You can equip Lilián Robayna to immerse people in God’s Word wherever Spanish is spoken.

 

Despite being located in provincial Argentina the Bible study guides we publish for home fellowship groups are being used across denominations and continents. This is possible because we have embraced digital technologies. From anywhere in the world, wherever Spanish is spoken, readers can download an ebook or order books printed locally on demand.

 

We are just scratching the surface. There is so much unrealised potential. But to be able to concentrate on our mission, our ministry must first become self­sustaining.

 

Equipped to serve

 

My name is Lilián Robayna. I am married to Miguel and we have two adult children. We long to see our fellow Argentines saved and steeped in God’s Word.

 

At our church I help coordinate Christian education for a hundred children, youth and adults. As many come from impoverished homes we reinforce our Bible teaching by also developing personal disciplines and vocational skills.
Where possible we use available literature but, to meet the needs of our people, we are often obliged to write our own material. We even write and perform plays and sketches.

 

I graduated as a preschool teacher but worked for twenty-five years at our local Bible college. I began performing administrative tasks and eventually became responsible for the production of a journal for church leaders called Compromiso Cristiano (Christian Commitment).

 

Learning on the job

 

Ten years ago I was invited to work with Christian Growth Publishing. For the last three years I have been in charge. I have no formal training in publishing and don’t feel equipped for this role. However, God has been good and has provided opportunities for me to grow and learn. SparkLit sponsored a LetraViva training event in Buenos Aires in 2011. I continue to use the skills and contacts I acquired there. But I need to deepen my knowledge and develop my skills so that I can do my job more efficiently and effectively.

 

Opportunities to share

 

LetraViva is a network of Latin American Christian publishers that provides logistical support, professional development and mutual encouragement. At this year’s LetraViva training event in Mexico, I look forward to learning from the experience of other publishers who share our vision and face the same challenges.

 

Thank you for supporting Latin American Christian publishers.

 

Please pray that our ministry will become self-sustaining so that we can dedicate ourselves to our mission. Pray that in small fellowship groups many people will come to know Jesus and be transformed by the Holy Spirit.

With your support Gökhan Talas will train a new generation of Christian writers.

 

I always thought I was a wise man. I was proud to be a socialist and an atheist. Nevertheless, I was curious about God. I grew up in the Alevi sect of Islam but felt dissatisfied and empty. I wanted to understand my existence. Why are we here? Where are we going?

 

I encountered Jesus for the first time while doing my military service. I found a Bible in an Islamic centre and read from Genesis to Revelation. It was logical. I saw that Jesus is real. He is alive and eager for us to have a relationship with him. God’s love changed my heart.

 

More dangerous than terrorism

 

In Turkey we face a close and real evil. Evangelism is considered a greater threat than terrorism. When I started to believe in Jesus, my commanders burned my Bible. Many of my friends abandoned me. Christians are persecuted daily. Many have to leave their families when they convert. When I try to evangelise on the street the authorities beat me.

 

After completing my military service I started going to church. I met and married my wife and began training to preach the gospel and support churches. I worked in a radio station preparing programs with the intention to evangelise.

 

My wife and I moved to Malatya to continue our work. After only eight months five Muslim fanatics entered our office building, held us captive and killed three colleagues, including our pastor. We suffered great grief and trauma. We have lost many brothers and sisters to persecution.

 

A Turk can become a Christian

 

I moved my family to Istanbul and began to train in graphic design. I decided to use my skills to start a magazine to unite and strengthen isolated believers and reach the unsaved. Miras (Inheritance) magazine is easy to read, easy to hide and reaches people who have no access to literature, the internet or a Christian friend. Our authors represent various Turkish churches and ministries. We explain how a Turk can become a Christian. This is a strong message.

 

It takes courage to write

 

Most Turkish Christian books are translated from western languages and perspectives. We need more books and articles written in our own context and language. This is a difficult climate in which to recruit and nurture new writers. Naturally, potential authors are reluctant to attract attention to themselves.

 

To help young Turkish writers develop discipline, technique and confidence we are preparing to publish a manual for Christian writers. Will you help us guide and encourage a new generation of Christian authors?

 

Please pray that by training Christian writers we will extend the good news of Jesus Christ to those who are unsaved in Turkey.

 

Gökhan Talas is co-founder of Miras Publishing Ministries in Istanbul.

