FAQs
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There is such an abundance of books in English that in the United States we forget, or we don’t realize that books are a rarity in most countries of the world. A church leader is fortunate to have even a handful of books in his own language. While there are many existing agencies that focus on medical needs, food distribution, Bible translation, etc., few are attempting to help produce books in other languages, which is why we make it our specialty
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Books that the workers on the field see as needed. This may include Bible study books, ministry resources, commentaries, evangelistic booklets, seminary textbooks, literacy primers or hymnbooks.
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LATM specializes in the production of Christian books, but not Bibles. Other ministries are translating and printing Bibles in other languages—and we applaud these efforts. Publishing books, however, is a major undertaking which few are attempting, and which we make our specialty. If you are looking for Bibles in another language, you may want to visit bibles.org or ibs.org or multilanguage.com.
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No. In some cases, they are written originally in the language of the people. This is generally is the best way to go. Those leaders who can write to their own people can communicate God’s truths much better than a translation from English. Approximately 35% of the projects LATM has sponsored have been written originally in the language of the field. However, there are many places where Christian writers have not yet arisen, or where a translation of a particular English book is especially needed.
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No, a big part of what we do is partnering with missionaries and church leaders on the field. When a translation is needed, the missionary or national leader will translate the material.
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All our contacts are experienced missionaries or national church leaders. Before entering into this relationship, we make sure that our contacts are reputable, trustworthy and committed to biblical principles. Once a project is translated, the translation goes through a series of checks to ensure faithfulness to the original, grammatical accuracy, correct doctrinal understanding, and cultural appropriateness.
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Most of it happens where the particular book project is needed. In many cases, the missionary or national leader has computer equipment set up on the field for translation and formatting. We often utilize a commercial print shop in the country to do the printing.
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We always work with national leaders and missionaries who have a plan of distribution from the outset. Most leaders have expressed the desire to see the books offered for some amount of money to the nationals, even though it would be at a greatly reduced cost. This helps provide funding for reprinting the books that are produced.
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Books in Spanish, French, Haitian Creole, and Portuguese are warehoused and distributed from our Joplin facility. Books in all other languages are printed and distributed on the fields where they are needed. (See the Bookstore for books in inventory, plus print-on-demand services for many other languages.)
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Very few of these book projects would be possible without funding from American churches. LATM serves as a bridge that connects American Christians with our partners in the field. Our facility in Joplin allows us to serve our two biggest purposes: to coordinate the projects, and to raise funds for the projects. Fund raising requires travel, and Joplin, MO is a central location for that.
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Chris and Carol DeWelt gifted their ownership of College Press to LATM in late 2016. College Press and LATM have a long history of collaboration, and certainly share the same vision of providing biblical, Christ-centered books to church workers. That collaboration will increase in some ways, but the two will continue to operate separately, College Press as a for-profit business, and LATM as a non-profit ministry
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Yes, LATM is a recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. All contributions are tax-deductible.
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Undesignated gifts are used as foundational resources, which helps pay staff salaries, office, travel, and promotional expenses. Designated gifts are placed in restricted accounts and are used exclusively for the project for which they are specified.
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We have projects that range from a couple hundred dollars to over $30,000. However, the average LATM contribution per project is around $4000. The average LATM contribution per book is under 2 dollars.
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There are a variety of ways in which you can give. Please check out our Donate page for more information.
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One of the best things you can do is fund an entire project in that particular language. If you are interested in funding a project, please contact us.
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We’re always looking for churches that haven’t heard LATM’s story. If you are interested in having someone speak at your church, then please contact us
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If you are a missionary or a national Christian worker in another country, and have a particular book for which you know there is a great need, please contact us, and we’ll start the dialog.
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The Spanish, French, Haitian Creole, and Portuguese books are warehoused in the U.S., and print-on-demand service provides a growing number of languages and titles. See our Bookstore, or Contact us to see how we might help in other ways.
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