Zerubbabel Focus: The Book Ministry
by Sheryl Tretheway

Two years ago, I took over the responsibility of the book ministry. It has been a privilege to play a part in getting God’s message of total truth out to the world. My favorite part is seeing Norman Grubb’s books reach people who want and need answers to life. Norman’s teachings have been instrumental in my spiritual growth and I am excited when others receive his books. With this responsibility came a great opportunity for me to learn as I have processed orders, recorded inventory and continually learned new software programs. I have benefited from handling these new duties, which are quite different from my present job as an ob/gyn nurse. Growth has been evident in me personally and in the book ministry itself.

Zerubbabel has had a book ministry for over 15 years; but in recent years, with increasing technology, it has evolved significantly. When The Intercessor relocated to our Blowing Rock, NC headquarters in the early 90’s, so did the book ministry. Up until only a few years ago, orders were still hand-written and recorded in a 3-ring notebook, as was inventory. Today we utilize the Access computer program that allows us to process our orders more efficiently. Now with a click of a button we can retrieve information such as our detailed inventory and customer mailing information, including individual order history. This enables us to send customers’ orders the same day we receive them as well as keep track of repeat customers. Individuals and bookstores from all over the US place their orders by email, phone calls to Zerubbabel Press, and mailing in the book order form found in The Intercessor. In addition, we have a British branch where overseas orders are carried out.

Book sales have increased since Zerubbabel Press has contracted with a professional publishing company to reprint many of Norman Grubb’s books. This year, we republished Yes I Am, and it was our most popular sale in 2000. We are currently reprinting God Unlimited and are very excited about this.

The ultimate goal of the book ministry is to reach the world with the message of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). To reach this goal, there are many steps for us to take. We feel that admission into the Christian Book Distributors Convention could be a major step in this process. In order for us to be admitted to the Convention, we must have our books in ten retail outlets. Accordingly, we will work to fulfill this goal this year. So while we have come a long way technologically, the overreaching goal—of carrying God’s Total Truth to the world—has not changed. It is an exciting privilege to see how far we have come as we look forward to our future plans.

In addition to running the Zerubbabel Book Ministry, Sheryl is an OB Nurse at Watauga Medical Center. She lives in Boone, North Carolina with her sister, Dacia.