Around the CLC World 2012 - Summary of Events

january

»» CLC/ELS India discovers that full colour Bible story comic books are very popular. They plan to produce a series of 16 titles. »» CLC Kenya celebrates the official opening of a new shop in Eldoret, near the western border with Uganda. The Christian radio station next 1 door gives us free air time! 1 »» CLC Burkina Faso celebrates a Jubilee event for churches and missions. They sell books shipped from France under the project ‘Give a second life to your books’.

february

»» Praise the Lord for the new publications warehouse opened in Miami by CLC Colombia. This will help distribution to all the Latin American countries (including the USA!). »» CLC Naples in Italy finds itself in an increasingly dangerous area of the city. CLC Italy’s first ebook is very relevant: ‘The Revolution of Love’ by George Verwer. »» CLC Portugal appears on national television! The 25th anniversary is shown in a seven minute clip, containing interviews with Board members and the local manager, Carlos Cunha.

march

»» The CLC International Council meets in Panama City. The theme for the conference is ‘Making the Message Global’ as we consider the opportunities and challenges of the digital revolution. 40 delegates from 25 countries make this a truly international occasion, underlining that we are a worldwide family. 2 »» CLC France completes the installation of a new computer system. These projects are increasingly expensive and complex – but necessary to ensure we have the technology of today. »» Our teams deal with a variety of human and natural difficulties: Chile & Japan (earthquakes), Australia (tornado), 2 Pakistan (violence), and Kenya & Ecuador (theft).

april

»» Regretfully we close a number of shops – Gliwice (Poland), Stamford (UK), and Sapporo (Japan). »» A fire breaks out in our Santiago shop, CLC Chile. Happily there is relatively little damage and the staff present the firemen with the book ‘More than a Carpenter’. »» CLC UK Wholesale is voted ‘Distributor of the Year’ at the trade convention Christian Resources Together.

may

»» At Expolit in Miami, CLC Chile receives recognition as ‘Distributor of the Year’ for Latin America. »» Eurel Hodge retires as manager of CLC Antigua after many decades of service. Thank you, Eurel! »» Location, location! CLC USA relocates their Chestnut Hill store 4 ; the London bookshop moves closer to it original location; and CLC Panama moves their main store to be closer to the new metro system.

june

»» CLC Colombia opens a new shop in the city of Tunja. Recently married, Jairo Nieves and Shirley 4 Santos move from Bogota to manage the shop. »» CLC Sierra Leone is grateful to receive a container full of new books, Book Aid second hand books and shelves that will permit a major re-fit of the main bookshop. »» CLC Korea wins a national award from the Ethics Commission for its book ‘Song of Songs’. They also open a bookshop at their headquarters.

july

»» CLC Ecuador opens a second bookshop in the city of Guayaquil. Although not the capital, Guayaquil is the largest city in the country and the principle port. »» CLC Indonesia opens a kiosk in a major supermarket complex in Surubaya. 5 »» Three Russian speaking countries have a conference together in Moscow. It is a great opportunity for the teams to meet up. 6

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august

»» CLC Romania is encouraged by their publications – they sell 300 copies of a bilingual Children’s Bible to an American church, and they publish ‘Drops from a Leaking Tap’ by George Verwer. 7 »» CLC Australia closes its final bookshop as part of a scheduled shut down, following the earlier closure of the bookshops in New Zealand. The realities of online buying have hit the book trade particularly hard in Australia and New Zealand. CLC is not the only book organisation affected by this trend. »» CLC USA reports that sales of eBooks of their publications have risen dramatically this year. This has been helped by the purchase of several Watchman Nee titles that are also available as eBooks for the first time.

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september

»» The development of a CLC eReader app begins to take shape as Neil Wardrope and Gerardo Scalante visit the USA. Will this be the next big development for CLC? »» CLC Portugal holds two studies for nonbelievers on the subject of Biblical prophecy. »» CLC in Central Asia reports that they have increasing opportunities to share the Gospel with their customers.

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october

»» CLC USA sends a group to Sierra Leone to work with the local team to help with the remodelling of the shop. Everyone is happy with the outcome! »» CLC Netherlands celebrates 50 years of ministry in the country. Many former workers join together to thank God for His faithfulness. 8 »» Registration papers are signed for the establishment of a CLC work in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. We hope to open early in 2013. 9

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november

»» CLC Belarus is delighted that the first production run of Russian Bibles has arrived.

This is a dream they have had for many years. »» Many CLC countries are updated to the latest version of the website. This will permit the online sale of eBooks. We are becoming a technological mission! »» CLC Mozambique is encouraged by a partnership with Editora Fiel from Brasil.

Books will be provided on consignment and transport costs will be much lower. This is a great help for the ministry! 10

december

»» On Dec. 1st CLC celebrates the formal reopening of the work in Liberia after a gap of 15 years. Thank you Lord! 11 »» CLC Philippines celebrates the opening of a new bookshop in Davao City on the southern island of Mindanao with a dedication ceremony on Dec 10th. »» Most of our workers are exhausted by the time Christmas arrives as December is easily the busiest month of the year. Pray they will get some much needed rest!

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