From the July-September 2009 Issue
Facing a crunch unfinished
Demetrio and Jenny Canovas
Editorial PeregrinoEven according to the most optimistic forecasts the credit crunch is far from finishing in the near future. Among the European Union countries Spain is one of those that have been more badly hit by it. Our unemployment rate, for example, is already double the average in the EU and even our government admits that it will continue growing. Every month thousands of people lose their jobs, and countless companies and shops close down. Many people find it difficult or impossible to pay their mortgages and those who want to take out a loan or a mortgage find in many cases that the banks are incapable or unwilling to grant them. It is difficult to describe or even imagine the anxiety and despair that millions of people are facing in this country—and indeed in many parts of the world—on account of this critical situation.
This is obviously affecting Christian and missionary work. Missionary societies are being hit by the crunch and even churches on the mission field have to cut down their budgets, and buying new places of worship is not an easy task. We as a publishing house are also experiencing some difficulties that, humanly speaking, can only but increase in the months that lie ahead. Time and time again people are telling us they cannot buy books because they are unemployed. And even those who have a job are now more cautious about spending their money on things like books that they don’t consider essential. Last year our sales figure was almost the same as the previous year, whereas in the previous year there had been a more than 30% increase compared to the year before.
The Christian response
However as Christians we should be facing these issues in a totally different way from the world. Even the Israelites in Egypt experienced that some plagues that devastated the country left them unscathed. And we in our days can still claim the promise in Psalm 91:7. This obviously does not mean that we shall be delivered from any sort of financial difficulty (we do not believe in the ‘prosperity gospel’!), but we can face all the crunches in the world with the same strength and confidence of Paul (cf. Phil. 4:12-13). Whatever happens under the sun we can rest assured that there are no crises in Heaven! Our God owns the cattle on a thousand hills (cf. Psalm 50:10).
These are the principles we seek to implement in our work. Our motto in the office for this year is: ‘I will honour those who honour me’. This was the truth that led Eric Liddell to victory in the Olympic Games and that will lead to victory all those who put it into practice. Our book production continues unabated. We have even employed full-time one of our part-time workers. So far this year our sales are up to budget. We can see the Lord adding His blessing despite all the awful news we hear from day to day on the economic situation.
We obviously do not think for a moment that we are to sit back and wait to see what the Lord will do. We do not believe in the ‘Let go and let God’ philosophy, but rather in the Latin saying ‘Ora et labora’ (Pray and work). So we seek to equip ourselves with the Spurgeonic ‘sword and trowel’ in order to keep fighting the Lord’s battles and work hard for the furtherance of His Kingdom of Grace.
So far this year we’ve already published three of our own titles: Studies in Revelation and The Christian — that Unknown Person by Spanish author José Grau. Also Words to the Weary by a Dominican pastor called Sugel Michelén, this being a collection of sermons in order to give encouragement and comfort to suffering Christians.
We also continue publishing Spanish titles for The Banner of Truth and so far this year we have published four titles for them: The Holy Spirit by Palmer, Let’s Study Ephesians by Ferguson,Authentic Christianity, Vol 4 by Dr Lloyd-Jones and Precious Remedies against Satan’s Devices by Thomas Brooks.
Other projects
But we don’t limit ourselves to the Spanish language and so we have already published books in Chichewa (Malawi) and Swahili (Kenya) with the help obviously of native people! Then many readers will be aware that in Spain there are three other languages apart from Spanish. One of them is Catalan, but people from Catalonia do not seem to have an abundance of materials in their mother tongue. So we have published an evangelistic tract and a new edition of Ultimate Questions in that language. Another area we are exploring at the moment is the Muslim world. There are millions of them in Europe and also in Spain and we are seeking to produce evangelistic materials in Arabic that could be used not only in Spain but also in the rest of Europe and even in other countries. This is a very exciting project and we would covet your prayers for this and the other projects.
We have twenty more titles already translated or written in Spanish and waiting for publication. So we have a great challenge before us as we face a task unfinished in the midst of a crunch unfinished. May the Lord have mercy upon us and use us for His glory!