Literature Evangelism by the Beach  

In July I visited the east coast of Romania accompanied by Ioan Campian, Inter-European Division Publishing Ministries director, and Lorand Balla, Romanian Union Publishing director. We drove three hours from the city of Bucharest to the Black Sea on the east coast of Romania, where several cities have beautiful beaches. During summer, large numbers of tourists from both Romania and other European countries vacation in this region. For many years I had dreamed of visiting the place where literature evangelists (LEs) run a beach program during summer months.

The first thing we saw when we arrived at each of the main beaches was a tent with a table full of books, and a group of LEs attending to visitors. The tents are usually set up by the beachside, or on roads or streets used to get to the beach. Each tent was equipped with brochures, inviting people to come for free health tests and screenings.
 
As visitors passed by the tents, they were drawn by the advertisements offering free health consultations for blood pressure, body fat, and other exams. After the tests individuals were informed of potential disease-causing problems and were invited to view different books that could help prevent these ailments.
 
Tables not only featured health books; books about spirituality were also available. It was amazing to see people purchasing not only books on health, but spiritual books such as The Desire of Ages, Steps to Christ, and many others.

According to Balla, in addition to having health tents by the beach, they also have testing centers in many cities with permission from the local government. While we visited the group at the beach, he informed us about a group of students that was running the same program in Bucharest with as many as 20 people at a time waiting in line.
 
As shown by the table below, the program doesn’t cost much to run. Imagine the number of vacationers who would benefit from such programs if LEs near other beaches around the world were to implement it. 

Indonesia Hosts Bi-Union Publishing Seminar 

More than 50 conference Publishing Ministries directors and assistants attended the Indonesia Bi-Union Publishing Leadership Seminar in the northeast city of Manado in early July. The theme, "I Lead for Mission," put a strong emphasis on pragmatic Christian leadership; maintaining a strong balance between a good knowledge of publishing policies, sales techniques, communication strategies, and Christian leadership.

Important resolutions were made with the four key areas of Publishing in mind. 

Facilitators included Vivencio Bermudez, Southern Asia-Pacific Division Publishing Ministries director; Stephen Apola, General Conference Publishing associate director; Sugih Sitorus, West Indonesia Union president; and Indonesia Publishing House leaders.

The seminar was hosted by Ferry Kasenda, East Indonesia Union Publishing director, and Hormat Hasibuan, West Indonesia Union Publishing director.

Publishing Ministries Reaches Out to Coworkers

General Conference Publishing Ministries led out in morning worship at the General Conference Headquarters on July 12. Almir Marroni, Publishing director, presented a short message to create awareness about literature distribution as part of the Total Member Involvement initiative.

After worship, Publishing Ministries staff personally delivered more than 700 packages of two missionary books to each employee in the General Conference building. The goal was to challenge employees to share the books with whomever God placed in their path.

The two books were beautifully packaged as a gift and were accompanied by a card encouraging literature distribution.

     

LE Conventions Held in Two Countries 

In June I participated at Sabah’s region Literature Evangelist (LE) Convention along with Vivencio Bermudez, Southern Asia-Pacific Division (SSD) Publishing Ministries director. The convention took place in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

About 40 LEs attended the meetings. During the convention, one day was set aside for a Publishing Awareness Seminar, which was attended by church pastors and local church publishing coordinators.
 
Then I visited Bangkok, Thailand. A vibrant Literature Evangelist Convention was held there, hosting LEs from Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

Mario Martinelli, Editorial Safeliz president, and George Pamplona, Safeliz book author, participated by sharing health tips and professional growth strategies with attendees.
 
The meetings in Malaysia and Thailand were organized and led by Francis Lajanim, Southeast Asia Union Publishing Ministries director.

Tri-Division Publishing Workshop Held in Egypt  

More than 45 participants from the Middle East and North Africa Union (MENA), East-Central Africa Division (ECD), Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division (SID), and West-Central Africa Division (WAD) came together for a Publishing Directors Workshop in Cairo, Egypt, in June.
 
The workshop focused on the four Publishing areas of emphasis, but with special and particular emphasis on books of spiritual nurture for Adventist Church members. The workshop noted the numeric growth of membership but also expressed the need for a strong emphasis on literature that nurtures members.
 

Delegates also discussed the need for unity among the various Publishing entities in defining, designing, and distributing literature. The workshop created an opportunity not only for strategizing but also for fellowship among delegates.  
 
The workshop was facilitated by the General Conference Publishing director and two associate directors.  Present were WAD and SID Publishing directors, union Publishing directors, and publishing house and HHES/ABC managers.