By John Maust, MAI President
Nigerian author Pusonnam Yiri lowered his voice in the noisy room. His listeners around the table leaned forward, not to miss a word.
“I compare the LittWorld conference to a big family Christmas dinner with family members attending from around the world,” he said intently. “I met people from many countries who are now my friends.”
There’s something profoundly energizing about joining a global family serving Christ through the published word.
Pusonnam left LittWorld 2015 with an idea for a book on “thinking locally, writing globally,” just now published. “God willing, people will produce more locally authored content after reading the book,” he said.
Based in an area of violent extremism in northern Nigeria, the father of three also formed a publishing house and focused on training believers to write books.
“The more I write and the more I train, the more I see the publishing needs,” he said. “Africa needs publishing houses more than oil refineries.”
As we prepare for LittWorld 2018 in Singapore, I wonder who else, like Pusonnam, will join the LittWorld “family”? And what new Christian publications, or even publishing houses, will be born as a result?
We have a long list of scholarship applicants including:
- A Bhutanese writer who prays that “one day the world will read our stories and be drawn to God”
- A Congolese leader wanting to write materials to “help win more people to Christ”
- A Slovakian leader seeking “a fresh vision for Christian publishing”
LittWorld participants eagerly seek training to maximize their skills. But they are just as hungry to build relationships with peers who give them strength and encouragement to persevere.
Please pray that God brings just the right people to the global dinner table at LittWorld 2018. Pray too for abundant scholarship funding and consider giving a gift yourself. (Meet some of our scholarship applicants and donate online here.)
And pray especially that the Holy Spirit will bind us together once again as “family”—all 250 participants from 50 countries—united and energized in our love for Jesus and shared ministry of the published word.
