Prayer Focus 2018 - January
Week 1 - January: Global Praise Points
Monday (1st) – Myanmar:
Praise the Lord that we have now completed the first ever Burmese Study Bible! Please pray for the Bible Dedication service that we have planned for January 6 at the Bethel Baptist Church in Yangon, Myanmar. We are planning for about 200 guests, so please pray that all our planning and preparing will lead to a day of thanksgiving to our Lord.
Tuesday (2nd) – Canada:
CLC Canada has recently re-allocated the space in the East Montreal store to accommodate the fixtures and inventory from Video La Bergerie (a ministry of CLC Canada that distributes DVDs in French and other materials). In doing so, they had to restructure the retail space to make room. Interestingly, they were so creative in this remodel that customers did not realise the store actually has less space. One customer even commented that he wondered if the store had become bigger. Let’s keep praying for Antoine Roberge, the National Director, and his team as they work hard to provide resources for this least Christian part of Canada.
Wednesday (3rd) – United Kingdom:
Praise the Lord for the development of our retail website. It has made a positive start even though there is plenty of work still to be done. The content on the site is continually growing, and we want to learn how to connect with our customers, not only to sell them Bibles and books, but also to encourage them on their spiritual journey.
Thursday (4th) – Indonesia:
Praise God for the opportunity to open a book kiosk near The Petra Christian University, which is well-known in Surabaya. Please pray that we will be given opportunities to share about our mission and reach out to many students in the area. Pray, too, that the Lord will bring about ways for us to partner with the university to further spread the Gospel.
Friday (5th) – France:
Praise the Lord that at the end 2017, our warehouse celebrated ten years in Montélimar. An Open Day was held on November 24. We thank the Lord for good attendance. It is our hope that this event will encourage more local Christians and non-Christians to visit us regularly.
The Weekend (6th/7th) –Venezuela:
We praise our God because He has been faithful and has cared for us in the midst of our very challenging circumstances. Every day, the Lord has kept His promises. Even in the most difficult of moments, we have seen God’s provision. We thank God for being our Good Shepherd, taking care of every detail in our lives.
Week 2 - January: Goals for 2018
Monday (8th) – Poland:
Please pray that we will have stability among our staff and good relationships so we can work together in harmony and with mutual respect. Please also continue to pray that our bookshop sales and those from our publishing house will continue to increase.
Tuesday (9th) – Colombia:
Our goal for 2018 is for God to allow us to be faithful and firm in our call to spread the Word of God in Colombia and in the places within our reach. We want to fulfil His purpose. The theme for 2018 in all of our projects will be Faithful and Firm to Our Call. All our activities will revolve around this motto. Please pray that the Lord will be gracious and continue to help us to stand firm.
Wednesday (10th) – Kenya:
We have three goals this year: first, we want to become debt free. Second, we pray that the Lord will help us to strengthen our ministry and outreach programmes. Third, we pray that the Lord helps us to increase our sales to create financial sustainability for our ministry. We praise God for the new workers who have joined our team. Now that we have the labourers, we hope for a harvest in 2018 that surpasses any previous year.
Thursday (11th) – Mozambique:
Please pray that we will continue to grow together as a local expression of CLC family and to glorify God in all that we do here to fulfil the CLC mission statement: “to make evangelical literature available to all the nations so that people may come to faith in Christ and grow into maturity in Him.”
Friday (12th) – Uruguay:
We ask you to pray for us as we need wisdom and innovation from the Lord to face 2018. New opportunities and ideas are required to help increase our presence in the country so that we can provide the best possible service to our community. Pray, too, for our upcoming meetings with church leaders as we discuss hosting Thompson Bible Seminars for them.
The Weekend (13th/14th) – United Kingdom:
Our prayer for 2018 is that we adjust our work to the commercial and technological realities of the book world while taking advantage of the tremendous opportunities of eBooks, Print-on-Demand and audio books. People are reading. People are buying books—but not necessarily through the traditional channels. We need to change to customers’ preferences, not the other way round!
Week 3 - January: Upcoming Events
Monday (15th) – Belarus:
It is our dream to present to the public our selection of Bibles and Christian books at the International Minsk Book Fair from February 7–11. Last year, no Christian publisher or ministry was present, so we plan to find a way to have a booth this year. We are considering the option of sharing a booth with another ministry. Please pray that the Lord would direct us in this decision and guide us in our selection of stock.
Tuesday (16th) – United States:
CLC Publications will be launching a new book entitled Wallpaper Worship in February. This book is written by a former worship leader in the Promise Keepers movement and is designed to help churches move their congregants from worship spectators to worship participants.
