Last month several of my Bridge-Logos associates and I attended the ICRS Convention in Orlando, Florida. It was a very busy time for our company. We welcomed visitors to the convention with our appealing booth that had a large lighthouse in the center and Adirondack chairs for comfortable seating. We were pleased to receive numerous comments about the attractiveness of our booth, and we took many orders from booksellers from around the world. We were fortunate to have one of the best--if not the best--locations for our booth; it was right at the front entrance!
It was so good to see old friends and make new friends while we were there. I believe this was my 25th time at the convention, which used to be held in diverse places, including Atlantic City, Washington, Dallas, New Orleans, and Anaheim. Now it seems that Atlanta, Denver, and Orlando are the show's primary locations. Next year we will be going to Denver in July.
My wife, Peggy, joined me at the convention for the first time in many years, and she was able to meet a worship leader whose ministry has meant so much to her. His name is Roy Fields, and he is one of the main worship leaders at the Lakeland Outpouring. She even got one of his CDs. I think it's safe to say that this encounter with Roy made her day.
It was gratifying to see booksellers examining our products with great interest. Our new titles, our top-twenty bestsellers, and our Pure Gold Classics grabbed the attention of numerous customers, many of whom placed orders for large quantities of our books. In fact, several took the whole line of classics, and this enabled them to receive an end-cap display for the books.
Five of our authors were at the convention, as well--Margaret English, Brad Henry, JoAnna Ward, David Balsiger, and Donna Kafer. Incidentally, Brad (who is the author of Destination: the Winner's Circle) was interviewed by "Good Morning, America," and the taping of that interview is scheduled to air this Sunday morning on ABC-TV. (August 3, 2008) I hope to be able to watch it. Brad is an on-fire Christian who desires to minister to fellow-believers around the world.
One very memorable experience for me at the convention was my interview with men from a television network in India. The pastor of one of these men was martyred by Hindus a few years back, and his story is told in our best-selling book, Foxe: Voices of the Martyrs. I was very moved to hear this member of the pastor's church tell me about how wonderful the pastor was and how his attackers had killed him simply because he had passed out a tract to someone. They went so far as to pour acid down his throat! We were happy to be able to present a couple of complimentary copies of the book to him and the presentation was taped for viewing in India.
Though attendance was down somewhat at the show, spirits were high. God blessed, and we thank Him for His great faithfulness to our company, which will is celebrating its 41rst anniversay this year.
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