CLC's Prayer Focus 2013 for Jan./Feb.

January 2013 1 Tue. Portugal – New Year, New Laws New tax laws and regulations will be implemented in Portugal at the start of this year. The manager of the CLC bookshop in Coimbra, Carlos Cunha, asks for prayer as adjustments need to be made in the retail process and the way information is presented each month.

2 Wed. Russia – Progress in Moscow Praise the Lord for lots of customers and good sales in the Moscow bookshop last year.

Tasha Tkachuck started working in the shop in October, when a previous staff member left, and she has been a great help during the busy Christmas season. Please pray for the necessary documents (for building plans and electricity supply) that we still need to obtain from the relevant authorities.

3 Thu. Hong Kong – Closure Sadly, CLC in Hong Kong will be closing at the end of this week. Praise the Lord for the good news that has gone out from here, to the surrounding area and overseas, since 1976.

We thank God for the committed service of Casey and Mare Allison, who have been running the bookshop and publishing ministry for many years – initially with a team around them, but latterly on their own.

4 Fri. France – Paris On January the 7th, the solicitor for CLC France will have a hearing concerning the very steep increase in rent that the landlord wants to implement. This increase seems unreasonable to us and we are having problems negotiating with the owner.

The shop desperately needs refitting and decorating but we cannot spend the money until we are sure we can stay in the building.

5-6 Sat/Sun. UK – Christmas 2012 & 13!

Give thanks for all the resources sold over the Christmas period. CLC Aberdeen reports that there were good sales, and new contacts made, at special events during this time.

In spite of only re-opening at the end of October, CLC Stockport sent out about 12 sale or return bookstalls in November and early December. The shop had been closed for several months while in the process of relocation following fire damage to the previous shop. Pray for wisdom as CLC bookshops pre-order stock in January for next Christmas.

7 Mon. USA – Post-Christmas Please pray for each of the CLC USA retail team members who will be working hard in January to sell Christmas merchandise at a discounted rate, returning unsold products and preparing for stocktaking at the end of the month.

8 Tue. Central Asia 2 – Return Journey The Director of CLC in ‘CA2’ returns to the CLC bookshop this week, after several months in her home country. While she was away she got married and now her husband will be joining her in CLC too. Please pray for them as they settle in to married life and ministry together. They have both lived and worked in this country previously.

9 Wed. France - New Shop Location CLC Marseilles is moving (only about 200 yards) to new premises in a more affordable and safer location. Shop manager Willy Lapersonne (see photo) will be very busy at this time but hopefully he will have plenty of volunteer help with all the organising, arranging and last minute details involved in a move like this. Pray that God would bless the CLC ministry in this new place.

10 Thu. USA – Church Bookstore “On Sunday, November 11th, the ‘Compassion CLC Bookcenter’ opened at the Church of Christian Compassion in Philadelphia. This unique partnership between CLC and the Church of Christian Compassion fulfils a vision of Senior Pastor Lonnie Herndon to provide Christian resources for his congregation and the surrounding community. It is the 4th church store partnership of its kind that CLC has pioneered in Philadelphia and is the only Christian bookstore in this part of the city.”

Dave Almack, CLC USA Director (photo below)

also for us as a shop team as we look for fresh, new ideas for the bookshop this year.”

Arah Martin, Manager.

15 Tue. Mozambique – Finance Matters Please pray that we will be able to find new opportunities for reaching out in Mozambique with the resources that CLC can offer. Sales from our bookshops, in Maputo and Beira, need to be sufficient not only to support our two national workers but also to buy new stock from Brazil, whilst at the same time repaying two loans for previous stock. Please pray for wisdom in managing the ministry’s financial resources and for long-term viability for CLC in this country.

16 Wed. Sierra Leone - Expansion We praise God that our customers are very happy with the ‘new’ CLC shop in Freetown.

The recent re-fit to the shop was a project dream for the past few years and there are still other such dreams to be fulfilled. Please continue to pray for national leader Jusu Wai Sawi, that he and the team will have wisdom and guidance as they seek to continually expand the work. There are many possibilities, and discernment is needed to know what to do, and when to do it. (photo below)

11 Fri. Austria – First Booktable of the Year CLC Austria’s first booktable of the New Year will be at the Austrian Evangelical Alliance Conference this weekend in Graz. Please pray for Edeltraud Heumann and her helpers as they attend this event and promote the books and ministry of CLC. Pray too for long term help for Edeltraud. In February a member of staff will be leaving the team.

