Newsletter September 2012

Welcome to the September 2012 newsletter from

Dernier Publishing!

Summer is over – welcome to the harvest!

No more chances!

As I write, swallows are swooping around outside, having a break on their long journey to warmer climes – proof that summer is over, sigh. I must admit to being a 'summer' person; nevertheless I had been impatiently waiting for the combine harvester to cut the wheat in the field opposite our house. I know nothing about farming (as you will have gathered from the last few newsletters!), but I had been worrying about how much of the crop would be left by the time the farmer came to harvest! I suppose it's probably usual, but massive flocks of birds had been swooping down and eating swathes of the wheat once it ripened until it looked almost bare in places. Rabbits had been eating the crop since it first popped through the soil. The heavy rains we had in July had flattened big patches of the growing wheat, and dog walkers straying off the footpath and allowing their dogs to run through the field hadn't helped. So I was impatiently waiting for the farmer to hurry up, in case there wasn't anything left by the time he harvested! But then when he did come, there was a kind of finality about it which was sobering. No amount of sunshine or rain could help now. That was it. The Bible talks a lot about harvest – sometimes after watching the news we are tempted to think, 'How long, Lord?', but He will come at just the right time – the big question is, will we be ready? Don't let's miss the opportunities given us today.

 

Could you be our first Church Representative? :-)

I've been thinking for a long time about setting up a church rep scheme! Our aim is to reach as many 8-16s as we can, but we can't do that alone, we need you! It would be great to spread the news about the “message in a story” among ministers, Sunday School teachers and youth workers, parents and carers. Could you be a rep for your church? We would send catalogues, information on new releases, encouraging stories and prayer requests for reps to pass on to churches and Sunday Schools. We would also provide information on ordering and local stockists, and encourage reps to print off newsletters and pin to the noticeboard, although of course anyone can do that (could you do that with this one?!)! We haven't got a single rep at the moment, so you could be our first! We would be so delighted to have you on board – together we can make a difference. Email me on: info - at - dernierpublishing.com (replace -a- for @ of course!) and I will be in touch!

 

Inspiring stories!

Chris Old from Cudham in Kent was amazed to find our books 480 miles away from us, in 'Number 62', a Christian bookshop in Blairgowrie in the highlands of Scotland! Thank you for stocking our books, Morag :-) (Blairgowrie is approximately as far away from us as Frankfurt - in the the other direction of course!) A free book will be on its way to Chris – anyone else got an inspiring or interesting story to tell us about our books? Free book with the best story accompanied by a photo! Email your entries to me on info-at-dernierpublishing.com  (replace -a- for @ again of course!)

 

Our twelfth book – we couldn't have done it without you!

It gives me great pleasure to inform you that Under the Tamarind Tree, the wonderful sequel to I Want to Be an Airline Pilot and Living in Hope will be with us next month – you can now order it from our website www.dernierpublishing.com/tamarindtree.php, or of course you can pop down to your local bookshop! This is our TWELFTH BOOK, which is totally amazing - many thanks to all of you who have supported us and helped to get all our books out to children all over the world. Lots more information next month, but here's a review to encourage you: “The book is about two boys whose fathers are doctors. They have to leave their homes and go to live in Rwanda. The boys are scared about leaving their homes but make friends with a girl and a boy. My favourite part of the story was about Joshua learning to speak the language of Rwanda and teach his new friends English. I liked the story because it was quite adventurous and I learned that we are lucky here in England because we have lots of Doctors and hospitals. The book shows us how God helps us in our lives. I would recommend this book to my friends.” - Jacob (aged 10).

 

Going for gold!

It's just not true that kids don't read!

Did you watch more of the Olympics and Paralympics than you intended? I certainly did! Unsurprisingly, with the great successes of both British teams, there have been calls for more sports facilities for young people . . . and we certainly do need to encourage our children to begin good exercise habits while they are young. Same with reading, which can lead to a lifetime of learning, inspiration and of course much pleasure! And what could be better than a Christian book, with the “message in a story”? Especially if accompanied by prayer, books can be life-changing. In church recently, one lady mentioned to me that her son had read a Christian novel when he was younger and it had affected him deeply. He is now on his church leadership team. We make all sorts of sacrifices for our children – why not commit to buying a Christian book a month? It could be the best few pounds you ever spend . . . and there's no taxi service or muddy kit involved! Pop to your local bookshop or visit: www.dernierpublishing.com/youthf.php Why not start today!

 

Christian Pakistani teenager accused of blasphemy

Now available for kindle

This recent story cannot fail to have touched and horrified most of us – what a terrible ordeal, not just for the poor girl but for all her family. One BBC report mentioned that the whole family have been taken into protective custody following threats, and many other Christian families have fled the neighbourhood. We desperately need to pray for our brothers and sisters who suffer persecution simply because they believe in Jesus. I'm going to make our 'Prayer- just do it!' booklet into an e-book as soon as possible so that it can be more readily available. [STOP PRESS - NOW AVAILABLE FOR KINDLE.] In the meantime (and for those who don't have an e-reader) here's a special offer to make sure everyone can afford to have this helpful little booklet, because most of us want to pray in a meaningful way but could use a bit of help . . . 12 booklets for £5.99 (p+p free in UK), so you can pass them on to your prayer group, youth club, church, housegroup or any of your praying friends. Email me on info-at-dernierpublishing.com with your name, address and how many booklets you would like (in packs of 12), and I will get those sent off to you. If you would like just one booklet, you can buy a single copy on the website for 90p. For more information about the booklets: www.dernierpublishing.com/prayer.php Each booklet contains 30 prayer pointers so anyone can just open the booklet and begin praying. One lady said about the booklets: "They are fantastic - the best no nonsense prayer material I've ever seen and they have got me straight into prayer! Most materials just talk about praying. Thank you, you have really blessed me and enthused my prayer time!"

And I've run out of space! May grace, peace and mercy be yours in abundance.

Janet

PS don't forget about the church rep scheme – could you do that?