Prayer Focus: May 2015
Friday (1st) - Dundee and Guildford:
Pray for the Dundee shop. Mark Buchanan has recently become the manager and Ian and Lynne are two part time workers who have
joined the team. After falling for some years, sales in Dundee need to increase to balance the books so pray for the team as they reach out to churches and build contacts with the local community. Give thanks for the support we are receiving from a number of strategic local churches.
The Guildford shop has also experienced falling sales for a few years. However, give thanks for recent good improvements and pray for Graham Lapthorn and the team as they build on what has been achieved.
The Weekend (2nd/3rd) - Bookshop Leases:
The leases for several UK shops become due for renewal or renegotiation this year. Please pray for Mick Goodman, CLC Operations and for Jennie Byrne, who is our property advisor, as they talk to landlords and their agents about terms and conditions for new leases. The Leadership Team and Trustees also need much wisdom in knowing how to proceed when new terms are proposed.
Monday (4th) - Bookshops and Wholesale:
Please pray for daily operations of our bookshops in Malolos, Cebu, Naga, Davao, the main shop in Karuhatan (Manila) and the shop attached to the Febias Bible College. Also continue to pray for our wholesale operations based in Karuhatan as the way some larger retail customers buy from us has changed.
Tuesday (5th) - Cebu:
Please pray for the bookshop in Cebu City. We need to find personnel to manage the shop as the current manager, who moved there from CLC in Manila, is now approaching to retirement age.
Wednesday (6th) - Davao City:
CLC Davao is the most recent shop to open and there is a need for additional staff. A recent resignation means that, at the time of writing, just the manager and a volunteer were running the shop. Please pray for God’s provision of additional competent staff.
Thursday (7th) - Wholesale:
Continue to pray for the Sales Team of the Wholesale Department that they will be encouraged and more efficient in selling our books through different channels despite the challenges that they continually face.
Friday (8th) - Online Shopping:
Praise God for the orders through the online shop, LAZADA. Our products have been active on this site since last December and orders are coming in. Continue to uphold us in prayer, as we will be adding more titles to this site.
The Weekend (9th/10th) - Facilities in Valenzuela:
Our main HQ, warehouse and bookshop in Valenzuela continues to be a channel of blessings to other Christian groups here in Valenzuela. Regular prayer meetings of the Far East Broadcasting Company Prayer Partners are held here every Tuesday. Other groups, and a church congregation, use our large Function Hall. Even non-Christians have held wedding receptions and birthday parties here. Please pray for the safety of everyone who comes into our premises.
Monday (11th) - A Good Start in Bolivia:
We give thanks to God for the first 18 months of CLC in Bolivia. He has blessed us and we have seen His provision and faithfulness month by month. As we move on, we would appreciate prayer for more openings for distribution that will help us increase sales and be faithful in paying our suppliers.
Tuesday (12th) - Key Components for CLC Bolivia:
Please pray for wisdom to establish good strategies for buying and selling books and Bibles so that we would have the right stock to meet the specific needs of people in Bolivia. We also ask for prayer for the staff – that those who are already working with us will have a love for the vision of CLC and that God would bring more personnel capable of taking on key roles in the future ministry of CLC in the country.
Wednesday (13th) - Bolivia Resources and Residence:
Please pray for God’s provision and direction as we look to open a second bookshop at some point in the not too distant future.
There are a number of important cities in Bolivia without a good Christian bookshop. Please pray for Gamaliel and Marlene Padilla
who have left their home and family in Venezuela to direct the work of CLC in this country. Pray for continued good health and
also that they would soon be issued with permanent residence visas. Thank you for your prayer support.
Thursday (14th) - CLC Uruguay’s New Bookshop:
We are grateful to God for the possibility of establishing a new CLC bookshop in February this year. This second, and smaller,
bookshop in Montevideo is located just 100 metres from the main bus terminal in the capital. We trust that God will bring many new
customers to this place.
Friday (15th) - Vision and Extension for Uruguay:
We need vision to see opportunities to minister, through CLC, in areas we have not yet explored in order to make a difference in the lives of people in this country. Praise God for the work already accomplished through the mobile bookshop and the main shop in
Montevideo. Now we trust that the new bookshop, by the bus terminal, will serve people who come from different cities in the interior of the country.
The Weekend (16th/17th) - Decisions and Provisions for CLC Uruguay:
May God give us wisdom and grace as we make personnel decisions to give continuity and ensure the future of the ministry. We are thankful for God’s provision in order to maintain the distribution from our warehouse despite the difficult economic climate in the country.
Monday (18th) - Regional Director for Europe:
Pray for Gary Chamberlin (Regional Director for Europe) who has the responsibility of arranging and coordinating the CLC European Leaders’ meetings to be held in Poland next week. Representatives from most of the 15 countries where CLC works in Europe will be present for a time of fellowship, training and sharing of ideas and concerns in the ministry.
