wfn.org | Crowds scarce during annual Christian book fair in Taiwan

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3009 Edition

>October 26~November 1, 2009

Crowds scarce during annual Christian book fair in Taiwan

>Reported by Lin Yi-ying

>Written by Lydia Ma

During this year’s 5th Annual Christian Book Fair held at  Pacific Business Center in Taipei

from October 15~21, more than 40 Christian publishing  organizations and retailers set up

>booths and showcased their latest products.

Unfortunately, thought the venue’s set-up and facilities were  far better than previous years,

there were fewer crowds compared to the previous four years. The  low turnout prompted

Taiwan Bible Society General Secretary Lai Jun-ming to wonder  whether the time has come

to write a book reminding Christians that spiritual nourishment  for their souls is just as

>important as material wealth.

According to event organizers, the number of people who visited  the book fair this year was

about 50% less than previous years. Though event organizers worked  harder than ever to

ensure the venue would be impeccable, they were unable to draw  more Christians to visit.

Leaders from well-known Christian publishing houses, such as Elim  and CCLM, gathered for

a meeting during the book fair to discuss why so few people  attended this year’s fair. Some

wondered if Christians were tired of the event. Others wondered  whether Christians were

reading less frequently nowadays, as evidenced by diminishing  sales returns. Still others

wondered if it had to do with insufficient advertisement of the  event or the recent global

>financial crisis.

Oddly enough, a few Christian products continue to sell fairly  well among Christian retail stores

though the sale of books may have declined. These  “best-sellers” include audio-Bibles, health

>foods, devotional music, and gospel tracts.

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