KEN MIZON has many years experience working with pastors in West Africa and co-ordinating the book project from Uganda.

When I visited Pastor Joseph he was full of enthusiasm about his new situation and the challenge which it presented. He told me about the young believers in the congregation and how they needed to be taught the basic elements of their new-found faith. He went on to tell of the unreached people group within a few miles of the village and how he planned to take the gospel to them, and hopefully establish a church there.

Then we went to his home, a simple house the same as many others in the village, and in the main living room, which also served as his study, he showed me his books - a mere half dozen volumes, most of which looked as if they had been around a long time. If only we could provide him with a basic library of good books which he could use with confidence! It would be like providing a carpenter with a good set of tools. Not only would the work be easier, the end result would be so much better.

"I want to thank the brothers and sisters for the gift of these books. So far I have read "Jesus and Him Crucified" by Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones, "The Doctrine of God" by Gerald Bray and "The Reformed Pastor" by Richard Baxter. In particular, from "The Reformed Pastor" I have learnt the importance of ministering to myself before daring to minister to others. I want to be a good minister so that I can better minister to others". Pastor Elias Marques (Mozambique)

The good news is that thanks to various literature projects there are many African pastors who now possess a selection of first-rate study books and their congregations are benefiting greatly. AIM is playing a part in this through a new initiative known as ‘Tools for the Job’. AIM’s original project, ‘Books for African Pastors’, had to be put aside due to the lack of personnel to administer it both in the UK and in Africa. This problem has, at least partly, been resolved and the programme is up and running again.

The aim is to make available to African Christians sets of book that are both appropriate and affordable.

What books are appropriate?

Of course we might all come up with different answers to that question. As far as we are concerned an appropriate book is evangelical in its theology, written in relatively plain English and practical in its application. This still leaves us with a lot choice and so we have to select a few titles. One factor that influences our choice is feedback from pastors who have already received and used the sets and tell us that such and such a title was particularly useful.

I have had some training at Bible College, but it is not enough to train and not have books. Now I can say that the Lord has provided something which I can use to serve him. Pastor Lekichep Nelson (Marigat, Kenya)

How does it work and who gets the books?

The book sets are available to pastors, students and other Christian workers in any of the countries where Aim works. Requests for sets come through a missionary or church contact who will obtain the set from the store in Nairobi and who will also make sure that the appropriate payment is made. The only restriction is that any one person can only have one book set. Recipients are allowed to purchase a copy of Matthew Henry’s Bible Commentary in addition to a book set.

Most of the books are in English but we do also provide French and Portuguese language sets where possible.

We usually buy our stock directly from publishers. Sometimes we are invited to share in special printings, or even better, a publisher who is committed to a print run may ask if we are interested. They will then print say 500 or 1000 extra copies for which we are only charged for the paper and ink! In addition they are usually very generous in offering substantial discounts on the normal retail price.

So how can you be part of this project?

Through the generosity of publishers we can actually purchase a set of books and deliver them to Nairobi for around £16. We ask the recipients to pay the equivalent of £5 for each set and for each Matthew Henry. This leaves a shortfall of around £11 on each set sold and £6 on a Matthew Henry.

You can help to make up that shortfall by giving specifically to the project. When Books for African Pastors was first launched the response was remarkable. We trust that it will be the same for Tools for the Job.

Just £11 to provide a Christian worker with the ‘tools for the job’ must be a good investment for eternity!