Prayer Focus: January 2015
Thursday (1st) - Trinidad:
Our bookshops on this island are located in Port of Spain, Arima, San Fernando, and Point Fortin. The crime situation in Trinidad has spiralled out of control; people no longer value life, the majority of people involved in crime are the young people, 14-35 years old, and most of the murders are drug and gang related. We are grateful for God’s daily protection and deliverance and, as we are a business with a mission, we make use of every opportunity to minister to the customers. Our main objective is to be a lighthouse in Trinidad and Tobago.
Friday (2nd) - Dominica:
CLC has had a bookshop in Roseau since 1947. Currently it is managed by Davis Laudat (who has been with CLC for the past 23 years) with help from co-worker Janet Davis. The shop team praise God for a recent agreement with CLC USA to receive shipments, twice a year, of second hand Christian books and Bibles through their BookLink programme. This will allow the shop to stock and sell good books at low cost which helps us with our finances and helps customers who can’t afford books at the full price.
The Weekend (3rd/4th) - Barbados:
Sales have been in decline recently, as is the case in so many bookshops. In addition, many government buildings have moved from the city centre and there is less footfall past our bookshop. For some years now, the team have prayed about the possibility of buying the empty plot of land next to our bookshop property to use for customer parking and possibly as a source of revenue from charging for public use.
Monday (5th) - Ecuador:
CLC in Latin America is increasingly reaching out beyond their country borders to serve in neighbouring countries. CLC in Ecuador (a ministry initiated by CLC Colombia), in partnership with other organisations, has a project to take the Thompson Bible Seminars to Cuba next month. David Navarrete, from CLC Ecuador, will be one of the Seminar leaders. Praise the Lord for His provision for this and for the possibility of partnering with other Christian organisations. Pray that the pastors and church leaders in Cuba will be truly blessed, encouraged and equipped during these days.
Tuesday (6th) - Paraguay:
We thank the Lord that we are taking the final steps to resolving the legal issues in Paraguay so that CLC can take over the running of a bookshop in Cuidad del Este, on the border with Brazil. This process has taken much longer than anyone anticipated but hopefully by the time you read this, the formation of the CLC legal status will be finalised. We thank God for the faithful service of Sunilda, who has been manager of the shop for a number of years, and we trust that she will soon feel at home in her new CLC ‘family’.
Wednesday (7th) - eBook App:
Please continue to pray for the development and implementation of the eBook App. It has been a long road, but we are convinced that this is a tool that will enable us to connect with a new audience, even in places where we are unable to physically have a bookshop. Pray for those working behind the scenes to make this happen – much time, effort and brain power has been dedicated to this project. Pray too that the publishers will understand the vision for eBooks in countries where they are least available.
Thursday (8th) - Canada:
We are presently working on a new project of establishing CLC ‘Book Counters’ in the lesser populated areas of the immense province of Quebec. Apart from Montreal and Québec City, the population is unable to sustain a bookshop. However, as a response to this challenge, these counters will bring Bibles and books to the churches. Please pray that we can find the right venues for the ‘counters’, and people to take care of them.
Friday (9th) - Myanmar:
Print on demand (POD) is a printing technology which allows books to be printed singly, or in small quantities, as orders come in. CLC Myanmar was recently given a POD machine, and training in how to use it, as a gift. After some initial problems that required replacing a damaged component, the team were able to practice using the machine in preparation for using it to print quality books. This is a wonderful project for CLC in a country where translation and printing has been a significant part of the ministry and has had a real impact in society.
The Weekend (10th/11th) - Thailand:
We praise the Lord for what seems to be an answer to a long standing prayer request to have help with the English book department of CLC Thailand. Don and Betsy Veldboom have responded to God’s call on their lives for service as literature missionaries and are preparing to join the team in Thailand in 2015. Don served for many years as the President of OM Literature in the USA and was also a District Manager for Family Christian Stores prior to that.
Monday (12th) - Blackpool, UK:
Give thanks for the continued encouraging growth in the sales of CLC Blackpool and in particular a number of good Bible orders toward the end of last year. With a main bus stop outside the shop and a significant number of people passing by, the Blackpool shop has a wide variety of customers - both local and visitors to the town. Please pray for shop manager Sheena Burwell and the team as they meet the needs of all who call in.
Tuesday (13th) - Stockport, UK:
Pray for an increase in customers at the Stockport shop. Since the fire in May 2012 and the next door building collapse in November 2013, trade has been slow to pick up. The town centre can be very quiet on some days which affects our trade as well. Stockport has one of the highest rates of empty shops in the country. Pray for the council as they work on plans to revive the town centre. Give thanks that some new customers and churches are finding and using the shop.
Wednesday (14th) - Bolton, UK:
Give thanks that the Bolton shop is now providing and staffing bookstalls for two local churches a month as well as for one-off events. Pray that they can continue to build good relationships with other local churches. Pray too for stamina and energy for the staff team as a lot of work is involved in providing these stalls.
Thursday (15th) - Welling, UK:
The Welling shop asks for prayer for another volunteer able to do two or three days a week. At present the staff find it difficult to cover holidays. Pray also for more opportunities to link with local churches and extend their ministry in the area.
Friday (16th) - Cambridge, UK:
In Cambridge, prior to Christmas, the CLC shop had two bookings to talk about books on Radio Cambridge at 7.45 on a Sunday morning. In addition they held a couple of events to launch local author Rodney Holder’s advent book entitled ‘Longing, Waiting, Believing’. They ask for prayer that they get more opportunities to link with the local community and that these and other openings result in increased visits to the shop.
