2014 - Around the CLC World

CLC Colombia takes on two bookshops in the city of Ibague. Th ese shops were two of our best wholesale customers but the owners wanted to concentrate on other areas of ministry.
ELS / CLC India starts a bookshop in Ranipet in the grounds of the Scudder Memorial Hospital. It was previously a small outlet of another ELS shop, but the larger space means it is now a fully functioning bookshop.
CLC Swaziland moves to a new, more central location in Manzini in a modern shopping centre.

CLC Venezuela suff ers from a very difficult political and security situation. Some shops are unable to open and some staff members cannot travel to their place of work.
CLC USA records further increases in eBooks sales compared to the previous year but it is clear that the growth is beginning to plateau. Books do not appear as susceptible to the digital revolution as music and photos.
CLC Italy takes delivery of the stock of Buona Novella (Good News) Bibles and becomes their exclusive distributor.

A Pastors’ Conference is held in Monrovia, Liberia, arranged by CLC Liberia and CLC USA. Dr Tony Hart shares with the pastors and Liz Patten and David Almack take part. Liz and David then travel on to visit the team in Sierra Leone.
CLC Korea announces a plan to publish all the Tyndale Commentary series and the Anchor Bible Commentaries. Th is is a major project involving many scholars and countless hours of meticulous translation.
CLC Colombia reaches agreement with Biblica to be their exclusive distributor of Bibles in Colombia. Th is agreement also permits CLC in Latin America to distribute and co-publish many more Bibles.

Our team in Central Asia receives a signifi cant shipment of over 900 titles. Th is is the fi rst time in many years they have been able to take such a delivery. Th e team are happy to have a full bookshop.
CLC Canada publishes their first book in French – More than a Carpenter. The team want to encourage the use of this book as an evangelistic tool.
CLC Chile is very excited to receive a visit from Jacob Mung, the director of CLC Myanmar. After Jacob’s preaching at a church in Antofagasta, 21 people gave their lives to the Lord. Praise God!

CLC Korea hosts three international conferences. First, a number of CLC teams gather to look at how publishing can be greatly expanded. Second, the leaders from CLC in Asia meet together. Third, the Regional Directors hold their six-monthly gathering. At all three events, the need to increase our publishing capacity is emphasised.
The annual Expolit trade fair takes place in Miami. The representatives from CLC Latin America spend half a day meeting with their counterparts from the Bible Society to look at ways of improving and growing Bible distribution on the continent.
ELS / CLC Pakistan publishes The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel in Urdu.

CLC Spain combines the operation of the Madrid warehouse and bookshop in a new location, just 50m from the old bookshop! Th e inauguration takes place with representation from current and former CLCers and publishers.
As the Bible says – in this world you will have trouble! CLC Kenya suff ers a burglary and some Bibles were taken, which is always troubling. CLC Mexico, even ahead of opening, suffers from rainwater damage which causes the ceiling to collapse.

CLC Myanmar receives the wonderful gift of a Print-on-Demand system that will enable them to print small quantities of any of their titles, rather than holding large inventories.
CLC Indonesia takes over the running of a corner booth in a shopping mall in Surubaya. Th is unplanned move is too good an opportunity to turn down.
CLC Romania is delighted to receive signifi cant orders for their Children’s Bilingual Bible and other children’s books.

CLC Japan announces the closure of the second, smaller Tokyo bookshop with the retirement of Kamiya San who worked for CLC for 35 years. Many of our CLC members spend decades in the ministry.
CLC UK opens a second shop in Birmingham in the location of the former Wesley Owen bookshop.
ELS / CLC India opens a bookshop in the Bangalore Baptist Hospital – our fourth shop in this large and growing city, known as the Silicon valley of India.

CLC Philippines participates in the Manila International Book Fair. This is a huge event and we have rented an increasing amount of space over the years. It is a great opportunity to be alongside secular publishers and distributors – and to serve a wider audience.
Ebola ravages Sierra Leone and Liberia, affecting daily life for our own team members. Liberia reports increased sales despite the crisis, while Sierra Leone have had to close the Makeni shop. Importation of books is very difficult.
CLC USA and CLC Mozambique receive permission to erect signs for their shops. Th is may seem like a small issue, but people need to be able to fi nd our shops!

Liz Patten and Petra Nemansky leave for Maputo, Mozambique where they will be based. Being located in Africa will give them more options for working alongside our teams.
Roger Jones is able to represent CLC Russia at an event for publishers in Moscow. Th e new National Director elect, Nikita Sapunov, accompanies Roger, giving him the opportunity to meet many in the book trade.
CLC Philippines hosts a VIP event – Very Important Pastors. Brilliant!

CLC Mexico is open! After many months of planning and frustration, the bookshop / distributor fi nally opens its doors to the public.
CLC Portugal publishes its fi rst book for many years - A Noite de Deus (Night of God) by Clarisse Barros, a well known Portuguese author. Initial response is very encouraging.
CLC Switzerland launches their new website – linked to CLC Italy as they mainly sell Italian products.

As we write, the CLC Miami bookshop is due to open any day now. It is physically linked to the warehouse that is owned by CLC Colombia for their publishing.
CLC Paraguay is very close to becoming a reality. Final legal documents are being prepared and the Board is being established.
In recent months 30.000 Bibles and books have been sent by CLC USA BookLink to six countries including Papua New Guinea, Dominica and Central Asia.