 

$4,500 will finance the preparation and publication of a manual to guide and encourage new Christian writers in Turkey.

You can help prepare graduates like Harrison Wachanga Gitahi for long-term ministry.

 

I used to think that studying theology was not only unnecessary but dangerous. I saw priests and pastors who appeared to be indifferent to sin. They seemed preoccupied with church management. They had forgotten about outreach, evangelism and repentance. I was convinced that studying theology had made them apathetic. I thought that study would damage rather than improve my spiritual life and effectiveness as a Christian.

 

I had to learn to depend on God

 

My name is Harrison Wachanga Gitahi. I am 39, married and a born again Christian. I am now also a third-year theological student at St Andrew’s College of Theology and Development in Kabare.

 

After serving as a youth leader for many years I came to realise that Christian ministry is not just about winning souls but also about effective leadership, discipleship and service. I needed to prepare for a sustainable and consistent ministry.

 

Studying theology has opened my eyes to the true nature of God. There was so much beyond my understanding. I was humbled to learn that it is God who sustains me and gives me strength to carry on. I long to use my time, energy and gifts to expose young people to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit.

 

Beyond the pulpit

 

Books are useful in the classroom but when I leave college they will be indispensable tools. Books will equip me for preaching and also for my ministry away from the pulpit. I will depend on books for my ongoing learning.

 

Your gift of books will be a great blessing and an encouragement for a long time.

 

Please pray for the students who graduate from St Andrew’s this year. Pray that we will grow in faith and godliness and lovingly guide those in our care.

 

Harrison Wachanga Gitahi is a student at St Andrew’s College of Theology and Development, Kabare, Kenya.

 

$50 will provide Bible college graduates in Kenya with a theological reference and a pastoral text.

You can help Channa Touch feed the minds of pastors in Cambodia.

 

My mother resisted invitations to go to church. But one day, to appease her sister my mother sent me instead.

 

Everything about it was weird and unacceptable. After the service, there was a meal. I was given rice, tracts and a Gideons New Testament. I ate the rice and threw away the tracts but I kept the New Testament. This book was my passport to a weekly meal.

 

After three months I started to read it. I noticed that the New Testament constantly refers to older stories. The pastor said that the Old Testament was not for beginners. First I had to read the New Testament.

 

I wanted the whole Bible

 

I was finishing secondary school and preparing to be a Buddhist monk. By reading the whole Bible I was confident that I would expose faults and prove that this foreign religion was a fraud. So I stole a Bible from the church.

 

While reading Romans the Holy Spirit lovingly taught me that I was sinful and unable to save myself from my rebellious spirit. I knelt down and asked Jesus to forgive me. I fell in love with God’s Word. By day I devoured the Bible. By night I slunk outside and preached to the trees.

Free at last

 

Hinduism and Buddhism came to Cambodia thousands of years ago. They’re in our blood. They permeate and determine everything.

 

No one wants to become a stranger to their own family and be mocked and rejected. But I now knew that I had been released from a trap. I had been living in fear and trusting in lies. ‘Perform this ritual and you will be protected.’ ‘Make this offering and you will prosper.’ ‘After enough reincarnations you will become perfect.’ I saw that all this achieved nothing.

 

Jesus gives us freedom from fear and a full and meaningful life. Even if they killed me, no one could take this away from me. I couldn’t get away from this truth.

 

My wife never stops reading

 

God has blessed me with a wonderful wife. Together with the Holy Spirit we pastor a church in Tameang village. Books give us access to other people’s experience and enable us to help people with problems that we have never faced.

 

I am often asked to preach spontaneously, without warning. People ask me, ‘How can you do that?’ I reply, ‘I am always prepared, because I am always reading.’ If I don’t expose myself to new ideas I will run out of things to say. Every time I read I discover something new.

 

To apply biblical truth to daily life I always tell stories. People ask me ‘Where do all these stories come from?’ I say, ‘Here! Read this book!’ If they read they can know more than me. I encourage my people to read. If necessary I pay for the books myself. I want them to grow and to work for God’s kingdom.

 

We are here but for a short time. To advance God’s kingdom we must multiply ourselves.

 

Channa Touch and his wife Simy Srean pastor the Heartland Church and distribute Fount of Wisdom books in Kampong Cham Province.

 

$55 will subsidise the purchase by a pastor in rural Cambodia of a $70, eight volume theological and pastoral library.