12-13 Sat/Sun. UK – Head of Finance Brian Stevens retires at the end of January as Head of Finance. Give thanks for all the work he has done and the help and guidance he has given to CLC UK. Please pray that a replacement for him is found as soon as possible. The UK is also looking for a Website Marketer and Manager so please pray for the right person for this role.

14 Mon. Antigua - Inventory (Stocktaking) “Please pray for the smooth operation of our annual inventory at the end of this month and 2

17 Thu. Liberia - Open Again (Dedication Launch) Praise the Lord for a wonderful day celebrating the re-opening of CLC in Monrovia, Liberia last month. Representatives from the Board, CLC International, local churches and a former government minister were present as we dedicated the work to God. The site of the shop is just a couple of blocks from two locations where CLC was previously based.

Our original shop was looted and destroyed during the civil war. As the team tried to maintain a presence, they re-opened in a

different building, only to suffer the same fate again. Fifteen years on it is with great joy that Isaac Dweh rejoins the team, giving valuable help to manager James Cooper.

From L to R

Jusu, Liz, Isaac & James

18 Fri. Regional Directors’ Meetings From January 22nd to 25th, the Regional Directors meet in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania for their regular RD meetings.

New demands are being placed on the International Office team as they seek to discover the response of CLC to the digital revolution taking place. Please pray for this group as it works with new technologies, new ways of thinking, and the tremendous opportunities of ebooks.

19-20 Sat/Sun. UK – Open Day CLC Wholesale in Alresford, Hampshire, is holding an Open Day today, the 19th of January. Pray for a favourable response to our invitation leaflet and that churches and the public take the opportunity to attend.

21 Mon. USA – Representing CLC Please pray for Dave Almack and Kevin Walker who are representing CLC at the Munce Christian Products Expo (January 20-22). This will be the first time in 2013 that many of the new CLC USA titles will be presented to Christian book buyers from around the country.

22 Tue. Pakistan – Construction & Publishing Praise the Lord for progress regarding the construction of an upper floor to our bookshop in Karachi. At the time of writing, it is hoped that work can begin in January. Please pray that all the necessary permissions from the local authorities will be granted so that there

are no more delays. Praise the Lord for the opportunity to publish The Case for Christ by, Lee Strobel, in Urdu. Translation work is complete and hopefully the book will soon be published.

23 Wed. India – Conference & Publishing Please remember the ELS (CLC) team in India as they meet for their Annual Conference this weekend (January 25th-27th). Elections for the team ‘Advisory Council’, which is made up of ELS staff members, will be included in the agenda.

Praise the Lord for the growth of the publishing work. Before Christmas ELS published the CLC USA title Upgrade by Michael Catt and Andrew Murray’s book Absolute Surrender – which has been an ELS publication for a long time but the re-print is an updated format from CLC USA. 24 Thu. Korea – Staff Conference The team plan to meet for a staff conference over the next two days (25th-26th). Please pray that the time spent together would be both beneficial and a blessing.

Please pray too for good titles to be published, and for an increase in sales, despite the overall decline in the Christian book market.

25 Fri. Mozambique – Board Members The vice chair of our Board in Maputo and his wife will be stepping down in January due to other commitments. We are sorry to lose them as they have been a great blessing, but we also thank God for missionary Don Hulsey who will now take on that important role. Meanwhile, our treasurer to the Board (a missionary) has indicated that he will be unable to continue in his role as of August this year. Please pray for the right person to take his place.

26-27 Sat/Sun. UK - Stocktaking With stocktaking in all the shops at the end of the month, please pray for a smooth and accurate count. Particularly remember managers and staff who may be doing this for the first time. Pray also for the accounts department as they process figures which are a vital measure of our financial health.

28 Mon. Tanzania – Location, Location “Thank you for praying that we would be able to see our new container bookshop fully up and running by the end of 2012. Even though 3

we didn’t have any new stock, we were able to open again in September with what we had. However, at the time of writing we have been saddened at the news that there are other plans for the land where our container shop is located, and we are being given very short notice to relocate. This would be the third move in less than 12 months. We need God’s solution to this situation. Please pray especially for our worker Salome and for those who are seeking to help her in Dar es Salaam.” Liz Patten, RD Africa

as well as Thai. Thank God for the help we do have, and pray that the leaders, Yongyut and Paula, will have opportunities to improve their own level of English.

February 2013 1 Fri. eBooks By the time this is published we hope to have a ‘beta’ version of the CLC eBook reader app going through testing. Please pray for the many people involved in making this project a reality.

