LittWorld: A feast at the global dinner table

By John Maust, MAI President Nigerian author Pusonnam Yiri lowered his voice in the noisy room.  His listeners around the table leaned forward, not to miss a word. “I compare the LittWorld conference to a big family Christmas dinner with family members attending from around the world,” he said intently. “I met people from many
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That fumbling publisher was me!

Will Christian publishing in the Majority World always require subsidies in order to survive? Or can publishers flourish on income generated from their publishing operations alone? This daunting goal may be difficult to achieve, but is possible, according to author Ramon Rocha III, MAI director of publisher development.  In our new book, Profit and Purpose:
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Egypt: God’s Word for a Troubled World

MAI welcomes Ramez Atallah, general director of the Bible Society of Egypt, as a keynote speaker at LittWorld 2018, our world conference of Christian publishing. Ramez was born in Egypt and immigrated with his family to Canada where he came to know the Lord personally and was discipled through the ministry of the InterVarsity Christian
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Healing Bodies and Souls: Robert Solomon, the doctor-pastor of Singapore

Robert Solomon is intimately familiar with the struggle to discern God’s calling. The author and Bishop Emeritus of the Methodist Church in Singapore calls himself a doctor-pastor, having followed the Lord on a winding journey through medicine and pastoral ministry. In secondary school, Robert earnestly sought the Lord’s will for his future university studies. Robert
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Japan: Christian publishing alive and vibrant

“The nail that sticks up gets whacked down,” warns the Japanese proverb. Cultural pressures to conform make it difficult for people to convert to Christianity and to live a Christian lifestyle. But publishers there are taking advantage of Japan’s 99% literacy rate and appreciation of books to create powerful tools to reach society and nurture
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Thailand: Coloring for Christ

A first Christian coloring book for adults is touching hearts in Thailand where believers number a scant one percent of the majority Buddhist population. The 40-page Love Is features text from 1 Corinthians 13 and original illustrations by OMF publisher Kanok Bannasan. A launch timed before Valentine’s Day resulted in 500 copies sold within the
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Italy: Simple Visit Opens Door

By John Maust We don’t get many international visitors at our office near Chicago.  So, I was surprised and pleased when Italian publishing manager Daniela Benevelli stopped by one day. As Daniela talked about the work of The Bible House/Geneva Bible Society in Turin, it became apparent that our two ministries shared a similar vision
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Ten Key Outcomes of MAI Ministry

In the last 14 months, MAI ministry has yielded these outcomes: 1. Trainings in 22 countries for 370 publishing staff and writers, representing more than 90 different publishing houses 2. Our first-ever screenwriting workshop, involving 10 writers from a closed Asian country 3. Launch of Christian publisher training in Italy in partnership with the Geneva
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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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Angola: When God closed the door

When God closed the door on Joel Sergio’s dreams of emigrating to Europe, the pages of his writing life began to unfold. Thousands of aspiring youth from Angola, including his two brothers, had left for Europe in the late 1980s and 1990s. Poverty, unemployment and hopelessness gripped the former Portuguese colony of southern Africa, scarred
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