Newsletter October 2016
All You Need is New Sofas!
I know we haven’t reached Christmas yet, but the ads on telly have already begun . . . and just in case you haven’t heard, I’d better tell you that all you need for the perfect Christmas is, apparently, new sofas! All at irresistible prices, of course . . .
Mmmm. Thank goodness there was once a perfect Christmas, when our dear Lord and Saviour was born for us, to bring us life, hope, light in our darkness, perfect love, freedom from sin and death. And it wasn’t in a room with new sofas.
I know it’s early, but I’m not only pondering Christmas because of the adverts . . . 150 copies of Eleanor Watkins’ Beech Bank Girls, Christmas is Coming are now on their way to Angel Tree (part of the Prison Fellowship) who will pass on the books as Christmas presents from prisoners to their children. You can read more about the brilliant work of Angel Tree here. We are so thrilled to be able to help. Joanna, who coordinates the project, has asked us to pray for the girls who will be reading the books and I’ve assured her that we will. Many prisoners’ children will have no church background, so the stories of Holly, Amber, Chloe, Annie, Rachel and Willow have the potential to touch many young lives and assure readers that they are beautiful, valued and precious in God’s sight. We may never know on this earth, but who knows what may be revealed in heaven (without a sofa in sight!)?
Gifts
Just in case you are starting to think about Christmas gifts yourself, you can buy a pack of four Beech Bank Girls books for £21.56; a pack of two mystery adventure books for £9.88; a pack of three ‘Rwanda’ books for £16.77, and a fabulous pack of fourteen books for a family with children of various ages from 8-16 for £75.47 (perfect for book loving families who can’t afford to buy books for themselves). They are weird prices because they are 10% off the cost of buying the books separately! 
All our books are, of course, also for sale in Christian bookshops (who may have other offers – always worth a look).
If you would like 20 or more books for your Sunday School or Kids Club, contact me for quantity discounts. If you have any special requirements, or children who you would like us to pray for, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Good News From Africa!
You may have seen on our facebook page that a local minister took some books for us to a desperately poor school in Zambia, where most of the children are orphans or vulnerable. Apparently they were overjoyed to receive them! We are so grateful to Martyn for taking them in his suitcase. May the Lord bless every one of these precious children, and may the good news of Jesus bring hope and new life to their lives.
A handful of our books are also going to be taken to disadvantaged children in schools in Kenya via Dr. Loise Gichuhi of Education Bridge Africa. I’m waiting to hear which of the books she thinks would be the most useful, and would love to be able to send more. I sent the books via Royal Mail and was encouraged to hear they arrived safely.
Dernier is all about getting books with the message of the good news into the hands of young people. If there’s anything we can do to help you reach the young people on your heart, please let me know and we’ll see if we can work something out. Time and time again, the Lord has made a way where there seems to be no way – when we work together so much more is possible.
Isn’t it just so encouraging to see our books, with the message of the good news, reaching children in need? And there’s another new country our books have reached . . .
Helping Persecuted Christians
Last month we had a visit from a pastor from an Asian country who had been imprisoned for his faith. I gave him a couple of our books: he was so thrilled he has asked for more! He is now back in his own country. We received an email from him a few days ago: He is currently reading ‘I Want to Be an Airline Pilot’ to his three young boys! Please do pray for this little family, that they will stay strong in their faith in spite of all the difficulties they face. Thank you so much. Sorry I can’t give names or places. It’s thrilling to hear of our books reaching children all over the world – and so much is because of your prayers and support.
Christian Resources Together
I had a good time last month at the retreat event for publishers/suppliers and retailers in the UK Christian book trade (Christian Resources Together). Please pray for Christian bookshops – they do a great job. It was good to show them our new book, The City Kid, meet lots of old friends, make new ones, and work on ways we can help each other. The City Kid is being featured in next month’s trade magazine, and I have been asked to write a short piece, too. It’s a privilege to be a part of the Christian trade in this country.
New ebook
I have put 50 quick writing tips into a kindle book: if you write fiction for children and teens, or would like to, you can get this book free until Saturday (7th). Click here for Amazon UK. Click here for Amazon.com. (You can read kindle books on any device with Amazon’s free app.) If you would be kind enough to leave a review, it would help enormously – thanks very much.
Help!
Like to help but don’t need books right now? Here are some things you could do:
1. Come over to our facebook page and comment on, like and share posts. The more engagement each post receives, the more people see it – exponentially!
2. We covet your prayers – please pray for the children who read our books and for everyone involved in Dernier. Thank you so much.
3. Write a review of a book you or your children have read on the Eden website, Amazon, Goodreads, on our own website, or just email it to me! Reviews help us get known.
4. Send in a photo of your child/children reading – not only would we find that so encouraging, but a picture tells a thousand words when it comes to publicity. 🙂
5. Tell someone about what we do.
6. If you would like to donate books for Education Bridge Africa, let me know. If you buy the books, we will pay for shipping. Boxes of books come in different quantities – Living in Hope come in boxes of 170, Beech Bank Girls II come in boxes of 100, and most are in between those two, but if you would just like to send one or two, or one of our packs (see above) we can do that, too. Just let me know.
Thanks so much for all your support and help! This has been such an encouraging newsletter to write – so many good stories. Little by little we are taking ground. It’s a battle, and we have to fight for every step, but it’s worth it. Thank you for standing with us, because we don’t need new sofas anything like as much as we need to pass on the good news of Jesus.
Janet