The
Evergreen Book Ministry (formerly Evergreen Publishers) is a
ministry of Kabwata Baptist Church and is overseen by its elders
and deacons. This ministry has already published a few titles
(about 6 titles), but in the last 10 years we went into
non-activity due to funding difficulties. All we have sustained
is the printing of daily devotionals and a Christian magazine
(Reformation Zambia).
Our Situation in Zambia
Zambia is a landlocked country whose economy is among the
poorest in the world. Trying to run a printing press in our
country is almost impossible. Paper and ink have to be imported.
If you consider the fact that our currency lost a third of its
value in the last 6 months (March to September 2020), you can
see how perilous this would be to anyone whose business involves
items that are imported. Our Zambian market does not allow us to
produce beyond 1,000–2,000 copies at any one time.
We currently take our print jobs to an already established
printer that is serving a wider clientele. This helps to keep
the price of the final product as low as possible. That said,
the price still keeps going up in our local currency. In such a
situation, we need donations. We need to ensure that enough
funds spent on a title are back in the bag through the sales of
that book by the time our next title is ready to be printed. But
if we can grow that fund, we can even sell the books at a more
affordable price for those we are seeking to reach. This is
where you, as an individual, church, or organization can help
us.
Here are our most urgent needs:
1. We run an in-house “publishing” ministry.
This was started in order to put sermons that were being
preached at our church seminars into print so that the teachings
would be available in an ongoing way and would be spread beyond
our church. Although these seminars continued annually for about
25 years, for the last 10–15 years we have not turned those
teachings into books yet. We want to produce 3 to 4 titles per
year for the next 3 to 4 years. We
need your help creating a revolving fund of about $10,000 to
keep that going.
2. We want to run a Christian bookshop.
There are hardly any Christian bookshops in Zambia simply
because books are too expensive for the average Zambian. Yet, we
are convinced that Christians need to read good, sound and solid
Christian books. Kabwata Baptist Church was running one but it
ran aground early last year when our former bookstore manager
moved on. The elders want to revamp it and that is what we are
currently working on. We are convinced that with a little more
effort it is possible to keep it going. This would be the major
outlet of the books we are publishing and other titles that we
can get into Zambia from elsewhere. We
need your help supporting an open bookstore in Zambia. An
estimated cost will be posted soon.
3. We need new computers and software.
One of our greatest needs is to have the right computer software
for both the publishing of books and the running of the
bookstore. On the publishing side, it is simply the typesetting
work and managing stock and wholesale marketing. On the
bookstore side it is software that will enable us to
automatically keep a finger on stock levels, see which books are
selling well, notice which books are past their “best before”
date, determine how we are doing financially, etc. We
need your help buying 2 new laptops plus the licensing for
software.
4. We need a website.
We would want to run a website for the bookstore to enable
people all over Zambia to see what books we have and to order
their books from there. We can also promote specials on the
website. We need your
help sponsoring the cost of website hosting and design.
Additonal Information
Because we are not an American Non-Profit, donations to this
cause will not be tax deductable. But you can know that your
love offering and support of the Gospel will greatly help
promote the cause of the Gospel in Africa. Not only are our
books and resources read in Zambia, they are found throughout
the entire content of Africa. With your help, we can help to
expand the reach of theologically sound books and materials that
meet the specific needs of precious people in Africa.
|
|