Religious translations

When Ling Han wanted to buy a Christian Chinese book in Columbia, her search seemed impossible. So Han, a Chinese student at MU who is also a Christian, had to look beyond the obvious bookstores.

“I didn’t find any place in town. Most of us get books from our church,” said Han, who is a member of Columbia Chinese Christian Church.

Although Han is effectively bilingual, many Chinese Christians like her are more comfortable reading literature in their first language.

Han said that churches with a Chinese congregation purchase books from publishing houses in California, Taiwan and mainland China, where shipping costs can be expensive.

“It’s hard to find a variety of books in (mainstream) bookstores, even in big cities,” she said.

Pathway Chinese Christian Books and its owners, Bob and Denise Brown, hope to change this situation.

The newly opened online bookstore, based out of the Browns’ home off Scott Boulevard, sells popular Christian literature in Chinese. It is also one of the few businesses in Columbia that has not opened a storefront before going online.

The bookstore is a way of showing their faith to God, the Browns said.

“We felt we needed to do something for Chinese people, and we want to tell people how good God is,” Denise Brown said.

The retired couple arrived in Columbia from Taiwan less than two years ago. Bob Brown, who was raised in the U.S. and is a native of St. Louis, worked in Taiwan for a period of time before returning to the U.S. with his wife. He said they have been busy setting up the Web site and stocking an inventory of books, which will be sold to customers worldwide.

“Those books are written by famous American pastors and writers,” Bob Brown said. “We gathered them while we were in Taiwan and got them shipped here.”

American pastor Clifton Chen keeps the couple updated on the latest books that have been translated and helps ship them.

The couple invested $10,000 to start up the business, Bob Brown said. Most of the capital went into buying the computer and books and CDs shipped from overseas. The Browns hired a Web site design company to create the site in September.

Their Web site went live in early January, the same time other local Christian retailers reported difficulties in sustaining business. In February the Heart to Heart Christian Supply bookstore on Nifong Boulevard closed, citing increased competition from larger retailers such as Columbia Mall’s Barnes & Noble.

The Browns are not worried about the competition, though.

“There’s probably some out here. Our focus is different,” Bob Brown said. “It’s not about profits or us. It’s about helping others. The bookstore is open for people who are hungry for God.”

He also said his experiences in the shoe-trading business in China and Taiwan will help.

“Even when we were in Guangzhou, our experience in the factory, like how to get orders (shipped) helps,” Denise Brown said. “We are experienced in the process of negotiating with the banks.”

Bob Brown also hopes that search engines such as Google and Yahoo will start to pick up their site, and he is working to provide customers with international shipping, as well.

For now, the couple is advertising in Missouri newspapers and plans to promote its business in Chinese newspapers and Yellow Pages in several major cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston.

Electronic commerce is gaining popularity in Columbia, said Gene Gerke, a Columbia-based business consultant.

The Columbia Chamber of Commerce does not keep official numbers of online businesses compiled for the city. But online bookstores such as the Browns’ constitute part of the booming online retail industry, which makes up about 2.4 percent of the nation’s entire retail industry, according to a U.S. Census Bureau’s February 2006 report.

“People are not abandoning their storefronts yet, but many have started to put selected products for sale on their Web sites to expand their market and possibly reducing the size of their store space,” Gerke said.