F R A N C E

Thirst for the WordAn SPCKA loan has made possible the publication of Soif de la Parole (Thirst for the Word), the French edition of Search the Scriptures. This is an initiative of GBU, the French evangelical student movement.

‘I would love to get Search the Scriptures into the hands of every French-speaking student who wants to read and study the Bible,’ writes GBU staff worker, Jonathan Chaintrier. ‘God has given us his Word so that we can meet him, know him, love him and keep trusting him. I want students to read the Bible with their heads and their hearts.’

The response of students has been immediate: ‘This guide has improved the quality of my Bible reading. I have studied loads of passages which I otherwise wouldn’t have taken the time to read. I realise that the whole Bible is useful, not just the passages we know and love. And I now see how the whole Bible fits together.’

Please pray that this book will encourage French-speaking students in Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and Canada to spend precious time daily with our Heavenly Father.

The French edition of Alan Stibbs’s Search the Scriptures, was launched at a Christian convention in Paris. European sales will subsidise the provision of this book in Africa and the Caribbean.

You can make Christian literature available where it is most needed.

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G ’ D A Y F R O M S P C K A A U T U M N 2 0 1 1

Better togetherDoes the church sometimes appal you? Disappoint you? Embarrass you? Well, get over it! There is no plan B. Together we must contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to us (Jude 3).

We need to be reminded that Jesus’ instructions to be salt and light were issued to his disciples collectively, not individually.

Economies of scale enable us to do big things together that we cannot do by ourselves. And of course, as a team, we can complement each other’s gifts and compensate for our limitations. If, like me, you’re not especially compassionate, do what I did, marry someone who is! Moreover, each can pursue unique opportunities and God-given passions.

Love can only be displayed in community. By our love for one another the world will know that we are his disciples (John 13.35). Out of reverence for Christ we submit to one another (Ephesians 5.21).

I have discovered the value of our collaboration as a church the hard way. My isolated good works are too often ambiguous, too easily dismissed as eccentric. It is our partnership, the collective good works of holy people that point others to our heavenly Father.

Jesus said to his disciples, a bunch of cowards and traitors, ‘You are the light of the world.’ (Matthew 5.14) Look around you. Nothing has changed! Together, we are the light of the world. Jesus must have known something we don’t. Jesus trusted that the Holy Spirit would complete the work which he has begun in us.

Michael Collie National Director

michael.collie@spcka.org.auSPCKASociety for Promoting Christian Knowledge Australia Incorporated ARBN 119 800 645 and the Australian Christian Literature Society. PO Box 198, Forest Hill, Victoria 3131, Australia. Telephone 1300 13 7725 | admin@spcka.org.au | www.spcka.org.auIgniting Christian writing

Michael Collie (third from left) with the staff of Christian publisher, Certeza Argentina.

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SPCKASociety for Promoting Christian Knowledge Australia and the Australian Christian Literature Society PO Box 198, Forest Hill, Victoria 3131, Australia Telephone 1300 13 7725 admin@spcka.org.au | www.spcka.org.au Igniting Christian writing

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F R A N C E

Thirst for the WordAn SPCKA loan has made possible the publication of Soif de la Parole (Thirst for the Word), the French edition of Search the Scriptures. This is an initiative of GBU, the French evangelical student movement.

‘I would love to get Search the Scriptures into the hands of every French-speaking student who wants to read and study the Bible,’ writes GBU staff worker, Jonathan Chaintrier. ‘God has given us his Word so that we can meet him, know him, love him and keep trusting him. I want students to read the Bible with their heads and their hearts.’

The response of students has been immediate: ‘This guide has improved the quality of my Bible reading. I have studied loads of passages which I otherwise wouldn’t have taken the time to read. I realise that the whole Bible is useful, not just the passages we know and love. And I now see how the whole Bible fits together.’

Please pray that this book will encourage French-speaking students in Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and Canada to spend precious time daily with our Heavenly Father.

The French edition of Alan Stibbs’s Search the Scriptures, was launched at a Christian convention in Paris. European sales will subsidise the provision of this book in Africa and the Caribbean.

D R C O N G O

Home grown books in Congolese Swahili

Typically, students coming to Berea Bible College in Kindu have never owned a book and clergy and congregations in villages have no access to printed resources. Funds provided by SPCKA

have been used to build up the college library and provide students with key Bible references in Kiswahili as well as to publish text books and liturgical materials prepared locally in Congolese Swahili.

After three years of study, students can now graduate with a set of text books that will be both a familiar and indispensable resource in their isolated parishes.

Veteran clergy are asking if they too can have copies of these books. Most pastors lost their books along with other possessions during years of civil war. The lack of prayer books and hymn books has hindered church planting. With the provision of a duplex laser printer, toner and paper these resources can be printed as they are required.

Please pray for the Berea Bible College staff and their Bishop, Masimango Katanda, as they equip and encourage lay and ordained church leaders.

Locally written titles include: Women in the Bible: How God used women as well as men to fulfil his plan of salvation; Your Kingdom Come: A Biblical theology of salvation; The Art of Preaching: Step by Step; and commentaries on Romans and Hebrews.

