On the morning of September 23, 1994, in an extraordinary way I sensed the Lord prompting me to start Bridge Builders International. I jotted down a list of ministries that I believed we would work together with in the future.

One ministry that came to mind was Multnomah Publishers in Sisters, Oregon. One of the finest Christian publishers in the U.S., the company has the reputation of publishing outstanding books by this generation’s finest authors, including Bruce Wilkinson.

Over the next several years, I tried to build bridges to Multnomah Publishers but to no avail.

Finally, by the middle of 2000, I began to think that enlisting an American publishing house for Latvia was impossible. Yet the dream of quality Christian books, translated into Latvian and published in Latvia, was so strong that BBI began to take baby steps toward beginning a publishing house on our own.

Through the initiative of our friend, Robin Jones Gunn, we sent one of our Latvian staff members to London to attend an international conference for writers, editors, and publishers. Rinta Bruzevica went to London armed with a short list of great books that we were hoping to publish in the Latvian language. Titles included The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer, Knowing God by J.I. Packer, and Mere Christianity by
C. S. Lewis.

At the London conference, Robin introduced Rinta to a veteran Christian publisher, Peter Cunliffe. Peter had established two Christian publishing houses in Brazil and France, both of which are self-sufficient and prosperous. He is now devoting his time to consult with those planning new publishing houses in developing countries.

Rinta was very impressed with Peter, and BBI asked him to consult with us to evaluate the publishing environment in Latvia.

In April of 2001, Peter went to Latvia for a week. While there, he met with all the main publishing experts in the country, and did an analysis of the literary habits of Latvians and the potential market for Christian books. After his trip, he submitted an exhaustive report to BBI which outlined staffing and funds required to establish a publishing house in Latvia.

Peter’s report was very important for me, yet very troubling. His analysis forced me to make a painful decision-that BBI was ill-equipped in terms of personnel and finances to start a publishing house in Latvia. I sadly filed his report away as well as my dream for Latvians to have Christian books in their own language.

Then came the summer of 2001. Sisters Community Church in Oregon, which has had a partnership with two Latvian churches for several years, decided to send a team to Latvia as part of Partnership Latvia 2001. One of the team members, Jeri Weber, has close ties to Multnomah Publishers-her husband is a company Vice President.

On the last day of the Sisters team’s visit to Latvia, Jeri asked me questions about the availability of Christian books in Latvia. She also told me about Multnomah’s recent success with The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson, and a remarkable decision by the head of the firm. Multnomah’s CEO, Don Jacobson, had made it clear that a tithe of the profits would be given to deserving causes, with special consideration for those related to publishing. When I told her about Peter’s report, she was thrilled.

A few weeks later, Jeri, Eric, and I met in a Sisters coffee shop. At that meeting, I told them about Talis Talbergs , the founder and President of Latvian Christian Radio in Riga. Talis has done a remarkable job of establishing a quality radio station and an outstanding Christian magazine, Tiksanas. The magazine is the most popular Christian periodical in the Baltics. Eric was favorably impressed with the idea of Multnomah coming alongside Talis to help him begin a new Christian publishing house for Latvia.

Two months later, on November 8, 2001, Discovery Publishing in Riga was born.

Multnomah Publishers provided a substantial grant which made it possible for Discovery Publishing to build an infrastructure of management, translators, editors, and distributors. Two advisory boards have been established, one American and one Latvian. Peter Cunliffe returned to Latvia in January 2002 for onsite mentoring to Discovery Publishing as they developed a publishing plan.

In February, Discovery published its first two books, both by Bruce Wilkinson-Secrets of the Vine and Prayer of Jabez. In April, A.W. Tozer’s The Knowledge of the Holy will be published.

Once again, the power of the model of partnerships is affirmed. My dream of establishing a publishing house was impossible apart from partnerships. Dreams come true through partnerships.



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