The Scent of a Bookstore

If you’re reading this blog somewhere in America, I challenge you to get up, turn off the computer, drive yourself to your nearest Christian bookstore, browse for half an hour, and buy something.

Enjoy yourself, and I will try to enjoy it vicariously. Because I am dying to visit a well-stocked Christian bookstore!!

One of the biggest needs of our mission is Christian literature. Especially in French. Especially from a Methodist/Wesleyan perspective.

Unfortunately, not much already exists out there. For some reason, the French-speaking world is void of Methodist-themed literature.

Here in Cameroon, we have a need for good material, first of all, for our pastors. Many of them are about to begin the process of ordination; we need textbooks of Methodist history, theology, doctrine, and polity. We also need easier-to-read versions of the same for laypeople, including Bible studies, adult Sunday School material, and church organizational guides.

Since we need materials in both French and English, I have begun considering writing my own literature so that we don’t have to worry about copyright permission, and have my friend, Alexis, translate it into French.

I have found two Christian bookstores, or librairies, in Yaounde, but the pickings are extremely scanty. They consist mostly of small pamphlets written by local Pentecostal preachers, and French translations of books by Billy Graham. I even found a copy of Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth which predicted the end of the world back in the 1980’s, I think!

What I’m trying to say is … enjoy the luxury of a bookstore with fresh, clean bookjackets, full shelves, 35 different translations of the Bible, and the scent of Starbucks.

And if you just happen to find a French translation of John Wesley’s sermons lying around, please be so kind as to wrap it up, and send it FedEx ASAP!