2-3 Sat/Sun. UK – Welling The lease for the CLC bookshop in Welling is up in March. Please pray with the UK team that the Lord will guide them regarding the future location and direction of the shop. (photo below)

29 Tue. Kenya – New Warehouse Location Praise the Lord for the opportunity to relocate the main warehouse and offices in Nairobi recently. (photo above) Please pray that existing and new customers will easily find us. The location is more accessible than the previous one.

30 Wed. Central Asia 1 – Answered Prayer “For a long time we have experienced difficulties due to a significant shortage of stock. Now, praise God, He has answered our prayers! We thank God in particular for members of staff from CLC USA and a donor from the Netherlands who actively participated in providing us with a financial gift. Now we can place a big order of books from Russia. Please pray for the safe delivery of the order. This is such a pleasure for us as the last main order was in 2007! Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us.”

The shop manager 31 Thu. Thailand - Communication Please pray for wisdom in planning for the ministry during the coming year. Both CLC bookshops, in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, need staff helpers who can communicate in English 4

4 Mon. Panama – Staff Matters Director Milton Cheng writes: “Recently we appointed Sara de Gracia as Personnel Director, along with Diana Cooper as an adviser. Together, they will be working on making the best use of our human resources and defining job descriptions for all the staff.

As part of the changes, Marta Delis, the manager of one of the CLC bookshops in Panama, will now be doing the buying for the entire ministry as well.” Please pray for these ladies.

5 Tue. Benin – Keeping to Budget Emmanuel Ladeyo asks us to please pray that the Lord will enable him and his small team to work within the budget set for them for the

year 2012/13. This would include having sufficient financial resources to be able to increase their stock holding. Also, they need to find an additional worker with a real sense of God’s call to this ministry, so that the work may be further developed in Benin.

6 Wed. Ecuador – Partnership Please pray with the CLC team in Ecuador regarding a possible partnership with the Ecuador Bible League. This may mean we will distribute all their discipleship material including the Devotional Study Bible, which is much in demand. As a result, CLC would have more opportunities to attend evangelistic and discipleship events around the country and we would be able to promote not just one but two worthwhile ministries.

7 Thu. Swaziland – Progress Needed Despite the very difficult situation we are grappling with economically, we believe there is tremendous need for our ministry in Swaziland and we would love to see real progress in our current level of viability.

Simphiwe and Sincedzile, the two Swazi ladies who work in the bookshop, both say that ‘prayers are what we need at this present time’. Please pray for the possibility of some missionary help and support (even if only temporary) so they can reach out with resources at events and in churches.

8 Fri. Poland – Progress Update Praise God that the situation in Poland has turned around throughout 2012. Our sales have increased, the website has been completely redone, we have had more exposure because of some important booktables at conferences, and we are happy that we were able to publish Calvary Road, in Polish! Please pray for us as we plan to publish two more Roy Hession books and one or two other titles in 2013. Pray that the Lord will open more doors for us to expand the ministry!

9-10 Sat/Sun. UK - Leicester Please pray for Paul Jordan, our new shop manager, as he takes over from Michael Shaw who retired at the end of January. As well as taking on board the day to day running of the shop, Paul has a particular burden to forge links with churches and their leaders in order to raise awareness of the mission

of CLC and the need for support if CLC is to remain a presence on the high street.

Various events will be planned to help achieve this aim; please pray for their success. Above all, pray that we will retain a sincere love and desire to serve every one of our customers to the best of our ability.

11 Mon. USA - Student Contacts Please pray for Bill and Marge Almack as they visit colleges and universities to present the ministry of CLC to students who are considering serving as interns and short term missionaries. Many students are making decisions about where to serve for the summer by the end of February.

(Bill & Marge)

12 Tue. Togo – Plans to Return Two years ago CLC closed it’s bookshop in Lome, Togo, as the circumstances were no longer right to continue. However, even at the time of closing, we were told that we would need to come back as there is a real need for CLC in this country. Please pray for Prosper Weda, CLC’s Director for French speaking West Africa, and the Africa Regional Director, Liz Patten, as they begin to pray and plan for a new beginning for CLC in Togo.

13 Wed. Portugal – Bible Studies For several years now, shop manager Carlos Cunha has arranged and hosted (in the Coimbra bookshop) a ‘Chronological’ Bible study series. This is mainly for customers and contacts who are not Bible believing Christians, but have a real interest in what the Bible has to say. Please pray as these studies start up again this year. A number of people have found Christ as a result of this specific course. Local churches are also involved in the project.

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14 Thu. Germany - Appreciation “We really appreciate it when customers comment that they enjoy the atmosphere in the Hamburg bookshop. Some people travel a long distance to buy their books and Christian resources from us and to support the ministry. We also rejoice in the fact that every day at least one person buys a Bible.

