a trip to the Panama Canal but on Friday we will consider the issue of publishing, which will have greater prominence in CLC in the coming years.

The challenge will be to increase the number of titles, in multiple languages, in multiple formats (both physical and eBooks). Again we need to look to the Lord to understand how to proceed.

16 Fri. International Council - Resources On Saturday the Council will consider how we need to re-distribute our resources in order to meet the new challenges. CLC is a faith mission and we want to underline our dependence on Him. The final day of the Council, Sunday the 18th, will be a devotional time during which we want to re-commit ourselves to the Lord and to the task He has given us.

17-18 Sat/Sun. UK - Chatham Praise and thank God for all our shop volunteers. We are very grateful to have them.

Pray that over the next year Emma TrueloveRalph, the shop manager, will be able get out of the shop to talk in the local churches about the work CLC does and why we want to keep bookshops open on the high street. Pray that our customers will still come to us as well as using the Internet.

19 Mon. Papua New Guinea – High Rents Basil Rurua, the manager of CLC Alotau, has been asked by his landlord to vacate the house he is renting. Please pray that the landlord will be willing to understand Basil’s situation and that an affordable solution can be found. Rentals are very high in PNG. At the same time, sales in the shop have been quite low recently. Please pray that the situation will improve.

20 Tue. France– Martinique and Guadeloupe Ruth Williams, CLC France, is currently visiting Martinique and Guadeloupe to train the CLC shop staff, in Fort de France and Pointe a Pitre, in the use of the new computer system. Please pray for Ruth in her varied responsibilities for CLC Retail. While she is in the French Antilles she will also help with the annual stock take and in making plans for the future of CLC Martinique where the current manager, Gustave Lerigab, is due to retire this year.

21 Wed. New Zealand –Giving & Receiving Praise the Lord for the many opportunities Graham and Sue Christie have as they travel

round the North Island with the Bookbus.

Back in January they really enjoyed both giving and receiving ministry at a ‘New Wine’ camp. The van was well located too – right next to an ice cream van! It was summertime in New Zealand. Please pray that our CLC staff worldwide will receive encouragement and ministry in their own lives too as they attend Christian events with book tables.

CLC New Zealand Bookbus behind the ice cream van!

22 Thu. Kenya – Finance Matters 1 A number of our CLC countries will be working on their accounts at the end of this month. CLC Kenya’s financial year ends on 31st March and they have asked specifically for prayer that they will organise their accounts properly and on time.

23 Fri. Portugal – Finance Matters 2 The CLC Portugal Board meets tomorrow, March 24th, to discuss the accounts for 2011. Carlos Cunha, the bookshop manager asks for prayer for: continued growth of fellowship between all the Board members; wisdom to do the analysis of the work and humility to seek and do God’s will in the many challenging situations they face.

24-25 Sat/Sun. UK – Leadership Team The Leadership Team meets this weekend in Sheffield for prayer and discussion. Much wisdom is needed as it considers future directions and plans. With the constantly changing patterns of book retailing in the western world, and a continuing difficult economic situation in the UK, God’s guidance continues to be the only way forward.

26 Mon. Romania – Publications Praise God for the recent publication of our latest book Lord, Change Me by Evelyn Christenson. We have had a good number of orders for the book and we offered a special introductory price to the first 100 customers.

Please pray for the next two books we are preparing, also by Evelyn Christenson: What Happens when we Pray for our Families and What Happens when God Answers Prayer.

27 Tue. India – Bookshop Updates Praise the Lord for the two new ELS (CLC) bookshops that opened last year. ELS Vizag is in a major seaport on the eastern coast of India and ELS Ooty is in the Nilgiri Hills in the south. They are both doing well. Please pray for one of our much older bookshops - ELS Purasawalkam in Chennai. A couple of years ago another Christian bookshop opened just a minute’s walk away from us, but now it has moved right next door. Praise the Lord our sales, at the time of writing, are still good here but please pray that the & ministry will not be hop os S y adversely affected t Oot g Pho C by this situation.

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28 Wed. France – Stocks and Systems “At the end of March all the CLC bookshops in France will have their stock take using the new computer system. The Headquarters will change over to the new system on the 1st of April. This means we will all be using the same computer system and will be changing several procedures. Etienne Audier and and Pierre Glassmann need special prayerEtienne, for the computer system and Pierre as he rewrites the program which links our website to the new computer system.”

Herve Lessous, National Director 29 Thu. Switzerland – Importing Books “A decision should be made by the authorities, this month or next, about the price of importing books into Switzerland. It is expected to favour non-imported books. I am not sure what will happen and how it will affect us, but please pray as almost all our books are imported from Italy or Germany.”

