"Remind yourself and your colleagues that you and they are making a difference," says Vic Kennett, president and CEO of apparel company Kerusso, who tells how he turned from atheism to Christ after picking up a Christian book at a garage sale.

"Undoubtedly, the book I read ... was first purchased from a Christian retailer," Kennett writes in an Industry Forum guest column in the next issue of Christian Retailing magazine. "Had there been no Christian store, there would have been no book lying there at the yard sale and ... well, I think you see the progression here."

Thousands of stories similar to his have been written across the country "because of people like you," he tells his colleagues and associates. "God's amazing grace and His wonderful Word--first illuminated to me through that cast-off book--have changed me forever," he adds.

"So I thank Him for all the Christian retailers and all the others who serve the Christian product industry--not just for the impact on my life, but for the countless others who have also been reached as a result."

Kennett says that in these difficult economic times, "it's important that we remind ourselves why we got into the industry." He ends: "Let's renew our commitment to this work, because-together-we are making an eternal difference."

Read Kennett's complete article in the July 6 issue of Christian Retailing.