Shipping containers used to start Christian stores

A missionary group has launched an innovative program of planting Christian bookstores in Africa using shipping containers—dubbed a “bookshop in a box.”

Founded in England in 1941 as Christian Literature Crusade, CLC International runs around 200 bookstores in 60 countries. CLC works with Christian Booklink—a ministry in the U.K., U.S. and Australia—which collects new and used Bibles, Christian books and other materials that are donated by publishers, churches and individuals. 

In the past several years, CLC has shipped multiple tons of the donated material to Africa, India and other areas of the world, where they are given away or sold at a nominal price. But it can be difficult to get Bibles and Christian books out to the people who need them because many live in isolated towns and rural areas. 

“People may spend their whole life in their little town or in their urban neighborhood,” said Jim Pitman, former U.S. mission director for CLC who is now director of retail operations for CLC USA. 

Pitman first heard about the inexpensive method of starting a bookstore using shipping containers when he read about a ministry opening one in Nigeria, which inspired CLC to test one out in Nairobi, Kenya.

In 2010, the first CLC bookshop in a box opened in the Umoja area of Nairobi, and was doing well, Pitman said. “The idea has great potential,” he added. “A good, achievable goal would be one or two new bookshops-in-a-box per year.” 

Usually, the shops will be located in less affluent neighborhoods and villages. “It won’t work everywhere,” Pitman said.

The containers are steel boxes—about 8 feet high, 8 feet wide and 20 feet or 40 feet long. With a roof added for shade, doors and windows cut out and an air conditioner installed, a container is transformed into a small but useful building with 160 or 320 square feet of floor space.

At a cost of about $15,000, CLC can purchase a container, transport it to the site, convert the box, stock the unit with books, train a staff of local workers and provide support to them for six months. Pitman said that an actual bookstore, built from the ground up and staffed with trained workers, would cost several times as much as the project.

With operating expenses provided for the first six months, the bookshop is given a start-up period to grow into a viable, self-supporting operation. The bookshop provides access to Christian resources for residents within walking distance of their homes, and helps stimulate the economy of a low-income area.

“By taking a shipping container and converting it into a shop, we reduce the costs, so that people are able to buy affordable Christian books,” said Lloyd Hodkinson, international director of Christian Booklink. “The staff would be trained both in retail operation and evangelism.”