Tuesday (19th) - Regional Director for the Americas:
“Next month there will be a webmasters meeting for the CLC countries in Latin America to be held in Panama. These meetings are crucial for training our web masters on the new features of the CLC eCommerce website. We are also planning to have time to discuss our marketing and social network strategy. We have a lot of work to do to increase the sales through the CLC sites. There are some countries,
like Venezuela, that are really moving ahead but we would love to see the same results for all the websites.” Gerardo Scalante, Regional Director for The Americas and Caribbean
Wednesday (20th) - Regional Director for Africa:
In October 2014, Liz Patten (Regional Director for Africa) and Petra Nemansky moved from the UK to Maputo with the aim of developing the work of CLC in Mozambique, Swaziland and Kenya. They are living at a guest home for missionaries and other full time Christian workers, where they are also involved with giving a helping hand. Please pray for them, that they will be able to balance the various commitments and also make time for rest and refreshment. They will need wisdom in planning their travel schedules to the other countries: Petra to Swaziland and Kenya and Liz to other countries in CLC Africa.
Thursday (21st) - I.O. Personnel, Accounts :
Give thanks for the work of Lesley West. She oversees the accounts of the International Office, managing the project funds, requesting
country contributions and the myriad of details that are associated with making sure that all monies are accounted for. Her work is
unseen by most but we would soon know if it was not done!
Friday (22nd) - I.O. Personnel, Online Training Platform:
Lloyd Hodkinson has been working in recent months on the preparation of an online training platform. The purpose is to enable CLC to share the training resources that it possesses. In time we trust that this will provide training material in a variety of languages. Training is a vital part of any work – please pray that this online facility will enable many to gain the skills necessary for their CLC work.
The Weekend (23rd/24th) - I.O. Personnel, eCommerce:
Cristi Cotovan has been masterminding the eCommerce project for a number of years. He originally developed the system in his native Romania, but is now based at the International Office in Sheffield. Websites are now available in more than 15 CLC countries as a result of this platform, reaching more people than is possible through our bookshops. He is currently involved in the development of the eBook eReader app project, which will be a major advance.
Monday (25th) - Finance :
For some time now, the work of CLC Kenya has been struggling. We began in 2007 as a wholesale operation but this has suffered due
to the national economic situation and the closure of various retail outlets that used to buy from us. As a result of diminishing wholesale
sales, we have tried a new focus on retail, at the same time continuing with wholesale. Please pray for our shops in Nairobi (a small retail
front at our wholesale department and a ‘container’ bookshop in a church compound) and our shop in Eldoret. Pray that we would be
able to continue to minister through the book sales but also through personal conversations with the customers.
Tuesday (26th) - Staffing:
Due to necessary financial cutbacks as a result of yesterday’s point about finances, sadly it has been necessary to cut back to a minimum the number of staff in the team. Please pray for Edith Wamalwa as she leads the now much smaller team, and for each staff member that they would remain encouraged.
Wednesday (27th) - Outreach:
With retail and wholesale sales having become a struggle, there is an even greater need for the team to get out with the books! Clarence Matheny Ministries currently hold a leadership conference in Nairobi most months of the year, and CLC has been regularly attending with a book table. Please pray that our perseverance will be rewarded and that the delegates will make the most of what we are offering!
Thursday (28th) - Marketing:
Funds are currently low for the purchase of new stock. However, the ministry does have a large quantity of back (older) stock still in hand. The challenge is, how to market these titles to those for whom they would be a blessing! Please pray for the team, that they will be inspired to market creatively so that these titles will get to those who need them, and with the funds that this will generate, we will be able to settle
old supplier debts and make new purchases.
Friday (29th) - New Project:
The CLC International Office, together with the Missions Director from CLC USA, has been investigating the possibility of a Print on Demand system (POD) for Kenya. Funds have been raised to purchase the initial equipment and Edith Wamalwa in Nairobi is looking forward to the new opportunities that this will bring to the ministry. Petra Nemansky (CLC International Office) plans to visit Nairobi to help set up this system during the first half of 2015, and thereafter it is anticipated that she will make quarterly visits, from her base in
Mozambique,to support this new project. Please pray for good training and a smooth, encouraging start to this new venture.
The Weekend (30th/31st) - Valued Customers:
It goes without saying that all customers are valued! Sometimes we get large orders from mission workers, living far out of town, to use in local outreach. It is a privilege for CLC to be able to help to get specific materials as requested. Please pray for mission workers in rural areas of Kenya particularly, that God will bless them for their faithfulness and for their investment in His Kingdom.