When I wrote The River of God, I decided to complete one chapter each month, and I did. I am very happy with the result, though it was an extremely stressful process. At times, I had no idea how to end a chapter and had to wait for inspiration or a sudden good idea. To avoid that kind of pressure while preparing for my next book, Vision & Logic (working title), I decided to write down anything that comes to mind without worrying about structure. These writings may not have clear beginnings or endings, but I hope they are interesting enough to make you want more. And I will not post them all on Instagram. Instagram is not really a good platform for long texts, and I will post them on my blog, http://cimio.net
When I first joined YWAM in France, I was eating in the dining hall when I smelled something unusual. I didn’t think much of it until someone rushed to the kitchen, saying he smelled a gas leak. I realized I had noticed it first, but he was the one who acted. That moment reminded me of Carl Jung’s personality types—specifically the difference between those who are more perceptive (P) and those who are more judgmental (J), later popularized by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). According to this framework, perceiving types tend to see things as they are, while judging types assess and categorize them. A P walking into a room observes reality as it is; a J evaluates it as clean or messy, fresh or smelly. Even their appearances tend to differ: a P often has a mysterious look, while a J appears more defined. Ps are flexible but disorganized; Js are orderly but rigid. Each has strengths and weaknesses.
Anyone who knows me knows I am a typical P. I’m flexible and adaptable, which has helped me live in many countries. But I’m also messy, and my handwriting is among the worst in the world. Because I’m a P, I rarely start with a clear plan; instead, I see where things lead. That’s exactly what happened with The River of God. When I finished it in December 2025, I had no concrete plans. But since I was visiting Korea, I translated it into Korean to self-publish and give to friends. Then, YWAM Korea’s publishing arm decided to publish it. Around the same time, I was invited to speak at a YWAM school in Sweden, so I asked a friend in Sweden to translate the book so it could be available for that event. I soon realized it would be wonderful to offer the book in more languages. What started with three languages grew to ten, then twenty, then thirty—and now I am hoping for forty. I have run out of friends to ask, so now I depend on them to find translators for me.
One of my goals is to make the book available in languages where few Christian books exist. For instance, there are very few Christian materials in Turkish. With only about 10,000 Christians in Turkey, it is understandable that publishers hesitate to print Christian books. Traditional publishing requires printing at least 1,000 offset copies, because the setup costs are high. Imagine you are a Christian publisher in Turkey: you invest $1,000 to print 1,000 copies, pay the author and translator, and hope to sell to a community of 10,000 people. That would mean 10% of all Christians in the country would need to buy the book, something as unrealistic as selling 20 million copies in the United States. As a result, many of those printed books would end up in a landfill, and publishers would lose thousands of dollars. So only those with missionary passion dare to publish, and that sometimes includes groups with false teachings. Heretical movements often spread by publishing their books in new languages, which is why you find the Book of Mormon in Turkish.
Some may think the lack of Christian books is not a serious issue, but it truly is. Reading solid Christian literature is vital for spiritual growth. When believers have little access to edifying books, their development is hindered. That is a challenge I want to address through my book ministry. To do this, I am using new publishing methods. First, I publish through Print On Demand (POD), which prints each copy only when ordered. This costs more per copy, but it eliminates storage and upfront printing expenses. Second, I’ve asked a Turkish friend I met in Ukraine to translate the book at a minimal fee. Since I wrote the text myself, that is the only cost involved—making it possible to publish in Turkish for a fraction of the usual price. I am also collaborating with a programmer to develop an app version of the book. Since many people use smartphones daily, an app makes the message more accessible worldwide.
Because my own resources are limited, I have to find creative, affordable ways to publish. A missionary friend told me it often costs $10,000 to produce and distribute a Christian book in his mission field. I could never afford that, much less for forty countries. But with my model, the cost remains manageable, and even a modest number of sales can cover the expenses. This makes the ministry sustainable without too much financial strain.
