We often hear about how lonely writing and publishing can be—particularly when it seems we’re the only one reading or writing, or there might not be many Christians around us. And in many parts of the world, it’s both. It can be easy to be discouraged and to feel like we are the only one who cares to write or publish things that point to Jesus. Our regional Board Chairs share the ways they’ve been encouraged as they’ve served with MAI.
Rose Birenge (Africa): When I think of MAI, I think about deep friends. People who love books, love Jesus, and love each other. People who desire to spread God’s word in a way that will be understood by those that receive it. When I think of MAI ethos, I think of people who love books, people who love literature, but love God first. And they want literature, and have been transformed by literature, and want that transformation to also be passed on to others.
For me, it’s the connections that we have, and the fact that we get new people every time. Even in LittWorld in Mexico, I saw people from Africa who I’ve never seen before. I kept thinking, “Wow, there’s so many more coming.” At LittAfrica Botswana, about 60% were completely new people to MAI—and probably 50% were young people under 30. That was exciting because that just means then there’s a future for MAI, and so that’s encouraging.
We had done a writing competition and received so many entries, both from French-speaking Africa and English-speaking Africa. The winners asked to come for the conference and they were so excited, and they continued to write. Those are the things that I feel are wonderful, and so going forward, we just hope we can truly encourage publishing in Africa, especially in the digital age, in terms of writing, marketing, distribution…
Aaron Lee (Asia-Pacific): It’s been a great privilege to get to know the MAI work and their vision and their mission and to be a part of it as a volunteer, and to also experience the very unique MAI family ethos.
Everyone serves one another, you know, with leading by serving. That’s what I see. It’s been just very much a part of the MAI way of doing things for as long as I can remember, ever since I got to kind of be involved as a volunteer in LittWorld in Singapore 2015. I got to meet really awesome people from around the world who flew in just to spend those three or four days together, you know, talking about the gospel and how it’s communicated, about publishing, writing, editing.
This is missions work for sure. It is cross-cultural missions work. Encouraging people to care about writing and writing well, telling stories well in their own language. And also originating their own stories of the people and the culture that they represent is a great challenge. We want to see more of those stories come out.
Janet Wilson (Europe): The whole idea of MAI, of Christians writing for their own people in their own language, I think is so important.
I had lived for a year in Belgium and seen how very much people were relying on other languages for a lot of their theology books and their inspirational material…How important it is for Belgian people to write for their own people. They know their own struggles and their own strengths. They know their own culture. They know where they’re coming from. So I feel very much that that is such a brilliant thing to do.
And I feel hugely, hugely privileged now to be able to talk to people from all over the world about how important it is for people to write in their own language for their own children, because they know what their children need. They understand where the children’s struggles, they know their joys, they know what’s happening to them at school and how vital that is.
In October 2024, we ran a conference in conjunction with IFES in Serbia and Montenegro and we had quite a lot of young people. It was such a joy to see this new generation of writers so enthusiastic really dedicated to outreach. They wanted to write things that would help other people know about Jesus. They’ve got so much enthusiasm, so much zeal, strong in their faith. Some were really dedicated to walk with Jesus and use the gifts that he’d given them.
That was really moving when we were singing together from countries from Serbia, Croatia, North Macedonia, Slovenia… To sing hymns with people who, in the past, their relatives would have been at war with each other. Their grandfathers may have been fighting on opposite sides of the Balkan War! So it was just such a joy to have people all singing together Holy, holy, holy is the Lord and Amazing Grace. To know that people who had formerly been enemies were now united in Christ all brothers and sisters together.
José Carlos Gutiérrez M. (Latin America): MAI’s work in inspiring and equipping people around the world in Christian publishing is great. I would encourage people to read and write and share their experience with God and any way that he has been working in your life. Your life’s unique. Whatever situation you’re living in might inspire others to get closer to God, and help others in many ways. Anything that you can share can inspire somebody anywhere—your life’s a treasure.