We are often encouraged when we hear the stories of why the customers want to buy Bibles!” Valentin Schweigler 15 Fri. France – Saint Etienne At the end of last year the decision was taken to close CLC Saint Etienne in June 2013. Please pray for Joelle Dowse, the shop manager, as she explains this decision to customers and prepares the shop for closure. Pray too as local churches are approached and asked to consider ways that the shop could continue under another owner or association.

16-17 Sat/Sun. UK – Kingston After a fire in the adjacent building last November, the Kingston shop gives thanks that there was no fire, smoke, or water damage and that they were able to resume trading the following day. Pray for the physical safety of all of the CLC shops.

20 Wed. Kenya – Elections There will be major general elections in Kenya on March 4th. Please pray for peace at this time, and for God’s guidance as people vote for their President, Members of Parliament, Senators and County Governors.

21 Thu. Japan – Annual Conference CLC Japan’s annual conference will be held in Tokyo at the beginning of March. It is a long time since all the staff have participated in this. Praise God for the opportunity for everyone to enjoy fellowship and attend the various sessions. Pray that this will be a good and encouraging experience for all involved.

22 Fri. Liberia – Partnerships (photo) “We have been approached by a Seminary and several Bible institutions requesting a partnership agreement with the management of CLC Liberia, whereby CLC could import requisite and relevant theological text books into the country. Please pray with us that these agreements will be successful, as they will have high commercial and ministry value for CLC Liberia.” James Cooper, Manager of the CLC bookshop in Monrovia. (Photo below of James with his wife Thomatta.)

18 Mon. POD Print on Demand, POD, is becoming increasingly common in the publishing world.

This enables small quantities, maybe even just one copy, to be printed. Initially POD machines were very expensive but they are becoming more economical – to the point where we can consider buying them ourselves. The huge advantage is that it overcomes the supply chain issues of transporting small quantities of books around the world, and it is almost immediate. Pray as we consider opportunities to get involved with this technology.

19 Tue. Chile – Santiago At the time of writing, there is a shortage of staff for the main CLC bookshop in Chile, in the capital Santiago. Recently staff have left to join other ministries or for work elsewhere.

Please pray for the manager of the bookshop as he gives time and energy to training staff who do not always stay very long. Pray that the Lord would bring people to the team who are willing to commit themselves long term to the work.

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23-24 Sat/Sun. UK – Birmingham Business in the Birmingham bookshop continues to be severely affected by the massive building works all around them.

Please pray with the shop team that the companies involved in this major renovation and construction programme will consider the needs of the bookshop - to maintain trade and accessibility to customers – and make provision to allow for this.

25 Mon. Myanmar – Growth & Expansion Thank God for the gradual and steady increase in publications and book distribution through CLC in Myanmar. However, this progress produces more needs – for a new warehouse, a second bookshop and accommodation for the staff. Please pray!

The CLC ministry will be presented, and represented with a bookstall, at a pastors’ conference in Kalaymyo later this week – February 27th and 28th.

Bibles for

Belarus

26 Tue. Belarus – Bibles for Belarus Praise the Lord for the first print run of Russian Bibles published by CLC Belarus in partnership with the CLC International Office. 3,300 Bibles were printed, to a very high standard, two thirds of which will be sold through CLC Belarus. The remaining Bibles will be sold by CLC in Russia.. Praise God for the opportunity to publish Bibles in a place where, not that long ago, the Bible was a forbidden book. Thank God for all the people who, through prayers and generous donations, have made this project possible.

27 Wed. Trinidad – New Opportunities Marlene Ramroop reports that the team in Trinidad are having many opportunities to minister to the needs of their customers, including taking books to the Port of Spain hospital. In addition, contact has been made with a pastor in Tobago who is also the manager of the General Hospital there. There is a possibility that we could have space in the hospital to open a small bookshop. Please pray for this possibility to become a reality.

28 Thu. Colombia - A Facebook Offer!

Before the end of last year, CLC Colombia had well over 600 people following their Facebook account. By way of publicity for CLC publications, and as an encouragement to readers, CLC offered free books to the first three people who sent a testimony regarding a CLC book they had read which had changed their lives. Some wonderful testimonies were sent in. Praise God!

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CLC has been operating in the Philippines for over 50 years and has seen recent growth in terms of book publications and bookshops. On December 10th, 2012, CLC Philippines opened its sixth bookshop. The new shop is situated in Davao, the largest city on the island of Mindanao.

Here are some photos taken at the opening celebration.