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Visit to Banner of Truth Offices

On 12th September 2019, it was my rare honor and privilege to visit the Grey House which houses the Banner of Truth Trust offices in Edinburgh, Scotland. How did I find myself there? Well, I had been attending the Pan Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning at the BT Murrayfield Stadium that took place from 9th to 12th September 2019. One of my plans was that I find time to look for the Banner of Truth offices before I left Edinburgh. I was able to find the place using Google maps. The offices are located at Grey House. The offices are about 10 minutes’ walk from the famous BT Murrayfield Rugby Stadium. 

Sam Cunnington with Gabriel Konayuma at the Banner of Truth offices

Guided tour of the offices 

Sam took me round the offices. I was able to see the section where hard cover copies are and also the room where paperbacks are stored. I also met Johnson who took me through the process of editing that manuscripts have to undergo before being published as books. I just realized that it is a lot of hard work, which sometimes an author who would want their book published would not easily appreciate. 

Reflections on my visit 

It was such a joy for me to see the offices of the Banner of Truth Trust. I have been reading Banner of Truth books since the late 1980s when I completed my secondary school and was waiting to go to university. God used the influence of friends like Kunda Kalifungwa, at the time a member of the Lusaka Baptist Church to make me appreciate the value of sound Christian books such as those published by the Banner of Truth Trust. He would lend me some of his books to read, for example the volumes by Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Romans and Ephesians. Before I went to university in 1986, I attended then Emmasdale Church (now Bread of Life Church) whose pastor was Joe Imakando. 


During my visit to the Banner of Truth offices


I would borrow Banner of Truth and other Reformed books from their Church Library. At the time, Emmasdale Church was hosting Evangelical Library books. When I went to the University of Zambia, I started buying my own Banner of Truth books from Lusaka and also from Luanshya at the Emmaus Bookshop. With my roommate Christian Kasumo, we made sure that we filled a good part of our bookshelves not just with Mathematics and other academic books, but also with good Christian books, mostly from Banner of Truth Trust and Inter Varsity Books. 


The Banner of Truth monthly magazine and the Puritan paperbacks especially: The Shorter Catechism Explained from Scripture, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, The Mystery of Providence and an Alarm to the Unconverted were particularly useful to us as young Christians at the University Christian Fellowship and also as youths at Lusaka Baptist Church. These books did their rounds with the young people in the

Reception area

So for me to visit the Banner of Truth offices was a time to appreciate how God has used this ministry that began in 1955 to spread sound Reformed literature through the corners of the globe. Many a Christian is able to testify what a blessing these books have been to them. For those serving as Church leaders whether as elders, pastors or ministers, these books have been used of God to help them preach sound doctrine for the edification of the saints and for the salvation of the unconverted. 


I end by encouraging you to carefully consider getting yourself some sound Evangelical and Reformed Christian literature as an individual Christian or family or a Church Library. The Banner of Truth books are well written and will go a long way in helping you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Gabriel Konayuma

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