Carlo Ciafani, Manager 30 Fri. Kenya – Easter Vacation Time “Please pray with us that we will be able to run a number of book tables during April. As well as the Easter season, it is vacation time in Kenya and children have up to a whole month off school. Please pray that we may spread the Gospel widely and have opportunities to let people get to know more of the CLC ministry over the next month.” Edith Wamalwa 31-1 Sat/Sun. UK - Birmingham Over recent months the shop has been working with restricted access as properties around them are redeveloped. This has really affected our sales. Pray that the staff will work harmoniously together under these difficult circumstances. Pray also for a new volunteer who can work several days a week.

This would allow Richard Morris, the shop manager, more time to visit churches and promote our work.

April 2012 2 Mon. Hong Kong – New Sign CLC Hong Kong is well located on a very busy main street but, like many other shops, it is not at ground level. Casey and Mare Allison write: “We are thankful for our new sign at street level. Please pray that it will help increase our visibility, and that more people will discover our shop.” (photo below)

4 Wed. Ecuador - Manta Juan Carlos Delgado has recently taken over as manager for CLC Manta. Please pray for him and for Gabriela Dolores, the sales assistant. Pray for opportunities to make the shop better known and that the ministry there will continue to grow.

5 Thu. Austria – Health Matters Armin Heuman has been unwell for nine years. Since 2006 he has not been well enough to manage the CLC bookshop in Graz and has gradually given up his CLC reponsibilities. Please pray for him as he starts a ten week treatment regime in a town 160 km away. These treatments have been helpful in the past. Please pray for God’s healing touch on his life. Pray too for his wife Edeltraud, the shop manager, as she has additional commitments during this time – and travels to be with Armin whenever possible.

6 Fri. Special Events Please pray for anyone in CLC – staff and volunteers – who may be involved in selling books at special events over the Easter Weekend. Praise the Lord for the Good News of Salvation and New Life that we can enjoy and share with others.

3 Tue. Ecuador– Bookshop and Warehouse CLC Ecuador asks for continued prayer regarding their desire to open a second bookshop in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest and most populated city. They also want to buy a suitable property for a distribution warehouse. With the growth and expansion of the ministry comes a request to pray also for the CLC team, that they would continue to work well together and commit themselves to God’s work and their calling in CLC.

7-8 Sat/Sun UK - Wolverhampton CLC UK will again be providing the bookstall for the Elim Bible Week - from the 9th to the 13th of April. CLC Wolverhampton will, with help, provide the staff to run the bookstall.

Give thanks for this opportunity and pray we can serve the participants well and also have good sales as a result.

9 Mon. Central Asia 3 – Changing Laws “Praise the Lord that our business has grown in the past year. The coffee bar has turned out to be a great place for ministry; a place where people feel safe and free to learn and grow. Pray for our understanding and response to new religious laws which may affect us in terms of the sale and distribution of Christian books. We need direction and protection.” The Director

10 Tue. Myanmar – New Publications The publishing team in Myanmar are prayerfully making plans to translate and publish John Piper books into Burmese. Initially they hope to work on the book 50 Reasons why God Came to Die, but there may be many more books over the coming months and years. Please support this project in prayer – in particular pray for the right person to be in charge of the whole translation process.

11 Wed. Portugal – Supplies of Bibles “Please pray for some of our main suppliers; they are having difficulties in obtaining stock of some of our bestselling products - Bibles and gifts in particular - and therefore we have less sales!” Carlos Cunha, Manager of CLC Coimbra.

12 Thu. USA - Annual Conference Please pray for the CLC USA annual conference which will take place at America’s Keswick Conference Centre this weekend April 15th-16th. Our speaker will be Stuart Briscoe and we will be celebrating the release of his first CLC title, Holiness Without the Halo.

13 Fri. France – Managers’ Meetings The bookshop managers in France, together with staff from the warehouse in Montélimar will be spending time together next week (April 16th and 17th). Please pray that they will have good meetings and that these two days will prove beneficial in many ways. At the time of writing there was a possibility that Joel Bores, manager of CLC Guadeloupe, would join them.

14-15 Sat/Sun UK - London Carol Brown retired at the end of January after more than 30 years service in CLC. Carol has worked in various roles and places, most recently in the London shop. Please pray for her as she settles into a new home and lifestyle. Please also pray for extra staff for the London shop and for the team as they prepare the old, and now unused, Holborn

bookshop for return to the landlord at the end of the lease.

