This is a very ambitious dream bordering onto being unrealistic. My mentor very crudely put it, “you are not a young man anymore”.
After dabbling around in a northeastern province for about 8 years, I recently moved to another province in central China. Two old folks and two young girls, both ends of the age spectrum where naivety prevails, we went with gusto thinking that we would be conquering the world of lost. After four months and nothing happened, the team was reduced to three. Activities were reduced to simple waiting upon the Lord. But things happened fast and furious the last three months. We found our premises, did the renovation, went through the never-seems-to-end and had the grand opening of the first bookshop on May 7,2010. (more on this in the next article)
The dream was for a bookshop in every city of China. In the process of setting up this bookshop, we saw young students wondering on the street, lost for meaningful things to do. They did not want to be trapped in their dorms and they did not have any other healthy affordable options. There was a clear need for a YMCA type of set up where these youths dislodged from their rural farm homes can be insulated from the vices of the city. Our dream for a bookshop became a dream for a book club where youths can become a member for a mere 1 jiao (less than 2 US cents) a day, participate in most activities free, have exclusive use of the club facilities which include a wide range of books and indoor games, watch movies, listen to songs and be exposed to a different value system.
Within a radius of 5 minutes walk, there are about nine universities and colleges. Within a radius of 10 minutes walk, there are about thirty universities and colleges. Some 100 students passed by the shop every minute and this translates into 36,000 in 6 hours daily, the approximate free time a student has. Taking this number further, it translates into 9 million over 250 days. We do not know how many can we impact but we know that the total cost of running this book is good investment. We are probably investing less than 1rmb (less than 20 US cents) for each visitor to the club and this 1 rmb will make a big difference in their lives and outlook in life.”
* Chinaman is a missionary in China
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- Christian books for sale
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- Great place to meet and share truths
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This was about 4… Read More....
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