Volume 2, Issue 3, August, 1997

Fiscal Year Ends

EBI ended its fiscal year at the end of June with a bang. A large order in May, going to Venezuela, boosted our sales to over $96,000 for the year. Our total income for the year approached $150,000. A record year! And we paid off the mortgage. EBI is debt free. We also had record expenses. The generous gifts of churches and individuals cover about 35% of our expenses. Most of our expense (over 75%) comes from the cost of printing new materials and the day-to day operations of the publishing house. Praise God for His goodness.

New Publications

In addition to the regular release of adult and junior high Sunday school materials, several other projects are under way. 1. The first junior level Sunday school materials are almost ready to go to the translator. 2. A book by J. Irving Reese on organizing a Baptist church just came off the press. 3. We are attempting to have our first Christmas program available yet this fall. 4. Work is progressing on our first DVBS materials. The goal is to have it ready by spring for use the following winter (summer in South America). Pray that each of these endeavors will meet with God’s approval.

The Broadening Field

As EBI looks forward to the next year, the size of the task of reaching the Hispanic world through literature looms ever larger. It is estimated that there are over 375 million Spanish-speaking people in the world. EBI sends Spanish literature to 26 different countries. Though these numbers seem large, we have less than 900 customers who order from us with any regularity. How can we increase our outreach and touch even more with the Gospel?

We have tried to contact the majority of the evan-gelical missionaries working with Hispanics. EBI sent them sample books along with literature explaining who we are. The results were noticeable; however, the effort did not generate a large increase in our customer base. We need to directly reach the churches in the Latin American countries and the pastors of these churches. These contacts are not quite as easy to identify. Pray for us as we tackle this problem.

Several months ago, Bob Owen asked to change his assignment with EBI. After 30 years as a printer, he wanted to get out, meet people and promote EBI here in the States. He has just returned from a two month trip through the Southeast and Midwest visiting with the pastors of his supporting churches and stopping at as many Christian bookstores as he could find. He came back with an exciting report of support from his churches for what EBI is doing. The report from the bookstores was mixed. Our material was well received, and he reported many compliments. However, very few do enough business with Spanish-speaking people in this country to warrant dedicating space and inventory to a Spanish section. So, this fall Bob will contact Bible institutes, bookstores, and churches in south Florida and Texas, where perhaps there will be greater interests. Pray for Bob as he travels.

The Building

By the time you receive this issue, we should be ready to move the offices and shipping department into the newly remodeled building. We are able to continue to move forward because God continues to work on our behalf. Carpeting is costing less than half of the initial estimate, due to the generosity of a local businessman. The telephone system is running under budget. Office furniture will be of better quality than what we anticipated because He led us to a good supplier. Churches and individuals have gotten behind this project with their gifts. Before we made any serious efforts to raise funds, we received gifts sufficient to pay for the initial remodeling costs.

The purchase of the building now depends on the raising of the necessary funds. Bob was encouraged by the assurances he received from his supporting churches that they would be participating in this effort. He will continue to contact pastors in Florida. Several churches that support other staff members have also given the same indication. In September, Marv and Joan Stephens will present the need to groups of interested pastors in Ohio and Michigan. If you know of someone who might be interested in this project, please contact us for information. Pray that funds will come in so we can buy the building by late spring.