News

Publishing is only a small part of what we do at Clear and Simple Media. We would not consider ourselves industry experts, but we have published enough material (books, letters, study guides) that we have learned a few things along the way. That experience, and the knowledge we have gained through it, turn out to…

We have been blessed from the very beginning of Clear and Simple Media to have had great partnerships. The first, and one of the most productive, was with Pastor Pham Linh in Vietnam. It was while teaching a group of “underground church” pastors near Ho Chi Minh City, that Linh’s encouragement led to the writing of “the little…

People give multiple names to the seasons in Senegal. The most common are “the dry season” and “the wet season.” The dry season begins in November, and, as the name implies, most parts of the country will see no rain during those months. The advantage of that season, especially the early portion, is that temperatures…

Africa.  While I have been there many times, Lee and I have never had the opportunity to go there together. The days of March 25 to April 4 were a wonderful exception. We traveled to Senegal to attend the Converge Africa Regional Conference during the first part of the week. We had been looking forward…

Anyone attending to the news in SE Asia knows the challenges the population of Myanmar is facing. Recent announcements of the extension of Marshal Law to more areas where opposition to the military government is on the rise have made an already difficult situation there, worse. To emphasize its control, the current government has been…

We have written of our friend Pastor Dieudonné Some of Banfora, Burkina Faso before. Dieudonne’ is not only a pastor and church planter, he is a passionate evangelist who is constantly traveling in West Africa to share Christ. Some of our recent conversations have centered around Ghana. Many mission strategists believe that reaching Ghana’s youth…

March 25 -30, Lee and I will have the privilege of being a part of the CONVERGE Africa Regional Gathering near Dakar, Senegal, West Africa. International workers from all over the African Continent will gather for five days of worship, instruction, strategy sessions, and fellowship. We will be attending as a part of the CONVERGE…

Two stories appeared on my world news apps this week. Both from Myanmar. The first spoke to the Rohingya crisis. This minority people group is being detained in an “open air prison” in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. A 37-page report by the Human Rights Watch details the abuses of the Burmese military, especially against the women…

We mentioned a few days ago the relaunch of our A Simple Word delivery site. We have already begun receiving new interest. New readers are visiting the site. New people who have signed up for courses. When a person first responds, they receive a thank you email. Then, if they register for a course, each…

We are quite excited to announce the relaunch of our primary content website, www.asimpleword.org. This site contains all the content from all of the books and articles we have written. In addition, people who come to the site can take 15 different courses based on that content. When they complete each course, they receive a certificate…

Lai Ro Thang is a long time friend and pastor in Yangon, Myanmar. He first took an interest in the “little book”, Simple Truths for the New Believer more than ten years ago and translated the book into Burmese and Mizo-Chin for the churches there. Since that time, Rova (as he first introduced himself on my first…

AFRICA Part Six SIM has been engaged in missions in Burkina Faso for almost 100 years. They have been responsible for planting hundreds of churches among multiple people groups, especially in the eastern part of the country. But they have also been responsible for gathering and placing missionaries and competent support personnel in central Burkina…

AFRICA Part Five When one plans a trip, there are always expectations. Those expectations should be reasonable and consider the realities of cross-cultural work. I went to Burkina Faso with what I knew were high hopes. I should know better by now. This trip is not my first. I knew that things change. Plans hit…

AFRICA Part Four Everyone who goes overseas for missions knows what I am about to say. No matter how advanced communication technology is today, there are some things that you cannot say or know unless you are in a room, present with someone. I think Paul may have had that in mind when he penned…

AFRICA Part Three No. It does not compare with those of David Livingston or Lott Carey, but a journey to Africa is still no small undertaking. What complicated this trip was not the multiple flights, visas, immunizations, and passages through customs/immigration. The knotty parts of this trip were the questions. My friend Nebié Badiou is…

I am writing this on November 1 from the SIM Guesthouse in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. AFRICA Part Two My friend Dieudonné and I sat together for two hours discussing the “petit livre.” Dieudonné has been the catalyst behind the broader translation and distribution of Simple Truths for the New Believer since he first translated the book into…

I write this piece from Burkina Faso on Monday, October 31, after a meeting with a friend.  AFRICA Part One In 2015, during a trip to Burkina Faso, I was part of a Story Development Team with a division of CRU called StoryRunners. As I had only recently left Vietnam to return to Canada, I…

Ahmad Zeividavi is a friend of ours. He serves as the Executive Director of the House of Omeed, a ministry in British Columbia about which we have written in previous articles. I thought you might be interested in watching the progress of the projects we are working on with Ahmad. Here is a piece of…

Our friend Rova has been an enthusiastic advocate of the use of Clear and Simple Media materials in Myanmar since the beginning. By my first visit to Yangon in 2016, Rova had already translated Simple Truths for the New Believer into Burmese and Mizo-Chin and had printed and distributed hundreds of books. Life has been…

Shoaib Ebadi is Afghani, born and educated in Kabul, where he worked as a lawyer. In one of the many times of trouble in that country, Shoaib immigrated to Canada, where he heard the gospel and came to faith in Christ. Shoaib Ebadi now lives in Winnipeg, Canada where he works as Executive Director of…

Lai Ro Thanga is a long time friend and pastor in Yangon, Myanmar. He first took an interest in the “little book”, Simple Truths for the New Believer a half dozen years ago and translated the book into Burmese and Mizo-Chin for the churches there. Since that time, Rova (as he first introduced himself on…

Partnerships. When we think about how the ministry of Clear and Simple Media has grown, that word “partnerships” is foundational. In the early stages of our first project, church planters in Vietnam urged us to put our first “little book” into Vietnamese, then Stieng, Cò Ho, Hrê, Hmong, and Ba Na. Each network communicated a…

Although the genesis of Clear and Simple Media grew from a desire to assist grass-roots church planters in SE Asia, God has seen fit to use the materials around the world. Forty-eight people groups have at least one of the books in use in their language. We are in the middle of expanding that number….

Beth Anne Erickson works in Estonia. With the recent crisis that has resulted from the war in the Ukraine, refugees have moved from Poland, through Latvia and Lithuania, then to Estonia. Beth has used our material in English, Ukrainian, and Russian as the ministry she is a part of encounters larger numbers of people moving…

Pastor Dallas Rempel is on the staff of the Hillsdale Baptist Church in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The church has been using Clear and Simple Media material for several years in a variety of ministries. The church has used our book, Simple Stories, to teach English and to introduce the story of Jesus to people who…