July 2012 Newsletter

Welcome to the July 2012 newsletter from

Dernier Publishing!

They're not leeks . . . are they triffids? :-)

Remember this photo from last month (left)? I thought it was leeks that had been planted in the field opposite our house . . . haha, well I was quite wrong, it is in fact maize and boy have the plants shot up - my dog is only small but you get an idea of the scale (below)

 . . . which makes my recent musings on children growing up so quickly seem even more relevant! ( If you missed the musings – scroll down to entry 12^th June 2012.)

 

Anyone else read 'The Day of the Triffids' by John Wyndham? The maize plants look a lot like I imagine triffids to be, and when there's a bit of a breeze they 'rattle' like triffids too, although they don't get up and walk! It's surprising how much comes back to you from books you have read - let's make sure the kids we love have exciting, inspiring Christian books to read so that in the future they will have lots of good things to remember :-)

Church School Awards

The annual Church School Awards took place in London last month – it was a privilege to be there and to present three of the awards. I met television presenter Kirsten O'Brien and some amazing pupils and teachers from church schools all over the country, who do the most amazing job. I also met some great people who work in education and have been put in touch with the National Children's Adviser for all the Church of England schools in the UK, with a view to her recommending our books toschools. She now has a copy of all our books - please pray!

 

Encouraging news!

If you follow us on facebook you will know that all our books are for sale at the Keswick Bible Convention, in the bookshop! Author Mary Weeks Millard (right) returned home from the first week having had an excellent time. She writes, “I did have a great encouragement. We went to church in Ambleside and met a young family. Books came up in the conversation and the mum told me that her six-year-old daughter had just had a birthday and was given this wonderful book called The Birthday Shoes! When she found out that I had written it she began to cry, and told me the book had really touched her when she read it to her daughter, and she was just amazed to have met me 'by coincidence!'” Isn't that so encouraging! Please do keep praying for all the children and their families who receive our books as gifts. And if you have birthdays coming up, why not buy a book or two? Who knows what seeds you may be sowing? Visit your local bookshop, or buy p+p free from www.dernierpublishing.com/youthf.php

 

More great news!

Author Eleanor Watkins (right) has also been out and about! She writes, “We visited the Lighthouse bookshop and coffee shop in Cupar, Fife for lunch today and were pleased to see Dernier books on the shelves. The lady in charge met Janet at CRT [Christian Resources Together] this year and says the Beech Bank Girls books are selling really well.” The Lord is at work! But don't stop praying because . . .

There's still so much more to do

Ayeisha George, who stocks some of our books in her bookshop in The Gambia, was also away recently. She writes, “We have had a very restful time in Senegal and are back in The Gambia now since last Tuesday. Just before leaving, I was able to visit a couple of villages under the sponsorship project of Inter Senegal Mission. In one of the villages I saw several children crowding over one children's story book. Its a pity that Mary's books are not yet translated into French or am I wrong? It will be nice to get some copies for distribution or sale in Senegal. Do let me know about this possibility. I have visited one of the Christian bookshops in Dakar (Bibliotheque Dieu a Parlé) and that would be a good outlet.”
My initial reaction was hopelessness in the face of such enormous need – we are so small - what can we do? We just about have enough money coming in for day to day needs, but nothing extra. There are so many more children we could reach with the “message in a story” if we could translate into other languages. It would take a miracle though! As I sighed and prayed over this dilemma, I remembered the Lord is able to do miracles. As we sung in church on Sunday, Our God is a great big God! If I think of how far we have already come, we have already witnessed a miracle, with books for sale not only all over the UK but in a few shops abroad too. A few years ago, that seemed like an impossible dream!

It still feels like a big gulp, but please keep praying with me that one day we will be able to reach children from many more peoples and nations - every child deserves to be able to read good Christian books in a language they can at least understand.

 

Prayer – just do it! booklets

Don't forget our 'Prayer – just do it!' booklets, if your prayer life needs a bit of a boost: www.dernierpublishing.com/prayer.php

And I've run out of room! Still, August's not far off, so not long until I can regale you with the next installment in our exciting adventure – please do stick with us! :-)

 

With love to you all,

Janet

P.S. The photo is of me in the triffid field :-)

P.P.S. Where have you seen our books? Free book for the best photo!