CLC USA Update: Fall 2020
Dear friends,
What a joy it is to know the Lord and to rest in Him during times of difficulty!
1 Peter 1:8-9 says “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” Praise God! He is trustworthy and true!
Most of you, like us, have been praying not only for relief from COVID-19, but that God would use this period of history to draw people to himself all over the world.
Friends – we see this happening! God is at work!
As the virus picked up steam back in March and April, most of our bookstores around the world had to close their doors for a time, including our stores in the USA. Some of them, like Panama, for example, are still closed in September! Yikes! Please pray for them. As the restrictions ramped up, our teams were praying and looking for ways to serve in the midst of the crisis – after all, we have the Word of Life to distribute! What a beautiful counterpoint to offer in the face of fear and anxiety over death!
We are so happy to tell you about some of the ways that the Lord is answering our prayers here in the USA, and we saw a surge in demand for our Bibles, especially foreign-language Bibles. It was “all hands on deck” in our shipping department as we all pitched in to get books and Bibles packaged and shipped out in a timely way.
“Great quality! This made a wonderful gift for a Vietnamese friend I’m witnessing to,” wrote one customer.
“This was a great gift for a friend from Thailand who is converting from Buddhism to Christianity,” wrote another.
Our online Bible sales have more than doubled, with over 7,000 packages shipped out since February, and we ask you to pray with us that each one will be read and that God will open spiritually blind eyes to see His glorious Gospel!
Many of you have donated to CLC to support our missionaries, a Bible project, or toward the greatest need at the time. Thank you! We’ve been able to send funds to assist in several countries where the crisis has it difficult to even pay salaries or rent. We believe that your giving to this ministry is well-used for God’s kingdom! Would you ask the Lord if He would have you increase your giving in one of these areas? You can give online here.
Would you like to hear what Sharon Jones came up with to help families in Peru through the quarantine? How you can pray for our team in Thailand? What it was like for our team in Korea at the height of the pandemic? Click here to read the latest issue of CLC World magazine! You’ll find prayer requests for each day and informative articles about the ministry of CLC.
Revelation 21: 4 & 5 says “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Be encouraged! These words are trustworthy, true, and they have been written down! Its now our joy to be able to pass out these words to those who need to hear them. Thank you for praying and for giving to help accomplish this!
Joyfully,
Jim Pitman
