Exequiel Guanzon is waiting - so are Stephen Nzomo, Martina Bastien, Emad Asmy and Henry Sian Kung. Each year JSM-Langham offer library grants to leaders such as these of more than 800 Majority World seminaries for the purchase of new theological books. The grants are precious to these libraries, and this month marks the launch of a new offer that leaders worldwide who receive the new catalog will eagerly take advantage of.
JSM-Langham will distribute two new catalogs this year: the English and French catalogs are expanded and combined into a single publication, and the Spanish catalog is wholly new. Each catalog contains hundreds of titles of the best of evangelical study resources. JSM’s modest library grants to participating colleges enable them to obtain a few new titles each year, and our offer of 40% off retail prices plus free postage assists colleges to purchase as many additional titles as they can afford. The catalog itself is a resource appreciated by librarians as much for its quality and professional layout, as for its content and the access it provides to the best evangelical publishers.
Three hundred and seventy-six colleges benefited from the Library Grant Program this past year, and we anticipate participation increasing to more than 500 colleges across the Majority World. A letter received from the Principal of Judson Theological College in Myanmar is a typical expression of appreciation: “We highly appreciate the Langham community for your love, kindness, burden and generosity towards our college and students, for which we shall never be in position to pay back your help.”
The Spanish catalog represents a unique milestone as the first-ever catalog of study resources to make a broad list of discounted evangelical titles available to all Latin American countries. This tremendous opportunity for seminaries will be phased in to countries over the next few years. Our partner in the Spanish catalog project is Letra Viva, a network of evangelical Christian publishers in Latin America with whom we have been working for almost ten years. Beatriz Buono (Argentina) and Ian Darke (Costa Rica) have led this project to success. The new catalog provides more than 300 titles for colleges to purchase, and many of these training institutions are located in cities where there is little or no theological book distribution.
In languages where it is not possible to organize a catalog, JSM offers publishing grants to support publishing in the local languages (e.g. Swahili, Indonesian, Arabic, Chin, Ukrainian, etc.); we also offer writing grants so that national church leaders can write culturally relevant books for local pastors and students. As we watch the church grow in many parts of the Majority World, it is a blessing to come alongside the local writers and publishers who are working to make the gospel relevant in their own languages and cultures. Visit the literature section of our website to learn more.
The JSM English/French catalog is available online at www.LanghamCatalogue.org