2010 - Around the CLC World

CLC UK gets to grips with taking over six bookshops from Wesley Owen on a single day. Many changes and adjustments are required!
CLC Ecuador opened a new shop in the city of Manta in December and the early indications are very encouraging.
CLC Venezuela celebrates the opening of their brand new warehouse and headquarters in Valencia with several international guests including representatives from the major publishers.

Feb 27th: Chile is hit by a massive earthquake affecting four of our bookshops. For a number of days we were unable to make contact with all of our team, and the photo shows the scene that our team in Talca found when they were able to reach the bookshop. The street in front of the shop was closed, and we had to operate out of the rear of the property. Despite the extra work, our team was able to minister after shop hours to distressed friends and neighbours.
CLC Hungary reports that a number of churches have taken up the challenge in Jentezen Franklin’s book on fasting. 14 churches fasted and prayed together for revival across the country.
CLC Portugal starts a new series of the Chronologocal Bible Study led by a local professor, attracting non-evangelicals to the bookshop
CLC USA: a customer accepts Christ in the Chestnut Hill store as the team pray together

The arrival of books from Brazil always bring joy to CLC Mozambique. It is a huge amount of work for each delivery, but sales increase dramatically as a result.
CLC Netherlands participates in the national Book Week. Christian publishers and booksellers combine to produce a special promotion
CLC Uruguay opens up the second floor of their new building to have a special section of value books.

CLC Kenya opens a bookshop in the Umoja district of Nairobi – in a converted shipping container! This is a pilot project for a scheme we hope to expand in 2012.
The Apple iPad is released. How will this and other electronic devices affect the way books are sold and read? Only time will tell, but CLC needs to be alert to the changes.
Liz Patten and Petra Nemansky join the CLC Sierra Leone team for a celebration as the School Library project is launched. More than 50 schools receive a selection of Christian books.

CLC New Zealand is able to send its bookbus back out on the road reaching rural communities with no access to a Christian bookshop.
CLC Poland struggles to obtain Bibles as they are not available from suppliers.
As economic tension rises around the world, social unrest is evident in many countries – Thailand, Jamaica, Ecuador, Romania among others.
CLC Belarus completes the refurbishment of its shop in Brest. Now the team is praying for the possibility of opening a shop in the capital of the country – Minsk. Through our network of book deposits across the country we already sell as many books and Bibles in Minsk as we do through our bookshop in Brest. The opening of a bookshop in the capital would be a major advance.

Efficient computer systems are an essential part of our work. CLC in France, Colombia and Kenya all upgrade their systems
CLC Indonesia has the opportunity to be present at some major Christian events with booktables
CLC Chile reports with gratitude to the Lord that help from the CLC family has enabled all damage to CLC property to be repaired and for help to be given to many others. And sales have increased despite the disruption!
CLC New Zealand has the opportunity to buy a local wholesale operation – GPH. This will require a significant change in the way we operate but it will also enable us to reach a much wider customer base. Several CLC countries have moved into wholesale in recent years and this has been accompanied by the acquisition of a number of warehouses. This strategy of combining wholesale and retail operations, along with the offer of online sales, is proving to be the way forward for a number of our teams.

CLC USA opens its fifth church store, this time with Sharon Baptist Church. This is a growing trend and a significant opportunity. Increasingly traditional bookstores are finding the running costs prohibitive. By utilising church premises, CLC is able to significantly reduce costs and the church has the benefit of a fully functioning bookstore with the experience and training that CLC is able to provide. The team hope to grow this area of ministry.
Rudy Kuijer joins the CLC International team with the role of developing a series of evangelistic materials and training our teams in how to use books in evangelism
CLC Italy uses Facebook to effectively promote events and new titles. A recent book signing by a Juventus footballer attracted much attention.

CLC Togo sadly closes after 23 years of ministry. We trust that many people will continue to be blessed by the silent missionaries left behind – 1000s of good Christian books.
CLC Pakistan reports growing political tensions in Karachi with targeted killings taking place in the neighbourhood of the shop.

The European Leaders’ Conference takes place in Sicily, Italy. More than 50 gather for training, envisioning and encouragement. The pizza and pasta was great!
CLC Philippines reports great sales at the secular Manila International Bookfair.
Several of our African shops are informed that they will have to move from their current location: Manzini in Swaziland, Maputo in Mozambique and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania
Phil Grant, former National Director of CLC UK is called home. Phil, together with his wife Pat, had served the Lord in CLC for 33 years. Passionate to the end, Phil was working part time in the Birmingham shop until two weeks before his homecalling.

Following Togo, we also came to the decision to close the work in St. Lucia. Other viable ministries are operating in the country.
The Leaders from 8 African countries come together for a conference in Nairobi. Great teaching, great fellowship but the highlight was a visit to an elephant orphanage!
CLC Colombia holds a twin celebration for the re-building of the Baranquilla shop and the re-furbishing of the Medellin shop.
The CLC Russia family grows as Anita & Roger Jones have a second daughter, Katherine.
At the end of a traumatic year for the country, CLC Chile is able to celebrate its 50th anniversary – giving thanks to God for his faithfulness over many years.

CLC Korea is awarded Christian Book of the Year for two of their recent publications and are working towards the building of a new warehouse.
CLC Philippines opens a new bookshop in Malolos, not far from Manila. 175 people attend the celebrations and new CLC publications are launched at the event. In the photo we see one of the authors holding her book with the intriguing title “Eating with one Chopstick”!
Reminding us of the spiritual battle we are engaged in, CLC France experiences a Satanist buying Bibles for “rituals”.
CLC Kenya National Director, Edith Wamalwa, gives birth to a daughter, Dulcie.

CLC Panama opens a new shop in the largest commercial centre in the country – Albrook Mall – and are immediately encouraged by interest from Christians and non-Christians alike.
The city governor and 200 people attend the opening of our new shop in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It is a day of great joy as we celebrate the realisation of a long held dream to own a property in this city.
CLC Australia announces they are taking over an existing bookshop in Wollongong, a town just south of Sydney. Like so many bookshops in Australia, the shop had no succession plan and limited viability as an independent operation.