Wednesday (17th) – Kenya:
We have been invited by the Deliverance Church community to visit their churches throughout the country. Our plan is to promote, distribute and sell the Africa Study Bible along with a selection of other great Christian books and Bibles. Please pray for proper and adequate plans, adequate manpower, good reception and many sales. Please also continue to pray for the political situation in our country. After last year’s elections, our situation has been quite rocky. Please ask the Lord to help settle this unrest and improve the overall economy of our country.
Thursday (18th) – Sierra Leone:
This February we will be holding our 50th Anniversary celebrations, including a luncheon on the 11th and a Thanksgiving Service on the 18th. Please join us in prayer that these events will be successful and the name of the Lord will be praised.
Friday (19th) – Mexico:
During the month of March, we have scheduled some NTV Bible (Spanish NLT) workshops with Tyndale publishers in various areas around the country. Please pray for our partnership with Tyndale as we plan these events and also pray that these workshops will be well attended and well received.
The Weekend (20th/21st) – Benin:
Praise God that this June CLC Benin will celebrate its 20th anniversary. Please pray for the team as they begin to plan for this event. National Director Emmanuel Ledayo asks that we will continue to pray for the health of his team and that they will see a visible improvement in their sales.
Week 4 - January: Evangelism & Outreach Opportunities
Monday (22nd) – Cyprus:
For many years, we have received orders for Greek calendars that include a Bible verse and a daily reading. They have always generated good feedback from our customers. Customers have shared how the Lord used the calendars to speak to them about their situations. We are so thankful to God for the fact that more than 600 calendars were ordered for 2018 from individuals and Greek-speaking churches. As quite a number of these calendars are given to non-Christians, please pray with us that God’s Word will speak to their hearts.
Tuesday (23rd) – United Kingdom:
Please pray that every day the Lord would bring people to our shops that need to hear of the love of God, and also please pray for sensitivity and boldness for our workers to know how to share. We want to see people set free in their spiritual experience!
Wednesday (24th) – Chile:
We thank the Lord that every day there is an opportunity to share the Gospel in our shops. A young woman entered our shop because she was attracted by a title in the window display. By her confusion, we quickly realised that she was not a believer, and she was struggling. She didn’t know what to do or who to turn to. After listening to her story, we began talking, sharing and, finally, praying with her. She was very grateful for our attention and prayer. Believing that God had directed her steps to find us that day, she left the shop with a hope that God was at work in her life and that He would help with her situation.
Thursday (25th) – Mozambique:
Please continue to pray that the Lord will make us sensitive in speaking with the visitors to our bookshops, especially towards those who don’t yet know Him. Let us truly be a ‘light on the hill’ to the cities where we work (Maputo and Beira).
Friday (26th) – Kenya:
Our plan is to begin a Youth Talent Programme for 11- to 18-year-olds. Our hope is to nurture the talents of these young writers, illustrators, editors, poets and designers to ensure that they will thrive in the book industry.
The Weekend (27th/28th) – Mexico:
At the end of 2017, we were blessed by the opportunity to be in contact with the director of an evangelism ministry that is very much on fire for the Lord. We are planning to work closely together this year to develop a variety of workshops in our facilities. Please continue to pray for this exciting new endeavour.
Week 5 – Jan/Feb: Prayer Requests from the CLC World
Monday (29th) – Poland:
Please pray that the books we have published in the past few years will continue to reach into new markets. Please continue to pray that new customers will discover these books that can bless and enrich their lives.
Tuesday (30th) – France:
May the Lord inspire us to continue developing our ministry and projects so that we may better serve our clients in 2018, both personally and professionally.
Wednesday (31st) – Venezuela:
Our prayer is that the Lord would continue to take care of the ministry in the midst of present difficulties, which may be the greatest we have ever experienced in all the years we have been in Venezuela. We pray that the work and development of CLC can be maintained over this time and continue to offer service to all the Venezuelan people as it has been doing for more than 40 years.
Thursday (1st) – Korea:
The spring semester begins in March here in Korea. Our hope is that many Korean students, especially seminarians, will make good use of our titles. Please pray our titles will be chosen as textbooks for as many seminaries as possible.
Friday (2nd) – United Kingdom:
Please pray for the ongoing work of the bookshops as we continue to adjust and learn about the rapidly changing retail environment. We are working hard to integrate our retail and digital strategies, but this is a challenge.
The Weekend (3rd/4th) – USA Shipment to Sierra Leone:
Praise the Lord that the shipment to Sierra Leone left CLC USA’s warehouse on time in November, and it was scheduled to arrive in mid-January. Delayed shipments and customs clearance are quite normal, so please pray that it this is the case the team will soon receive these books. Pray, too, that the much needed Print-on-Demand supplies included in this shipment arrive in a timely manner. The team needs these supplies to best serve its customers. Thank you.