For the second year in a row, generous attendees have made it possible for several managers of fledgling Christian bookstores in mainland China to travel to Hong Kong to get vital training.

A special offering taken at the Sunday morning Worship Now! event to sponsor attendance of Chinese retailers at Marketsquare Asia in September raised $9,205, CBA President Bill Anderson announced at yesterday's show-floor ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Anderson presented an oversized check for the gift to Jim Powell, president of Christian Trade Association International (CTAI), which is organizing the Marketsquare event, to be held Sept. 7-9.

Anderson thanked the several-hundred-strong crowd at the official opening for their generosity, commenting that "our colleagues in mainland China have no access to this kind of training."

An offering of more than $16,000 raised during the International Christian Retail Show in Atlanta last summer enabled 35 Christian booksellers from mainland China to attend Marketsquare Asia last fall.

Powell told Christian Retailing that CTAI's goal this year was to sponsor 75 Chinese Christian booksellers.