Central Asia: Behind the “Golden Pen” Award

“In your word I find my utmost delight. I want to honor its great worth aright. Let me forever live within your word. Pressed into it, may it and I unite.” Readers are devouring Mary’s* stanzas across her nation in Central Asia. Last year the author received her country’s “Golden Pen” award and was invited
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Indonesia: A New Year’s Text

By Yessy Sutama, Indonesia The first morning of the New Year. I read a text message from my brother. A New Year’s reflection. So beautiful. I thought the greeting was quoted by my brother from another person’s text message to him. He often does this if he feels that the text was good and would
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A Writer in Wonderland

By Ivanova Nono Fotso, Cameroon I know a young woman who has many grown-up responsibilities: university studies, work, chores, volunteering and church. Yet unbeknownst to the rest of the world, this young woman has a secret room in her heart. In that room, she revisits the world of a five year-old girl, filled with wonder
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“I Felt Locked In…”

By Mark Carpenter, Brazil As a young teenager growing up in a small town in Brazil, I had little access to the outside world. Only two TV channels were available, and the city newspaper carried only local news. I felt locked in. Then the son of a Japanese immigrant opened a news kiosk downtown, featuring
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India: “After lunch you can kill me.”

Babu is an MAI trainer, Indian journalist and historian who has authored five books. He shared this recent personal story with us: A few months ago at about midnight my telephone rang and the voice on the other end was strange and angry. The man introduced himself as an engineer-cum-businessman and an active member of
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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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Unique challenges of creating kids’ books

A lot of people think creating kids’ books is easy. After all, they’re short, right? Not according to Stephanie Rische, senior editor and team manager for children’s books and nonfiction at Tyndale House Publishers. Kids’ books come with unique challenges. Watch this 3-minute video to learn more. Consider the audience. For adult books, the same
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Three messages for nurturing local writers

Kara Lassen Oliver shares three key messages for nurturing local writers in the 2-minute video below. As a published author and a former missionary in Malawi, she is passionate about equipping and empowering writers in Africa to write and publish the materials they need to strengthen the Church. Developing local writers is about encouraging them
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Living the dream to educate underprivileged Indonesian children

A young author is on the fast track to fulfilling her dream of educating underprivileged children in Indonesia. A few months after our LittWorld 2015 conference, Tiur Faith Saj Purba, 25, launched her autobiographical book 0.1 Hectares School, published by Christian publisher Metanoia. She and co-author Ariska Amir tell describe Tiur’s childhood, attending a neighborhood
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We All Need An Editor

By Stephanie Rische When people hear I wrote a book after being an editor for over a dozen years, they often ask me: “So, since you’re an editor, you probably didn’t need much editing, right?” WRONG. Here’s the thing: I can be objective and incisive about other people’s stories, ruthlessly chopping out stories that need
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