News

Clear and Simple Media is pleased to announce that the Spanish translation of the Travel Guide to the Bible has entered the field-testing phase.  “Field-testing,” as the word implies, means to test something under the actual conditions in which it will be used. Although that does involve proof-reading and translation editing, it is a bit…

In an article from the January 7 issue of the New York times, Kimiko Tamura tells the story of a nearly extinct language. Linguists estimate that the are only 700 remaining speakers. Of those, 100 now live in New York City – half of those in the same building. The article [HERE] tells a fascinating…

With the most recent attacks in Burkina Faso, Christians must remember that the church around the world is facing persecution. Though not unprecedented, opposition to the Christian Gospel has intensified in some regions of the world. Thousands of people are moving away from the troubled areas to more safe surroundings. In Burkina Faso, some of the…

We have written in several previous posts about our Arabic Project. While the project will take some time to complete, we do have reasons to celebrate along the way. We arrived at one of those milestones the last week in December. With the help of Samya Johnson of Call of Love Ministries (COL), we were…

In late August, Clear and Simple Media (CSM) took a trip to Burkina Faso. Nebié Badiou (CSM’s Representative in country) and I made presentations at a Christian camp 20 km north of the capital city. Five hundred upper secondary school and university students had gathered there for a conference. For the next two days, Nebié…

For some months now, Clear and Simple Media (CSM) has been discussing a project partnership with the 6° Initiative. The 6° Initiative (6DI) is a ministry of Converge IM and is one of their major initiatives in Africa. 6DI is a church planting movement focusing on the unreached people groups just north of the equator…

In a previous post, Clear and Simple Media announced a new project partnership with Call of Love (COL) Ministries [HERE]. What follows is an update. A few weeks ago, we at Clear and Simple Media were delighted to announce a partnership with Call of Love Ministries. As we stated previously, the ultimate goal of the…

November 5-9, 2019, Clear and Simple Media attended the Converge International Ministries Latin and North America Regional Conference in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. The gathering brought missionaries from many parts of the Western Hemisphere together for a time of vision casting and connecting as friends and colleagues. We were asked to make a presentation of the work of…

In October 2019, Clear and Simple Media announced the completion of the translation draft of the Spanish version of the Travel Guide to the Bible. We celebrate that. It was a monumental moment for us. It was the most significant step in helping us make the Travel Guide available to the 460 million Spanish speakers in…

Clear and Simple Media is pleased to announce the completion of the Ukrainian translation of Simple Truths. The book is now online in the download section of our A Simple Word website [HERE]. Historically, we only engage in a translation project where we know that the book will be of help to an existing group or…

We have mentioned in previous posts the various ways that CSM publications are being used. People involved in church discipleship, addiction rehabilitation programs, in preparing new believers for baptism and in working with seniors with cognitive impairments have all reported finding the materials useful. Last week, we added a new user group to the list….

Over the past several months, Clear and Simple Media has had translators working on the Spanish version of the Travel Guide to the Bible. Last week we received a note from our primary translator, Isai. With great enthusiasm, he informed us that the first draft of the Spanish translation draft is now complete. Isai is a…

Clear and Simple Media is pleased to announce that our books can now be purchased online. While all of our material can be found online on our two delivery web sites as electronic documents, some people prefer a hard copy. Those people have found it a bit complicated to get those books in a timely…

One of the best things about being involved with this work is the surprises. On a recent trip to the midwestern United States, CSM had one of those. On October 23, we visited Call of Love/Almagd TV ministry north of Cincinnati, OH. Call of Love ministers through a Christian Arabic satellite TV channel to Muslim…

According to most linguists, over 300 million people in the world speak Arabic. More than 80% of these speakers are Muslim. In an attempt to reach many of these people with the gospel, Clear and Simple Media has begun to engage in strategic partnerships with ministries that are well networked in that world. To make…

When we began Clear and Simple Media, our ambitions were rather modest. Now it seems as if God has other ideas. Call of Love Ministries was founded in 2001 to be a tool to draw Muslim people to Christ. They do this through various media and outreach venues to deliver God’s message of hope and…

During a recent trip to Canada, we spoke to a Ukrainian congregation. After the service, the leaders asked if we had any of our books, in particular, Simple Truths, in Ukrainian. At that point, we told them no.  Historically, we only engage in a translation project where we know that the book will be of help…

Our recent trip to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, saw us presenting our ministry, Clear and Simple Media to the people of Ebenezer Baptist Church. On our first evening there, we shared CSM with their College & Career group. After sharing and then giving a devotional, we spent time visiting with several of those who attended, answering questions,…

One of our stops was at Hillsdale Baptist Church in Regina. We arrived in time to attend a ministry called “the Friendship Club” on Wednesday evening. The Friendship Club is a place where adults with disabilities can come and have a time of worship, Bible teaching, and discussion. From the moment we arrived, we could…

With the increased numbers of immigrants and refugees coming to North America, churches are looking for ways to reach them. Several of these churches have found Clear and Simple Media material to be a helpful tool to do that. Churches are using our books, especially Simple Stories, in English Classes, to attract and reach these…

Casablanca is one of the most famous cities in the northern corner of West Africa. No one is certain when Casablanca (Al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ in Arabic) was founded. A small village sat on the site as early as the twelfth century. It became a pirate base used to plunder ships, and so the Portuguese destroyed the city in…

On Monday morning, August 26, Nebié and I would make a trip 20km north of Ouagadougou to a camp where 464 Christian young people had gathered. The camp was serving as host for the annual retreat for the Jeunesse Evangelique Africaine. JEA is a campus group made up of upper secondary school and university students,…

When we complete a translation project, it marks a milestone; a “mission accomplished” in one sense. But in another sense, it is only a beginning. With the completion of the translation of the A Simple Word website, we celebrate a milestone. And – we were ready for “the next step” – the operational launch of the site in…

With the completion of the translation of the A Simple Word website, the CSM French project is ready for Phase 2. That phase of the operational plan will be launched this week. On Saturday morning, August 24, Tom will arrive in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso where he will spend the week with Nebié Badiou. Nebié is…

We recently received an email from a young lady we know in Nepal. That in itself is a story, as internet access requires a significant journey from her village. She is beginning year five of living and ministering among a people deep in the mountains. Here is an excerpt from her email:  I moved to…