I was tempted to cut it down…

By John Maust, MAI President About 15 years ago I gave my wife, Elsa, a pink dogwood tree for Mother’s Day. The kids and I planted the tiny tree in the front yard and waited impatiently for gorgeous flowers to bloom. One year passed, then two, then three. Still no flowers. We wondered if the
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Writing goes places where we cannot

“We now see that writing is a way to serve the Lord,” said a young man after MAI training. “Writing can reach people in places where we ourselves cannot go.” Last year he and friends in a closed country of Southeast Asia formed the first Christian publisher in their nation, an exciting outcome of our
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Egypt: Arab Writers Craft Homegrown Reads

By John Maust Nine aspiring authors traveled to Alexandria, Egypt, once-great port city founded by Alexander the Great in 321 B.C. and famed in its day as the seat of all learning.  In a place where the Great Library once held 700,000 manuscripts—every known work in existence—they learned the craft of writing at a training
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Sometimes God Surprises Us

By John D. Maust, MAI President Sometimes God surprises us by doing something we did not imagine.  Has such a thing happened recently in MAI’s work? A friend wanted to know. One country came immediately to mind. Several years ago, we began doing some behind-the-scenes writer training in a closed nation of Southeast Asia.  Some
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The Best Kind of Good News

By John D. Maust, MAI President What is the best good news that you have ever received? I recently asked some friends to describe a time when they received some really good news. Some, with great emotion, shared dramatic news: *A scary medical test that came back negative *A family member had survived a serious
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