No one exemplifies the ministry heartbeat of Christian book selling more than the folks at CLC International--missionaries staffing bookstores around the world.

So the list of "ten reasons why I still love the local Christian bookstore" by David Almack, the U.S. Director of CLC International, makes for inspiring reading.

In his new FaithLit blog, the Philadelphia-based leader offers his encouragement because he's been "dismayed of late at the rampant media attention to the apparently imminent demise of the local Christian bookstore."

Among his reasons, Christian bookstores are:

- a place of Christian ministry in the midst of a secular retail landscape.
- a place of refuge in a hostile world.
- a connecting point for the Christian community.
- a house of prayer.
- a place of positive influence in the local community

With this last point in mind, Almack recalls his team and some customers gathering in the store's parking lot to pray on September 11, 2001. "(We) prayed for half an hour, many strangers breaking' the prayer circle as we prayed to make the circle even bigger. When I closed my eyes to pray, we had maybe twenty people in the circle. By the time I opened my eyes, we had over fifty."

Almack concludes: "I pray that even with the current economic struggles we are all facing, the importance and special place of the local Christian bookstore will not be overlooked."

Read his complete list here and then let us know what you think about his reasons, and add your own, in our online forum, here.