Christian literature in difficult places. Newsletter of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Australia Inc. and the Australian Christian Literature Society.
The gospel for everyone n older woman tells of her childhood, growing up being taught that there is no God. Then, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, through friends from a recently established church, she discovered that there is indeed a God and In an independent Central Asian republic, one of the poorest countries in the world, a young man grew up without parents, living on the streets and earning his living as a pickpocket. He too was found by the These two people and others like them belong to the small churches which have been established in the former Soviet Union during the last twenty years. Most church leaders have only recently become Christians. Although they are enthusiastic and avid readers of the Bible, they have little Christian back- ground and minimal theological education. The same is true of lecturers in theological colleges. The church has grown in numbers and needs to grow in depth. Tom Wright’s popular New Testament for Everyone commentaries have been published in Russian and ‘These books are so clear and interesting. They help me understand the Bible and what it means for me today. Would it be okay if I used them in my quiet times, to help me read the Bible everyday?’ You can make Christian literature available where it is most needed. one 4 you one 4 me • 1 Use this bookmark to add up how much you spend on books for yourself. • 2 Donate an equivalent amount to help make Christian books available to students, pastors and church planters in difficult places through SPCKA. One for you. One for me. Crazy Love $ 19. $ $ $ $ $ $ $ Total $ SPCK A Igniting Christian writing
Transcript
C E N T R A L A S I A
The gospel for everyone
An older woman tells of her childhood, growing up being taught that there is no God. Then, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, through friends from a recently established
church, she discovered that there is indeed a God and that he loves her.
In an independent Central Asian republic, one of the poorest countries in the world, a young man grew up without parents, living on the streets and earning his living as a pickpocket. He too was found by the God who loves him.
These two people and others like them belong to the small churches which have been established in the former Soviet Union during the last twenty years. Most church leaders have only recently become Christians. Although they are enthusiastic and avid readers of the Bible, they have little Christian back-ground and minimal theological education. The same is true of lecturers in theological colleges. The church has grown in numbers and needs to grow in depth.
Tom Wright’s popular New Testament for Everyone commentaries have been published in Russian and
‘These books are so clear and interesting. They help me understand the Bible and what it means for me today. Would it be okay if I used them in my quiet times, to help me read the Bible everyday?’
You can make Christian literature available where it is most needed.
one4you
one4me• 1 Use this bookmark to add up how
much you spend on books for yourself.• 2 Donate an equivalent amount to help make Christian books available to students, pastors and church planters in difficult places through SPCKA.
One for you. One for me.
Crazy Love $ 19. $
$
$
$
$
$
$
Total $
SPCKAIgniting Christian writing
G ’ D A Y F R O M S P C K A S P R I N G 2 0 1 1
A leap of faithWhen was the last time you made a leap of faith? This time last year I needed to cross a highway in Mongolia. Nothing had prepared me for the chaos on the roads of Ulaanbaatar. Contemplating the peak hour traffic, I looked left and right to find a stra-tegic place to cross, but found none. There were no lights
and no crossings. But I did see a group of school girls preparing to cross and ran to join them. A gap appeared in the city-bound traffic and we dashed to the centre of the road. So far, so good. Three lanes of traffic roared behind us and another three separated us from our destination. As I searched in vain for a gap in the traffic, out of the corner of my eye I noticed that the girls were making their move. No way! The stream of traffic was unbroken and continued to surge towards us. But yes, in unison they were stepping into the path of the oncoming traffic, leaving me in the middle of the road. In faith, I leapt forward, and fell in behind my human shield. Miraculously, the traffic paused and we reached the other side.
This was not, of course, a leap of faith at all. It was a leap of fear. Like someone leaping from a burning building, I was moving from a greater risk to a lesser risk. A leap of fear is moving from danger to safety—but a leap of faith is moving from safety to danger; moving from a lesser risk to a greater risk. Writers commit and expose themselves when they put pen to paper. This takes faith and courage. Encourage Christian writers. Buy, read and discuss their books.
Michael Collie National Director
[email protected] 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 | [email protected] | www.spcka.org.auIgniting Christian writing
Michael Collie addresses this year’s Australian Christian Literature Awards gathering.
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C E N T R A L A S I A
The gospel for everyone
An older woman tells of her childhood, growing up being taught that there is no God. Then, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, through friends from a recently established
church, she discovered that there is indeed a God and that he loves her.
In an independent Central Asian republic, one of the poorest countries in the world, a young man grew up without parents, living on the streets and earning his living as a pickpocket. He too was found by the God who loves him.
