Book Aid - News and Updates from around the world

THANK YOU FOR HELPINGS US WITH 20 YEARS OF BOOK AIDING 1987-2007

In 1987 David Zac, at that time head of FOCUS in Uganda, met up with Bob Hiley in a London Park. Neither could have realised then that the meeting would have a considerable effect on the English-speaking countries of Africa and eventually even in many other areas of the world. David wanted Bob to know just how desperate the Christians in Uganda were for Christian books and Bibles. Bob had been involved prior to their meeting in sending new books to needy areas - but on learning there was payment to be made - David reluctantly said that there was no way his country could afford such books. And there the meeting could have ended with sadness on both sides. However David came back to Bob's home and was shown hundreds of good quality second-hand Christian books which had been collected for Book Fairs. To Bob's surprise he said: "Bob, why don't you send us books like these? We are so poor and so hungry for Christian books in Uganda that we don't mind if they have been read before. They are wonderful". And so began the BOOK AID that you know today!

TWENTY years later over 24 million Christian books and Bibles, new and second-hand, have been shipped all over the world wherever there is book hunger. Praise the Lord! And, thank you to Christians in the UK and beyond, who have donated so many wonderful books. Do you realise that this is like donating at least £24 million? What a marvellous effort!

Thank you... thank you... thank you... thank you...

PICCADILLY CIRCUS IN NIGERIA

"When I visited my wife's home area near Lagos I saw the great need for Bibles and Christian books - there were no Christian bookshops serving this densely populated region. My wife's brother found a small shop in the busy centre of Alagbole and Book Aid supplied us with a consignment of second-hand Bibles and Christian books to get us started. We took Bob's advice about a novel way to sell, that is, by weight! We went in on a Monday just to open the boxes but before an hour had elapsed people were coming to get Bibles and waiting for us to open the next box. The same thing happened the next day, we were all day opening boxes of Bibles and attending to people who wanted us to weigh what they had selected! Wednesday and Thursday resembled Piccadilly Circus Underground in the rush hour. Hundreds came - there was hardly room to move. What joy was seen on the faces of Christians and the local Pastors that a bookshop had opened in their area and that they were able to get books at a price that they could afford. By Thursday evening we had less than 50 second-hand Bibles left out of the 2000 we had received from Book Aid"
Pastor Les Warren, Wisbech, Cambs.

CHIDI's VENTURE

"I am Chidinma Anya and my father, Edwin is the owner of Evangel Bookshops' and Publishing Co. in Nigeria. I had a desire to do something to make Christian books available to people who find it hard to pay the prices of new books, so in November 2006 I opened the 'Fairly Used Bookshop' in Kaduna stocking it with Book Aid books. From the moment we opened, sales were tremendously fast and soon I was getting worried about how to re-stock! It gave me great joy when people told of how the books have blessed their lives. The books are so cheap that anyone can afford to buy them. I want to let you know we are very grateful and look forward to continue receiving Book Aid books"
Chidinma Anya, Kaduna, Nigeria

MALAWI

Christian Literature Action in Malawi (CLAIM) was formed in 1968. Through difficult periods they have stood firm to their commitment to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ through literature. Book Aid counts it a privilege to have supported this work since 1991 and at least nine container loads have been shipped and were shared with all eight CLAIM bookshops in the country. Apart from blessing people this has also resulted in a significant cash flow improvement which, CLAIM says, could be attributed to Book Aid support. In a recent letter Mr Ranken Nkhoma (Director) writes: "On behalf of Board members, Management and staff of CLAIM, may I thank you for all that you have done for us".

SOME BOOK FAIR

An amazing Book Fair was held during the year in South India - crowds of people were waiting for it to open long before the time. By the end of the Fair almost all the books were sold or distributed free of charge. The response was overwhelming and everyone was asking when the next sale would be! Prasanna Kumar writes: "We almost emptied one-and-a-half containers from Book Aid and want to sincerely thank your team for your dedication and support to bless the church in India".

THEY GAVE 20 YEARS

2007 has been a very significant year for BOOK AID and a sad one in some respects. Five of our long term volunteers in London went to be with the Lord. Each one had been with us from the very beginning of Book Aid and so we miss them a great deal. Violet Davis, Oliver Hensby, Pat Davis and Gordon & Margaret Thomson - we are proud to have had their good help for so long.

We also lost our very first Book Aid COLLECTOR when Joyce Willsdon died at the beginning of 2007. We remember her enthusiasm when she phoned 20 years ago from Leicester to ask could she be the first Collector, please? She did a great job.

More Thank You's

ZAMBIA: "The importance and value of books from Book Aid cannot be over-emphasised. Both the new books and the older ones have enriched the lives of many people. In fact some of the older ones are no longer in print and many Pastors treasure them. We have run out of many books in our shops now and people are asking us when we will get another container!"
Albert Ngoma, National Director (Scripture Union Zambia)

ZIMBABWE: My cousin at the Athol Evans Complex in Zimbabwe, was delighted with the books you sent. He says: "In present day Zimbabwe this is indeed a rich prize of golden literature." I would like to thank you on his behalf, and all the recipients, for the care and work put into making this consignment possible and for your dedication in what you do.
Miss R E Maddison, Mansfield

INDIA: Chandigarh Bible College
"I am very pleased to let you know that the eight cartons of books that you kindly sent us have arrived safely. I really appreciate the quality of the books you sent and despite the fact that we already have 1800 books in our library there are very few titles that have been duplicated. Truly the books were sent with much prayer. Thank you for your help and generosity in enabling us to build our college library"
Nick Addington, Principal, Chandigarh Bible College

Update 28 can now be downloaded from our free downloads section