If your New Year resolution includes reading more books, you can purchase one and help believers around the world in the process. A Christian author is putting his own books and digital public domain works to good use, selling them through Amazon and his own website to raise money to purchase Bibles for the persecuted church.
Jan Blonk
Jan Blonk, a native of the Netherlands, first started his The Cause of Christ website in 2017.
“Raised in a traditional church in the Netherlands, I considered God as a `bogeyman,’” he said “For about 10 years, I was very legalistic, to say the least, trying to earn God’s favor and acceptance. In my early 20s, the Lord opened my eyes through a verse in John: `You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.’ Then I saw that the scriptures are all about the person and work of Jesus Christ and embraced him by faith.”
Blonk is the author of 16 Christian books.
“Two years ago, I started to publish public domain works,” he says. “Since Amazon only pays 35 percent royalty for public domain works, I set up Christ-Centered Books. I price most of the books at 99 cents, being competitive with others who are doing the same. I publish them on Christ-Centered Books and Amazon.”
The main goal stated on Blonk’s website is to raise money for Bibles. For every book purchased, 75 percent of the royalty goes to purchasing Bibles through Open Doors USA. Although he is not associated with the ministry, he has designated Open Doors to receive the funding to purchase Bibles.
“No matter how small the gesture may seem, like buying a 99-cent book as part of a fundraiser for the persecuted church, it has eternal value,” he said.
During December, Blonk raised funds to purchase 100,000 Bibles. Customers who purchased one $10 book deal actually also gave someone a free Bible.
More information is available at www.thecauseofchrist.com/christmas.
-Dwight Widaman | MV