These two people and others like them belong to the small churches which have been established in the former Soviet Union during the last twenty years. Most church leaders have only recently become Christians. Although they are enthusiastic and avid readers of the Bible, they have little Christian back-ground and minimal theological education. The same is true of lecturers in theological colleges. The church has grown in numbers and needs to grow in depth.
Tom Wright’s popular New Testament for Everyone commentaries have been published in Russian and ✁
C E N T R A L A S I A
The gospel for everyone
An older woman tells of her childhood, growing up being taught that there is no God. Then, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, through friends from a recently established
church, she discovered that there is indeed a God and that he loves her.
In an independent Central Asian republic, one of the poorest countries in the world, a young man grew up without parents, living on the streets and earning his living as a pickpocket. He too was found by the God who loves him.
These two people and others like them belong to the small churches which have been established in the former Soviet Union during the last twenty years. Most church leaders have only recently become Christians. Although they are enthusiastic and avid readers of the Bible, they have little Christian back-ground and minimal theological education. The same is true of lecturers in theological colleges. The church has grown in numbers and needs to grow in depth.
Tom Wright’s popular New Testament for Everyone commentaries have been published in Russian and
‘These books are so clear and interesting. They help me understand the Bible and what it means for me today. Would it be okay if I used them in my quiet times, to help me read the Bible everyday?’
✁
C H I N A
Double blessingAn SPCKA grant has made possible the distribution of a personal theological reference library to graduates from five seminaries and two Bible training centres in China. While only in their mid-twen-ties many of these graduating students will eventually become pastors responsible for congregations of up to 3000 members.
Now that contact has been established with these young pastors, our local
partner ZDL (www.zdlbooks.com) is in a position to offer ongoing access to resources and opportunities for training.
This project has been jointly funded by the Bible Society of Australia and SPCKA.
have become available in bookshops and theological college libraries. Church leaders and theological college lecturers find this series helpful for preaching and teaching and consider it to be of strategic impor-tance for the future of the national church.
God’s Word touched the heart of one woman while reading Tom Wright’s comments on the account of Jesus’ baptism in Mark: “When the living God looks at us, at every baptised Christian, he says to us what he said to
Jesus that day. He sees us, not as we are in ourselves, but as we are in Jesus Christ. It sometimes seems impossible,—especially to people who never had this kind of support from their earthly parents—but it’s true: God looks at us and says, ‘You are my dear, dear child; I’m delighted with you.’ Try reading the sentence slowly, with your own name at the start, and reflect quietly on God saying that to you.” One of many in this country who have grown
up only with criticism and who have never heard words like ‘You are my dear child, I am pleased with you’, she wept with joy.
However, Russian editions of these books are of little use to the majority of the people who speak the local language. There are very few solid and accessible books in this language to help study the Bible.
Theological college staff are working with local translators and an emerging local publisher to make Wright’s New Testament commentaries available in the predominant language over the next three years. SPCKA has been asked to help fund this vital publishing initiative.
If you would like to personally support the theological college staff in prayer please contact the SPCKA National Director.
$4500will finance the translation and initial print run of a thousand copies of a single title in The New Testament for Everyone series by Tom Wright.
Five hundred and sixty-five students have graduated from the Huadong (East China) Theological Seminary since it opened in 1985. This year personal libraries were provided to 49 final year students.
‘We have books on evangelism, but no commentaries like these to help us understand the Bible. They are easy to read and the examples are not too Western. They are useful for personal reading, preaching and for groups. We need books like this in our language.’
C H I N A
Double blessingAn SPCKA grant has made possible the distribution of a personal theological reference library to graduates from five seminaries and two Bible training centres in China. While only in their mid-twen-ties many of these graduating students will eventually become pastors responsible for congregations of up to 3000 members.
Now that contact has been established with these young pastors, our local
partner ZDL (www.zdlbooks.com) is in a position to offer ongoing access to resources and opportunities for training.
This project has been jointly funded by the Bible Society of Australia and SPCKA.
$85will buy a library of essential reference works for young Bible college graduates as they take up pastoral duties.
Five hundred and sixty-five students have graduated from the Huadong (East China) Theological Seminary since it opened in 1985. This year personal libraries were provided to 49 final year students.
This year a total of 320 personal libraries (4160 books) have been distributed to graduating students and teaching staff.
T A N Z A N I A
Equipped to serveJohn Kayange arrived at St Mark’s Theological College in Dar es Salaam with his entire worldly possessions in a single plastic bag and no money at all. He had given up his job; there was no turning back.