16 Mon. Papua New Guinea– Pray for Stability Vere Babona writes: “At the time of writing, there is political instability in PNG with, in theory, two Prime Ministers. Please pray that this situation will be clarified and resolved by June when general elections are held. Praise the Lord that, despite this, the situation is relatively peaceful. The Police Commissioner is a Christian and a regular CLC customer.”

17 Tue. Japan – Nagoya CLC Nagoya is carrying out general refurbishments at the moment. Please pray for all the work that this involves – that it will be done well and on time. The re-opening of the shop is planned for April 23rd. There will be a special ‘service’ in the shop on this day and local pastors have been invited to attend.

There may well be other special events to mark the occasion too.

18 Wed. Trinidad – San Fernando The landlord of our bookshop in San Fernando has recently proposed a significant rise in the rent - which is already high. This, together with problems with electrics, water and termites in the property, makes the need to relocate even more urgent. Of the four CLC shops in Trinidad, this branch has the least passers by and we are on the first floor, not ground level.

Please pray that we will not have to pay the increased rent and that a more suitable shop property would be found for the future.

19 Thu. Austria – Weekend Conference Once again the staff from CLC Graz will be taking a bookstall to the annual Women’s Conference in Corinthia over the coming weekend. Edeltraud and Magdalena will be running the bookstall. Sarah Brugger, a part time member of the shop team since last October, will be running the shop on her own for the first time so please also remember her in prayer.

20 Fri. Italy – Naples Please pray for the bookshop in Naples. It seems that the particular area where our shop is situated, in the city centre and close to the central train station, is deteriorating.

At the time of writing, the two shops immediately in front of CLC had just been robbed by armed men. Manager Pino Perrella asks us to pray for protection and also for God’s guidance as we need to decide whether to relocate the shop.

21-22 Sat/Sun UK – Ipswich (photos below) “We have been blessed in the Ipswich shop with a number of part time younger helpers over recent months. Last September, Katie left us to do a year with ‘Youth for Christ’. This year Daniel is applying to do a year’s worship leader training in London and Hannah is busy applying to go to University in September. All of them are looking to know what the Lord has for them in the future; it is good to see the next generation seeking to follow Him. Please pray for them.” Penny Rivett

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H a n n a h Katie

23 Mon. Switzerland – Property Problems Some time ago we asked for prayer regarding CLC in Lugano-Agno. The shop property

was suffering from humidity but, praise the Lord, the owner of the building has now done some work to stop the rain water leaking through, and the problem seems to be resolved. We would still like to relocate at some point however, and find somewhere more suitable.

Image of CLC India’s 1st Christian comic publication

24 Tue. India – New Publications ELS are publishing Christian comics for the first time, thanks to an introduction to the publishers by CLC USA at ICRS last year.

They are similar to ‘Chick’ comics but are in full colour, contain around 45 pages and cost about $1.00. The title ‘Samson’ has already been produced and another 10-15 titles are to follow. Christopher Robert (National Director) is very pleased with the quality of the production so far. Praise God for this opportunity, and pray that it will be widely distributed and appreciated.

25 Wed. Poland – Difficult Days The current situation in Poland is very difficult. The overall sales have been declining for three years and it is getting harder to pay suppliers for the materials we need in our shops. We may even have to close one of our shops. We are currently without an acting Director and we desperately need God’s intervention to help us, and qualified people to step in to help bring the ministry back to sustainable levels. Please pray that our shops in Katowice, Gliwice and Wroclaw will grow significantly in 2012!

26 Thu. Korea – A Wedding Sung Ryoel Kim, one of the staff members in CLC Korea, is getting married on Saturday April 28th. Please pray for him and his new wife as they start out on their life together in Christ.

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27 Fri. Ecuador - Annual Conference CLC Ecuador has their annual staff conference on Sunday and Monday - April 29th-30th Gerardo Scalante, The America’s Regional Director, will be the main speaker and the theme for the conference will be ‘Christian Ethics in the Workplace’. Remember Director Carlos Marin and the team in prayer at this time.

28-29 Sat/Sun UK – Wholesale By now the CLC Wholesale should have gone live with ‘Pubeasy’. This book trade website allows shops to search for titles, see what quantities are available and place electronic orders. Independent bookshops will be able to see what CLC has in stock without making a phone call. Pray that this will improve our service to bookshops as well as increase sales.

Going live on...

March 2012!

30 Mon. Colombia – New Warehouse Praise the Lord for the new warehouse in Miami, USA. All the CLC Colombia Publishing stock was moved there in January. This new facility is not just so that the CLC Publishing ministry can expand but it is available as a distribution point for many other publishers as well. Please pray, first and foremost with thanksgiving to God, for strength and wisdom in all the work this new project requires.