By Heather Pubols
One of the temptations of leading a global network like MAI is to get caught up in “doing” and missing the right questions. How many training events have we run? How many countries have we visited? How many people came along? How many books have been published?
I’m not sure these are the right questions. MAI’s vision is not activity. Our vision is that the Church is strengthened and society is changed by encountering Jesus through the written word. The encouragement and training we offer Christian writers and publishers is a vital part of this.
Sometimes this happens through the training events we offer, and our webinar and workshop participants themselves grow in their own love for God and Christlike character, as well as spurred on to write books that point readers to Jesus.
From the time Pierre Celestin Uwiringiyimana of Rwanda came to faith in Christ, God gave him a burden to reach out to and disciple university students. He attended our Christian Writers Workshop in March. “It supported me so much in writing my first book,” Pierre wrote to MAI.
Sometimes we see glimpses of God bringing His vision for MAI to pass through our online communities that gather Christians together to pray, write and explore ideas.
For Mary Sefa Boahemaa of Ghana, who has just published her first book, being part of MAI’s WhatsApp group for writers has been about more than publishing. “Being in this community has helped me in so many ways,” Mary told us. She hopes to encourage readers to trust God through all seasons.
And often, it’s only after years of building relationships, providing training consistently, and opening doors of opportunities to connect with others, that we see that God is indeed working through MAI to strengthen His Church as new publishing houses are built in hard places.
Ever since a training event by MAI in June 2023, people have been asking journalist Jonah Nyoni of Zimbabwe questions about Christian publishing. “Recognizing this gap in Zimbabwe and within the church, I felt led to register a company to help equip and support others,” Jonah says.
When we start asking questions like how people are being equipped to sow the seeds of the gospel in new ways and how are lives being transformed as a result, we can open our eyes to the long-term fruit that this work brings. Pray with us as we equip those who will write the stories that point people to Jesus in this generation and beyond.
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