P H I L I P P I N E S

New leaders awarded essential references‘My name is Kendall M. Mendoza. I have just graduated from St Andrew’s Theological Seminary, here in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines.

‘I want to express my appreciation to SPCKA for the two books that I have received. I cannot put into words the excitement I felt when I was given my commentary and concordance.

‘This is a great help to us, especially in our future ministries. Rest assured that my gratitude for your kind gesture is shared by the whole graduating class of 2011.

‘Thank you and God Bless!’Students at St Andrews cannot afford

to buy these Bible study resources for themselves. Many may never own another Bible reference or commentary.

Please pray that these books will enrich their future preaching, teaching and pastoral ministries.

$60will provide a St Andrew’s Seminary graduate with a New Bible Commentary and NIV Compact Concordance.

The Very Revd Patrick Tanhuanco, Dean of St Andrew’s Theological Seminary, Quezon City, Philippines, has just presented this year’s graduates with their Bible commentaries and concordances.

L A T I N A M E R I C A

Introducing Catalina, LetraViva trainerSPCKA will sponsor a LetraViva training event for book designers in July this year. The four days of workshops are to be held in Buenos Aires and will be conducted in Spanish by SPCKA National Director, Michael Collie, and Colombian illustrator and graphic designer, Catalina Echeverri.

Catalina was born and raised in Bogota, Colombia. At the age of 18 she arrived in Milan, Italy, to study communication and graphic design.

‘Thanks to the witness of an Italian friend at university I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. I quickly became interested in book design and after a year working in Milan as a graphic designer I moved to Cambridge to do a Master’s degree in children’s book illustration. I now work in London as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator. I love visiting art galleries, taking a walk while listening to music but most of all browsing in children’s book-shops.

‘Over the years I have had the privilege of belonging to churches with leaders and Christian brothers and sisters who have encouraged me to love and serve the Lord in every area of my life. They have profoundly shaped the way I view my career and plan for the future. I thank God for them and for helping me to see my vocation as a way to serve and worship him. It is my prayer and my desire that he will enable me to use the talents he has given me to serve his church for his glory and the expansion of his kingdom.

‘The potential for communicating with words and images is huge. I am constantly in search of powerful narratives and engaging images that together speak to the soul.

‘Christian publishers in Latin America produce books with excellent content. Unfortunately they are often dismissed because of their appearance. I want to help Christian publishers in Latin America to engage and communicate with increasingly visually-literate

and style-conscious readers. Books which are salt and light in both content and appearance will appeal to a broader audience and take the message of the Gospel to more readers.’

Workshops will cover the cultivation of healthy working relationships between members of a publishing team, keys to designing book covers that sell, the efficient composition of books using Adobe Creative Suite software and the production of eBooks.

Please pray that the participating designers from Argentina, Bolivia and Peru will be better equipped to make vital written resources acces-sible and attractive to those who most need to read them.

A network of forty Latin American Christian publishers, LetraViva, exercises a ministry of logistical support, professional development and mutual encour-agement. Please pray for the LetraViva Coordinator, Ian Darke, based in Costa Rica. Pray especially for the effective functioning of the LetraViva dispatch centre in Miami, an essential means of book distribu-tion run cooperatively by member publishers. www.letraviva.com

$4000will underwrite the cost of the air fares and the venue. The training event will be jointly funded by SPCKA and the participating LetraViva publishers.

Colombian illustrator and graphic designer, Catalina Echeverri, will lead workshops for book designers at a training event in Buenos Aires convened by LetraViva and sponsored by SPCKA.

A U S T R A L I A

From the killing fields to a garden of delights

The manuscript for Discovering the character of God (Ark House Press) won Leng Te the Young Australian Christian Writer Award in 2009.

Leng was born in a refugee camp on the Thai-Cambodian border. Her family moved to Australia when she was three months old.

I wasn’t old enough to fully experi-ence what my family went through during their journey from Cambodia to Thailand, and then to Australia. I was the child in the belly, and the woman in this story is my mother. I am telling her story because in many ways it is my story too. It is God’s story. This is a story about him

watching over us even before we knew him. It is a story about God keeping us safe, and calling my parents to himself at just the right time. It is about God not aban-doning us even when at times it felt like there could be no God and no justice.

Leng went on to study public relations at RMIT University and theology at Tabor College Victoria. She writes and performs her own songs. Her debut album is called Garden of Delights. www.lengte.com

In Discovering the character of God Leng weaves autobiography, wise Biblical reflection and original song lyrics into a conversation with the God of infinite surprises. The issues dealt with are profound and part of the everyday lives of young Christians everywhere.

Each section or story concludes with a practical exercise which invites us to connect our own story with the author’s pilgrimage of discovery. Her probing is fearless. Her writing is passionate and seductive and spans a range of genres. The rich and troubled

Inspiring Stories for Youth: Discovering the Character of GodLeng Te Ark House Press 2010 ISBN 9781921589416www.arkhousepress.com

life experience from which Leng draws and the enthusiasm and maturity with which she writes prove irresistible.

