What is your dream for Christian publishing in your country?

Utibe-Abasi Inyang Ekpe of Nigeria responded to the writing prompt, “What is your dream for Christian publishing in your country?” with this submission to the LittWorld 2012 writing contest:

In my country, there are many beautiful Christian materials but I can’t say if they are actually “published” in the actual sense of the word since they are hardly ever distributed. I belief the sole aim of publishing is to get the material out to the public. It is easy though, to get ones hands on the books written by general overseers of renowned ministries in Nigeria; but apart from theirs, you will come across beautiful works of Nigerian Christian authors mostly by accident.

But I dream of a better publishing future… I see Nigeria having Christian publishing houses of the highest standards, controlled by Holy Spirit filled personnel, and they will publish only works that are rightly founded on the Word, filled with Holy Spirit inspired messages targeted at addressing the issues and needs of the Nigerian Church. I want to be able to pick up a book by a Nigerian author, look at the spine for the name and logo of the publishers and say to myself, this will be a great book to read…these guys publish the very best.

Publishers with a standard of holiness will encourage authors of the same standard and the Christian books released into the Nigerian system will encourage a deeper and more rewarding relationship with God rather than focusing on achieving success that is measured by the world standard. I see a country where everyone will have or be encouraged to have a clearly defined stand; “for Christ” or “not for Christ” and no more will it be that what is wrong on Sunday in the Church, isn’t all that bad on Monday in the office. But every book or article that is worth reading, every message that is worth listening to will be that which will encourage righteousness and holiness.

Learn how you can submit articles and win cash in the LittWorld 2012 writing contest, “Blogging for Global Impact.”