Despite a period of serious illness and the tragic death of his mother in a road accident, this year John graduated after completing a three-year Diploma of Theology. He desires only to fulfil his calling to proclaim and teach the good news in Tanzania.
John Kayange was formerly employed as a night watchman by CMS mission-aries John and Jill Morshead.
While visiting Dar es Salaam in 2008, Jill’s sister Lesley Hargreaves met John Kayange. Impressed by his hunger to learn and evident leadership potential, Lesley felt moved to give him the chance to fulfil his dream of studying the Bible. Members of Lesley’s small sewing class at Holy Trinity Church, South East Bendigo, decided to donate their class fees to cover the cost of John’s training.
A conscientious student, John has grown in knowledge and wisdom. He is highly respected for his spiritual maturity and commitment to the Gospel.
Lesley returned to Dar es Salaam to attend John’s graduation. It was a joyful and emotional occasion. As a parting gift, Lesley and her sewing group gave John a new bicycle to help him in his future ministry. Lesley is convinced that it was God’s will and purpose to use her and the women from her church to help to equip John for this work.
John is keen to share his new understanding of God’s Word with others. He wants to become a teacher
So Christ himself gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up. Ephesians 4:11–13
of the Bible and support one of the emerging Bible schools. He has already received invitations from a number of Bible schools and is carefully considering his options.
John will not take up this new vocation alone. Before leaving St Mark’s, John announced that he had proposed to a lovely woman called Pendo. They expect to marry next July.
John Kayange leaves St Mark’s Theological College with a personal theological library of books in Swahili—a gift from SPCKA. The Society presented John and all the other graduates with a copy of the Africa Bible Commentary. The college library books they have used during their studies were also supplied with a grant from SPCKA.
The provision of theological and pastoral references is a strategic invest-ment that will foster the growth and maturity of Tanzanian Christians and edify the church.
Please pray that John Kayange and other Bible teachers throughout Tanzania will continue to faithfully equip evangelists, preachers and pastors to build up the body of Christ.
$30will provide a theological graduate or pastor with a copy of the Africa Bible Commentary.
John Kayange leaves St Mark’s Theological College with the best wishes of his sponsor, Lesley Hargreaves, and a personal theological library including the Africa Bible Commentary.
L A T I N A M E R I C A
Words and images that speak to the soul
The cobblestone streets, historic cafes and tango bars of San Telmo in Buenos Aires, Argentina, have been home to generations of dancers, puppeteers, painters and poets. In July this year
a local church hosted a four-day workshop for Latin American Christian editors and designers. The training was conducted in Spanish by Argentine editors, Silvia
Chaves and Adriana Powell, Colombian illustrator, Catalina Echeverri, and designers Pablo Ortelli from Argentina and SPCKA National Director, Michael Collie.
Designers are from Mars and editors are from Venus. Workshops required teamwork from the twenty-four editors and designers
from Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Guatemala and Argentina. Topics included: the publishing process (from idea to reader), cultivating healthy working relationships within publishing teams and combining words and images that together speak to the soul.
Editors brought manuscripts which they devel-oped with fellow editors before collaborating with designers. Pablo Ortelli introduced both designers and editors to ebook fundamentals before leading the designers through the process of creating electronic books. Together, the designers used new knowledge and techniques to advance their own projects. Participants agreed on the importance of harnessing social media like Facebook to market books and connect directly with readers.
Guest speaker, Nashville literary representative and consultant, John Eames, explained how manuscript
‘The training was opportune, veracious and pertinent. I left the event with useful knowledge, valuable contacts and new friends. We should do this more often!’
acquisition and development is an outcome and expression of editorial vision.
Catalina Echeverri urged editors and designers alike to engage and communicate with increasingly style-conscious and visually-literate readers. ‘Christian publishers in Latin America produce books with excel-lent content. Unfortunately they are often dismissed because of their appearance. 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.’
Please pray that the participating editors and designers will make vital written resources acces-sible and attractive to those who most need to read them.
The four-day workshop was jointly sponsored by Media Associates International and SPCKA. It was convened by LetraViva, a network of thirty Latin American Christian publishers which exercises a ministry of logistical support, professional devel-opment and mutual encouragement.
Please pray for LetraViva Coordinator, Ian Darke, based in Costa Rica, and for the effective function-ing of the LetraViva dispatch centre in Miami, an essential means of book distribution run coopera-tively by member publishers. www.letraviva.com
During an excursion to a prominent Buenos Aires bookshop, editors and designers were asked to demonstrate how leading publishers in other fields had solved familiar challenges.