Entries for the 2011 Young Australian Christian Writer and 2011 Australian Christian Teen Writer Awards close on 31 May 2011. With the Young Australian Christian Writer Awards, SPCKA discovers and encourages new

writers. A $2500 prize is given for the best unpublished manuscript by an Australian under 30 years of age. Supplementary awards include a $1000 prize for writers under 18 years of age. Entry Forms can be found at: www.spcka.org.au

You You can follow the Australian Christian Literature Awards on Facebook.

Links

The next Word Writers Fair will take place in Brisbane in November 2011. www.thewordwriters.com

Entries for the 2011 Caleb Prize for faith-inspired writing close on 30 June 2011. www.omegawriters.com

The first two issues of Christian Publisher can be downloaded from: www.christianpublisher.com.au

Inspiring Stories for Youth: Discovering the Character of God was written by Leng Te (right) and launched with the help of Ben Tumney (left) at Lifegate Church of Christ, Glen Waverley, Victoria.

1 9 3 7 – 2 0 1 1

John Wilson, book lover

On his deathbed Bishop John Wilson chuckled with mirth and gasped in fright as his family read aloud from his second favourite book, J R R Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. John died

on 22 January 2011, after a long battle with cancer. He was 73.

John distinguished himself internationally as a loved and respected scholar, teacher, pastor, leader, mentor and entrepreneur. The gifts and qualities required to exercise any one of these roles might frequently disqualify us from performing another. Yet by God’s grace John excelled at them all. And while doing so he gave God the glory. What a man.

John saw literature as a vital and strategic instrument to grow the church and the Kingdom of God both in Australia and throughout the world. ‘Whenever the gospel is preached, literature will be needed.’ He knew that the right book in the hands of the right reader was a powerful weapon and his capacity to match books with readers was unsurpassed.

Like Bishop Alfred Stanway before him, John argued that the literature needs of the church would only be met with the encouragement and support of agencies dedicated to nurturing Christian writers and publishers.

John was instrumental in initiating and bringing to fruition many of the Society’s activities to encourage good writing and

enhance the quality of book production—including the Australian Christian Book of the Year awards. He also raised funds to send Kevin Engel to train and

Christianity Alongside Islam (Acorn Press 2010) is the fruit of ten years’ research and tackles one of the great issues of our time: the relation-ship between the two major world religions.

encourage emerging publishers and booksellers in Africa, Asia and Latin America and bring Certeza Argentina Director, Beatriz Buono, to Australia.

His vision, enthusiasm and pastoral skills enabled him to recruit capable and influential people to a diverse range of strategic positions in the book trade.

In 1979, when Australian Christian publishing was in decline, John founded Acorn Press to publish books by Australian Christians to meet needs in the Australian church and society at large. To achieve this objective the successful Christian publisher must be both an entrepreneur and prophet; boldly exercising discernment, initiative and creativity. As an energetic author, publisher, bookseller, collector and reader, John engaged intimately with every dimension of the publishing enterprise.

John Wilson epitomised the vision that SPCKA holds dear: to exercise a ministry of empowerment and encouragement. His determination to minister with integrity, effectiveness and compassion is a legacy we value highly. His desire and commitment to serve the kingdom is something that we can only hope to emulate.

Let us join with John’s wife Jill, daughters Susan and Jenny and their families in giving thanks to God for John’s outstanding life and ministry in the service of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Celebrating present and future writers at the 2008 Australian Christian Literature Awards. John Wilson (right), was the publisher of God Next Door, the 2008 Australian Christian Book of the Year.

Phot

o: R

amon

Will

iam

s

G ’ D A Y F R O M S P C K A A U T U M N 2 0 1 1

Better togetherDoes the church sometimes appal you? Disappoint you? Embarrass you? Well, get over it! There is no plan B. Together we must contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to us (Jude 3).

We need to be reminded that Jesus’ instructions to be salt and light were issued to his disciples collectively, not individually.

Economies of scale enable us to do big things together that we cannot do by ourselves. And of course, as a team, we can complement each other’s gifts and compensate for our limitations. If, like me, you’re not especially compassionate, do what I did, marry someone who is! Moreover, each can pursue unique opportunities and God-given passions.

Love can only be displayed in community. By our love for one another the world will know that we are his disciples (John 13.35). Out of reverence for Christ we submit to one another (Ephesians 5.21).

I have discovered the value of our collaboration as a church the hard way. My isolated good works are too often ambiguous, too easily dismissed as eccentric. It is our partnership, the collective good works of holy people that point others to our heavenly Father.

Jesus said to his disciples, a bunch of cowards and traitors, ‘You are the light of the world.’ (Matthew 5.14) Look around you. Nothing has changed! Together, we are the light of the world. Jesus must have known something we don’t. Jesus trusted that the Holy Spirit would complete the work which he has begun in us.

Michael Collie National Director

michael.collie@spcka.org.auSPCKASociety for Promoting Christian Knowledge Australia Incorporated ARBN 119 800 645 and the Australian Christian Literature Society. PO Box 198, Forest Hill, Victoria 3131, Australia. Telephone 1300 13 7725 | admin@spcka.org.au | www.spcka.org.auIgniting Christian writing

Michael Collie (third from left) with the staff of Christian publisher, Certeza Argentina.