Nurture.
Advent Press of Ghana publishes the 2019 Adventist women's devotional book
In His Presence will generate funds for division scholarships from its sales in West Africa.
West-Central Africa Division (WAD)
[Ghana] Advent Press in Accra, Ghana, printed 1,000 copies of the 2019 women's devotional book, In His Presence, and fulfilled the dream of women's ministries across West Africa to publish the devotional book in their division. With the prohibitive cost of importing devotional books from North America, precious few books have been available in West Africa until now.
Omobonike Adeola Sessou, director for women’s ministries in West-Central Africa Division (WAD WM) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, and her leadership team across the region have dreamed of distributing the women’s ministries devotional book series in their division. The daily devotional books written by Adventist women around the world for women provide rich spiritual meditations for the reading audience, and West-Central Africa is represented by contributing authors. Many women would like access to the women’s devotional books.
By being located in the territory of Southern Ghana Union Conference, Advent Press has a “built-in” dedicated supporter in Christiana Agyenim-Boateng-Boateng, women’s ministries director for the union and also a contributing author in the devotional book series.
It seemed natural to Agyenim-Boateng that the Southern Ghana Union Conference headquarters office, also located in Accra, should hold the first service of prayer and dedication for launching In His Presence, and she enthusiastically organized the event. Afterwards the union officers and workers provided a jumpstart in sales by personally purchasing devotional books for the women in their lives.
Advent Press is committed to distributing the devotional books in other unions of West-Central Africa Division and will send author royalties generated from sales of the book to WAD WM. Author royalties for women’s devotional books are always earmarked for scholarship funds going to Adventist women enrolled in Adventist tertiary education. Sessou is delighted to receive this new funding to award in scholarships throughout her division.
From the printing of the first Adventist women’s devotional book in 1992 by the Review and Herald Publishing Association, in Maryland, USA, author royalties have been sent to the General Conference Women’s Ministries Department (GC WM). The devotional book, a dream of Rose Otis the first GC WM director, was published to create a scholarship fund from its royalties. For the past 26 years, this fund based on royalties from the devotional book sales has been distributed among divisions requesting scholarships for worthy students. More than 1.2 million dollars have been awarded for 2,524 scholarships in 136 countries.
In 2018 GC WM produced the 27th manuscript for 2019 and made it available for the first time to any division for publishing in English within their territory concurrently as the same book is published by North American Division at Pacific Press Publishing Association in Idaho, USA. This makes English book sales cost effective in West-Central Africa Division—sales which generate royalties destined only for WAD WM scholarships. Some divisions have already been translating selected manuscripts to publish in their divisions in a future year.
With the recent availability of devotional books in WAD, women of West Africa will be blessed by reading (and sharing) devotional books, others will be blessed while writing devotional submissions, and still others will be blessed by receiving scholarships funded from the sales of the devotional books. Sessou of WAD WM praises God for this opportunity to provide and sell the book and, of course, hopes the demand is enormous, making it necessary to go back to press for more printings.
Contributing to this story, Ombonike Adeola Sessou, women’s ministries director for West-Central Africa Division
Published in Mosaic newsletter, 2019 Q1
