The pages of this World Report are the testimony of the challenging work of CLC around the world. Here you will find the plans and projects that, with the help of the Lord, we have been able to implement in 2019. CLC is still a mission based on faith, fellowship, holiness, and sacrifice. That has been the testimony of each one of the teams around the world.
Gerardo Scalante,
CLC International Director
I am very pleased to have been asked to present the CLC International World Report for 2019.
I am writing this introduction while many of our CLC countries are in lockdown due to COVID-19 and all are affected by it. As the country reports show, some of these countries experienced significant obstacles in 2019: unrest in Latin American countries, political instability, even terrorism and the on-going challenge of moving from sales in bookshops to online sales.
Yet, there are stories of facing and finding ways of overcoming these obstacles and challenges. Countries are working in collaboration with other ministries even, in the case of the UK, to the extent of creating a new partnership in the Kingsway CLC Trust. Countries are making great strides with online sales. I am aware of one that has actually increased its sales under COVID-19 due to its work online.
Some shops are making use of social media. God’s people are showing great generosity. Disruption is the new normal. How much it is accepted and faced up to is a measure of how successful CLC ministries around the world will be in fulfilling God’s call - the call to make Christian literature and resources available to all nations so that people may come to faith and maturity in the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, this report shows how it is a case of “by all means save some” (1 Cor 9:22) from mobile ministries in countries like Chile, to Switzerland where there is a continuing ministry but no bookshop. Disruption has produced some remarkable tales of God’s provision to maintain the ministry in countries such as Thailand.
I had the privilege of attending three regional conferences in 2019. It was a joy to meet wonderful people who are serving God, sometimes in very challenging situations. Such times are immensely fruitful as ideas and experiences are shared and fellowship is experienced.
These reports show that the most popular title in 2019 was The 5 Love Languages; this is appropriate because “the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor 13:13). There are also several books on prayer, and support in prayer is vital as we look to God, particularly in this unprecedented time for CLC. We continue to pray for creativity in the use of social media and the digital arena, for opportunities for growth, for collaboration with other ministries and for people, especially younger people, to serve God in CLC.
John Raby,
Chairman of the Trustees
for the CLC International Office
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