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July 1, 2004

Re: Your help is needed

Beloved Friend and Fellow-servant of our Most High God, Jesus Christ:

Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is hoped that you will forgive me for being out of touch with you for so long.

I am now 85 years of age, and I have just this week finished the laborious task given to me by our God, the synchronizing of the words from our Interlinear Bible with the Literal Translation of the Bible. This has taken two and a half years, working morning, afternoon and night with what strength our God has given to me (now down to 30-35 hours per week)

Although we announced that The Literal Translation was ready to go to the printer last December, my attempts to always use the same translation of a word as appeared in the Interlinear Bible delayed me from releasing it into production. Also, new suggestions continued to arrive from different sources that will enrich this final edition. Further, we fell far short of the funds necessary to print the thin edition of the Literal Translation we announced previously having pre-sold less than a hundred copies.

The typesetting is done, and is ready to be put on the Internet in a plea for a host of proofreaders to help us proofread and issue a Bible that is as error-free as we can make it. We hope to print it in early October subject to it all being satisfactorily proofread and the funds being made available.

The problem with a small ministry is never having enough capital for the day to day operations let alone for producing Bibles and works requiring huge cash outlays prior to and during production. This is why we have in the past pre-sold editions of Bibles and other large works in an effort to raise sufficient cash to produce the books. This has led to months and years of delays in producing the books and Bibles you and other Christians sought. In the past this worked, but in this day and age, we are finding that the younger Christians are unwilling or unable to put out their money for a book they will receive at a date up to a year or two in the future. Further, there are fewer Christians building libraries.

It was thought that the new print-on-demand printing process (printing that allows for a single copy of a book to be produced at a time) provided by outside manufacturers we have used to produce over three hundred titles would help with our cash flows.  Many of those three hundred books we have produced by print-on-demand (POD) technology would otherwise be permanently out of print. It was hoped that this POD printing process would allow us to accumulate additional funds necessary to keep our Bibles and books in print using the conventional printing methods that we have always used for Bible production. However the print-on-demand technology hasn’t generated enough funds to support our ministry and provide capital for the projects we have underway. It has been a success and is self-supporting but hasn’t been able to contribute much to other projects.

We haven’t been able to use the outside manufacturer print-on-demand process for Bible production as most print on demand systems only allow for the production of books under 740 pages (all of our Bibles and reference books exceed this page limitation). Further, most print on demand manufacturers use only one grade and quality of paper (recycled paper which is too poor in quality for Bibles). Therefore, the current print on demand manufacturers are unable to meet the standards necessary for Bible production. Their systems are mainly designed for paperback production, with a few manufacturers having made modifications to allow for some hardback books, but hardbacks really don’t fit their niche. Again, this doesn’t solve the Bible and reference book problem facing us.

Our solution seems to be to acquire our own print-on-demand equipment. We have executed a lease for a certified reconditioned Xerox Docutech NP135 to print the books and Bibles. The Docutechs are around two hundred fifty thousand dollars new. We are leasing this one for $35,000.00 with full factory service contract and warranty. This Docutech allows us to run thinner paper then the other print on demand manufacturers do thereby allowing us to now produce the Bibles, using POD technology, in smaller quantities with a lot lower cash outlay. We have obtained a booklet maker to go with the Docutech that will allow us to produce our own catalogs in house. Previously, we had to print a minimum of 5,000 catalogs, even though we might only mail 2,500. The other 2,500 basically went to waste. Additionally we have leased a paper cutter for trimming the books, Bibles and catalogs, an HP color printer to print paperbacks covers. We have located a five year old C.P. Bourg BB-2000 bookbinder which has only been used for three months from a Christian in California. This binder will allow us to bind books up to 2 1/2" inches which is about 1,400 pages using the lighter-weight paper. However as of this time, we haven’t located a leasing company willing to lease the bookbinder to us. The bookbinder cost is $9,995.00. The above equipment does it all, scanning, printing, and binding. And we can print one book at a time. However, we still must send out our hardback & leather bound books to an outside bindery. We have located one that is willing to bind as few as 250 volumes at a time which substantially lowers our capital requirements for producing the hard cover and leather bound books and Bibles.

After 9/11/01, our distributors and bookstores cut back on their purchases, cut back even further during the recession of 2002 and 2003, and even further with the beginning of the Iraq war. They have just now begun buying regularly again, but we have depleted all of our capital just surviving the above three factors. We don't have the capital to put the Four Volume or One Volume Interlinear Bibles Back in Print without your help.

Yet, as in all things, this POD system requires start-up costs. Our needs are as follows:

We have already paid out over $8,000 in advance lease payments and spent another $5,000 getting the warehouse ready for the equipment..

We will print the four-volume Interlinear Bible first, since we have many orders. We will then print the Literal Translation as soon as it has been satisfactorily proofread. With the POD system, we can print all paperback books ordered each week and the hardback and leather bound books in quantities as low as 250 copies at a time. This will improve customer satisfaction due to quicker deliveries.

Your many past gracious responses to our needs have been appreciated, and have been lifted up to God in our prayers. There is no doubt that you are listed in God's Book of Remembrance (Mal. 3:16).

If you have prospered so that you could contribute towards the amount needed for our ministry, would it be too much for us to ask you to help us? Please give it some prayerful thought and let us know. If God agrees, you may make your check payable to Sovereign Grace Publishers, Inc. or you may make a credit card donation at http://www.sgpbooks.com/donations.cfm. Foreign customers will have to call us at (765) 429-4122 to give us credit card information as our automated credit card processor only allows US credit cards. We have to process all others manually. Foreign customers may also e-mail us the information. Contact us by e-mail to discuss the easiest way to make a donation payment.

“to Him who is able to do exceedingly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be the glory in the church by Jesus Christ throughout all ages, forever” (Ephesians 3:18-21)

By His Marvelous Mercy,

Jay P. Green. Sr. 

It is hoped that our God is keeping you in good health, as He is doing for me.

Remember, to make a credit card donation, click on the link below:

http://www.sgpbooks.com/donations.cfm