The Weekend (17th/18th) - Stocktaking:
Stocktaking for all the UK shops is at the end of January. Please pray for smooth and accurate counting and a good start to the new financial year in February. Pray also for shops, the leadership team and the trustees as they compile and approve budgets for 2015/2016.
Monday (19th) - USA:
CLC USA has a 22 acre campus in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, with staff housing and the HQ. These buildings were built in the mid-1960s but, unfortunately, funds to keep up with needed maintenance and repair were not always available. To God’s glory, this is beginning to change and several major projects have now been completed. Most of the roads on the campus have been repaved, over 120 windows have just been replaced and new boilers installed. We are praising God for His provision and looking forward to seeing how he will use this campus in the years ahead.
Tuesday (20th) - Colombia:
For over a year now, the bookshop team in Tunja have been praying about the possibility of running a Thompson Bible seminar. They praise God for the answer to their prayers and are looking forward to hosting this special event early in March 2015 *CLC work with the Thompson Bible International Institute in a number of countries, organising seminars for teaching pastors, evangelists and local church leaders how to use the Thompson Bible as a study tool for teaching and preaching.
Wednesday (21st) - Central Asia 2 (CA2):
We often pray for God to send people to us so we can share the hope of the gospel with them. Usually when we pray this, we are expecting the contacts to come to the bookshop. Recently however, the shop manager was reading a CLC book on the train. A girl noticed and asked a question about the book. Through the conversation, the manager was able to share the gospel with her. Although she had an orthodox background, she then went with his family to his church. After a few weeks without further contact, she visited the bookshop not realising the connection with the man she met on the train. She was delighted to find the shop!
Thursday (22nd) - Bolivia:
Recently we needed to pay one of our most important suppliers; this publisher had given us a specific time frame in which to pay the outstanding invoices. Humanly speaking it was impossible for us to get the finances together in time. However, the Lord put it in the heart of CLC in the USA to help us, and we received an offering from them that enabled us to fulfil our obligation. We give God the glory and are very grateful to our co-workers in the USA for their generosity towards the work of the Lord.
Friday (23rd) - Liberia:
This news was written several weeks ago by James Cooper, the bookshop manager:- “We wish to thank God for answered prayers and continual provision for CLC Liberia during the Ebola epidemic. When other businesses are struggling, and some have even shut down, our doors remain open and, best of all, our sales are better than this time last year when things were normal in Liberia. Every day we have customers in the bookshop, some from beyond the city of Monrovia.
The Weekend (24th/25th) - Venezuela:
We praise the Lord for the outcome of CLC’s presence at the International Book Fair in Valencia recently, and for answered prayer in terms of its success. We were the only Christian book stand at the event and we were really well received by the public in general. Not only were we able to introduce many people to the ministry of CLC but we had a lot of opportunities to witness, and share the gospel with passers by. Sales were good as well.
Monday (26th) - Naples:
The CLC bookshop in Naples has been operating since 1956! We are located right in the city centre, close to the main train station. Today, the area around the shop is in decline with criminal activity evident in the vicinity. A year ago, thieves broke into the shop and stole several thousand Euros worth of stock. The bookshop manager Pino Perrella and the rest of the CLC team pray that the shop would serve as a testimony of God’s love in this needy area.
Tuesday (27th) - Florence:
“CLC Florence is situated right in front of the Academy Gallery - home of Michelangelo’s famous statue of David. Visitors and tourists crowd the street, and some of them come and look round the bookshop. Our prayer request is that God would lead others to join our shop team as so much more could be done both in terms of evangelism, and in looking after the Christian customers that sometimes ‘get lost’ in the midst of the crowds. CLC has been paying rent since opening in Florence in 1954, but now we are asking God for guidance as we consider the possibility of purchasing the property.” Filippo Pini, Manager
Wednesday (28th) - Palermo:
Milena Paradiso, the manager of CLC Palermo writes:- “We would like to get into contact with, and serve, the non-Italian speaking churches of Palermo. Please pray that we would find the right people to help us with this. We would also love to improve our service to those churches that are not yet open to Christian literature from authors that do not belong to their particular church group or denomination. We sense that our literature ministry has not yet reached its full potential. Prayer that the Lord would open ‘new doors’ for us is appreciated.”
Thursday (29th) - Turin:
CLC Turin has been increasingly active with special events. There have been numerous occasions where we have been able to have large book tables at regional conferences - with wonderful results. This has meant that the CLC ministry has been introduced to people who live far from a Christian bookshop, and they appreciated the opportunity to buy books and Bibles. We have also had various special events in our bookshop over the past year. These activities have not only given an increased exposure to our bookshop, but have also helped to stabilize our sales.
Friday (30th) - Rome:
CLC Rome opened in the 1970’s and is situated in a central location close to the train station terminus. Currently, the bookshop is managed by Roberta Donia and she writes: - “A number of missionaries have been involved in the shop ministry over the years and we have seen the birth and growth of several evangelical churches in Rome and the surrounding area. The bookshop has always been part of this evangelistic outreach. In recent years we sense an urgency to pray for the younger generation in the churches, that the bookshop may be a blessing for them as well.”
The Weekend (31st/1st) - Milan:
We praise God that the owner of the Milan bookshop, which we have rented for many years, wants to sell the shop to us at a very reasonable price. She is willing to sell, via monthly payments over several years and with no interest. It will be almost as if we were paying the rent. This will help us to stabilize the ministry even further, for which we are thankful. Pray for Daniele Sferlazza and his part-time helper Erika as they serve the customers, many of whom are from Africa and Latin America.