A U S T R A L I A
Ian Harper’s Economics for Life declared 2011 Australian Christian Book of the Year
One of the nation’s leading economists has won the Christian Book of the Year Award with a book he regards as one of his most significant contributions to civic life in Australia.
In Economics for Life (Acorn Press) Ian Harper proclaims economics a good servant but a bad master. ‘Economics makes a valuable contribution to our thinking about humanity’s material condition, yet it is not a philosophy for the whole of life—and it was never intended to be’.
Second Prize was won by Christianity Alongside Islam (Acorn), John Wilson’s thoughtful antidote to a sensationalised debate.
Historian, Paul Collins, won Third Prize with his hard-hitting but balanced book Judgment Day: The struggle for life on earth (UNSW Press).
The judges’ comments about the prize-winning and shortlisted books can be found at: www.spcka.org.au
The Australian Christian Book of the Year Award is given annually to a book written by an Australian author and published by an Australian publisher. The Award carries a prize of $2500. Entries are judged with an eye to the original nature of the work and the contribution that the book makes in meeting a need for Christian writing in Australia.
The Australian Christian Literature Awards also include prizes for unpublished manuscripts by young writers. Amber Holmes, a student at Bendigo Senior Secondary College, Victoria, won the 2011 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award. Her
composition, Sunshine, vividly evokes the conflicting emotions experienced by a family confronting the trauma and challenges of mental illness.
Second Prize was won by Christy Tobeck of Knoxfield, Victoria, for her manuscript Who are you anyway?
Extracts from the winning works can be found at: www.spcka.org.au
This year the Young Australian Christian Writer Award for unpublished manuscripts by writers under 30 years of age was withheld.
The 2011 Australian Christian Literature Awards were presented during a supper in Melbourne on 18 August. Acapella quintet Blue Notion and perfor-mance poet Joel McKerrow also contributed to this celebration of the power of words.
The unique needs of the local church are best addressed by local Christian writers. With these awards SPCKA celebrates and encourages excellence in Australian Christian writing and publishing.
A U S T R A L I A
Ian Harper’s Economics for Life declared 2011 Australian Christian Book of the Year
The Australian Christian Literature Awards also include prizes for unpublished manuscripts by young writers. Amber Holmes, a student at Bendigo Senior Secondary College, Victoria, won the 2011 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award. Her
composition, Sunshine, vividly evokes the conflicting emotions experienced by a family confronting the trauma and challenges of mental illness.
Second Prize was won by Christy Tobeck of Knoxfield, Victoria, for her manuscript Who are you anyway?
Extracts from the winning works can be found at: www.spcka.org.au
This year the Young Australian Christian Writer Award for unpublished manuscripts by writers under 30 years of age was withheld.
The 2011 Australian Christian Literature Awards were presented during a supper in Melbourne on 18 August. Acapella quintet Blue Notion and perfor-mance poet Joel McKerrow also contributed to this celebration of the power of words.
The unique needs of the local church are best addressed by local Christian writers. With these awards SPCKA celebrates and encourages excellence in Australian Christian writing and publishing.
G ’ D A Y F R O M S P C K A S P R I N G 2 0 1 1
A leap of faithWhen was the last time you made a leap of faith? This time last year I needed to cross a highway in Mongolia. Nothing had prepared me for the chaos on the roads of Ulaanbaatar. Contemplating the peak hour traffic, I looked left and right to find a stra-tegic place to cross, but found none. There were no lights
and no crossings. But I did see a group of school girls preparing to cross and ran to join them. A gap appeared in the city-bound traffic and we dashed to the centre of the road. So far, so good. Three lanes of traffic roared behind us and another three separated us from our destination. As I searched in vain for a gap in the traffic, out of the corner of my eye I noticed that the girls were making their move. No way! The stream of traffic was unbroken and continued to surge towards us. But yes, in unison they were stepping into the path of the oncoming traffic, leaving me in the middle of the road. In faith, I leapt forward, and fell in behind my human shield. Miraculously, the traffic paused and we reached the other side.
This was not, of course, a leap of faith at all. It was a leap of fear. Like someone leaping from a burning building, I was moving from a greater risk to a lesser risk. A leap of fear is moving from danger to safety—but a leap of faith is moving from safety to danger; moving from a lesser risk to a greater risk. Writers commit and expose themselves when they put pen to paper. This takes faith and courage. Encourage Christian writers. Buy, read and discuss their books.
Michael Collie National Director
[email protected] 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 | [email protected] | www.spcka.org.auIgniting Christian writing
Michael Collie addresses this year’s Australian Christian Literature Awards gathering.
