Best-selling author Jerusha Clark has written on a variety of topics, but her latest NavPress release tackles a difficult subject that all too many families are familiar with: postpartum depression (PPD).

Many books on PPD recently have entered the marketplace, but Jerusha's Living Beyond Postpartum Depression: Help and Hope for the Hurting Mom and Those Around Her is unique because it also is written for the friends and family of someone with a PPD condition.

“I decided to address not just the mother struggling with PPD, but also those surrounding her for two primary and interconnected reasons,” Jerusha explains. “First, it’s nearly impossible for a woman in the throes of a postpartum depression to read about her condition. Frankly, I couldn’t read anything during my battle, even Scripture, which heaped a painful weight of guilt on me.

“Secondly, the family, friends, pastors, and clinicians surrounding moms fighting against PPD are often every bit as impacted as the strugglers, though in unique and sometimes confusing ways. That’s why various chapters within the book explore how postpartum conditions—not just PPD, but all of the various manifestations of postnatal disorders—effect individuals walking alongside those who suffer.”

Jerusha is the guest on Focus on the Family Daily Broadcast June 22-23, speaking on “Wedded Bliss: Fact or Fiction?” Her 2009 NavPress release, When I Get Married…, addresses common misconceptions about marriage.

NavPress, the publishing arm of the U.S.-based Navigators, announces that it has filled an important position in its marketing department with the hiring of Tom Lathrop. In his new role as marketing manager, Tom will develop marketing plans to promote key titles to the trade and direct markets as well as be involved with project management.

Tom comes to NavPress from Word Distribution where he served for 11 years. He also has more than 19 years of experience working in and with the Christian retail industry.

"We are thrilled to have Tom join NavPress,” says Julie Langmade, NavPress director of marketing. “His background in retail sales and his attention to detail will be a great enhancement to our current marketing team."

NavPress, the publishing arm of the Colorado Springs-based U.S. Navigators, is pleased to announce that Eric Helus has been promoted to Sales Director. He will be leading the sales department in planning and setting sales direction, directing the sales efforts of the organization's products and services, and monitoring market changes with retail accounts.

Helus came to NavPress in September 2002 as a CBA/international sales rep and was a key part in developing and implementing the ABA channel strategy over the next four years. In 2006 he became the Trade Sales Manager, managing both the CBA and ABA trade business.

“We are excited to welcome Eric in his new role as sales director. He is an exceptional sales professional with a proven track record in the retail book market. With Eric’s help, we hope to boost the growth of our business, with specific focus in the area of discipleship. Eric brings a wealth of talent and expertise that will serve our customers well,” says Michael Visentine, COO of NavPress.

According to recent data, nearly half of all 15 to 19 year olds in the United States have had sex. And as a result, 750,000 teen girls get pregnant each year.

Burdened by these statistics, author Laura L. Smith wants her latest novel, Hot (May 2010), to encourage teenagers to remain abstinent.

"After they read Hot, I hope teens will look at sex through a different lens than the one the media bombards them with," she explains. "The truth is, outside of marriage, sex can be scary, harmful, and disruptive. It can lower your self-esteem, ruin your reputation, and confuse the daylights out of anyone. My prayer is that teens can find many reasons in Hot why they should wait. I also pray that it gives people who have regrets the hope that God loves them no matter what."

Both staying pure and God's grace are topics close to Laura's heart.

"The idea for Hot came from inside my greatest nightmares," she says. "As a teenager, I made some poor choices. I've had a very difficult time letting go of some of the things I did. I've struggled with forgiving myself, even though God already has.

"In the midst of a period of deep concern over this issue, I heard a sermon on intimacy. Mixed with the guilt I had been carrying around, this sermon tugged at my heart. If I was suffering with my past, then others had to be affected by theirs, too. I felt if I could help one girl remain pure or help one person who made a mistake find peace with God, then it would be worth it to write Lindsey’s story."

In Hot, Lindsey's tumultuous family situation leaves her craving attention and appreciation, so she turns to her new boyfriend. What does Laura think teens like Lindsey can do to resist the pressures to have sex?

"As Christians, we know in our hearts that God created us to stay pure until marriage. We know He designed marriage as a holy matrimony, but TV shows, magazines, movies, and songs sensationalize steamy hook ups. So, my advice for teens and their parents is to stay as close to Christ as possible. By filling ourselves with His Word, hanging out with other Christians, reading Christian novels, and attending prayer and worship services, God helps us to see Him and His path for us more clearly."

To encourage young adults to think through the important issues raised in Hot, NavPress is offering a free discussion guide available for download.

Laura's other books are also centered on real-life issues teens regularly face: Angry (releasing September 2010) is about a teenager whose parents are divorcing; Skinny deals with body image and eating disorders.

Pray! magazine announces that the Pray! Network, an online community devoted to prayer (www.praynetwork.org), has a record-setting 1,648 registered participants. The site went live the first week in April.

“The Pray! Network is a state-of-the-art ministry networking site that brings a diverse group of people together for the common purpose of deepening their relationship with God through prayer,” says site moderator Phil Miglioratti.

Participants interact through forums and blogs, inform and invite one another to events, and connect through affinity groups, such as Prayer @ NBC and Japan: Sanbi, Inori. They also communicate with photos and video clips that can be used in personal and corporate prayer settings and offer practical applications and resources related to prayer. Site members include pastors, prayer leaders, intercessors, and church members who are interested in prayer.

“We’re very happy with the rapid growth of the Pray! Network and the interest being demonstrated in prayer,” says NavPress President Mike Miller. “Our hope is that people worldwide will share insights and resources, make new friendships, and encourage one another in prayer.”

When Colorado residents Mimi Wilson and Shelly Cook Volkhardt met almost 24 years ago, it wasn't long before they discovered they were, in the words of Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables), "kindred spirits."

"That led to our long-time prayer partnership. We have seen God move mountains and, literally, 'the hearts of kings.' Those big and small miracles have bound our hearts even closer," Wilson explains. "Delightfully, our husbands are best of friends as well."

Trusting in His Goodness, the duo's latest book, is the result of this close-knit relationship and a unique writing process.

"We decided a long time ago that if we can't write in the middle of life, it wouldn't be authentic. There is vitality in material that has been processed through real life. We've spent many happy days with me working on the computer at the kitchen table while Mimi cooks, prays, and dictates," says Cook Volkhardt, whose passion is to encourage women to find out who God is and what difference He can make in their daily life. "Other times we make early-morning phone appointments and work several hours, both still in our pajamas with our Bibles, computers, and cups of coffee. We've also written into the wee hours of the morning curled up against the dryer in a friend's laundry room."

In an effort to block out surrounding noises, the women often use a white-noise machine. "We ask each other, 'Where would you like to go today?' Then we choose the ocean waves, a tropical rain, or a rushing stream to accompany us while we work," Wilson says.

But during much of the writing process, Wilson and Cook Volkhardt actually have been on separate continents. With poor communication and unreliable Internet connections, they have had to say, "Over!" to let the other know that she could talk.

When it comes to the actual writing of the book, they have established well-defined roles. "The material comes out of both of our lives and experiences. We depend heavily on Mimi's gift for insightful illustrations and my English Lit history for the writing part," says Cook Volkhardt. "We both have editing and veto power, although there has never been a point of disagreement."

Wilson, who says nothing has influenced her more personally than the study of God's goodness, says that she and her writing partner agree that they don't write to learn; they learn and then write.

"That's why we haven't written many books. Everything we write has to first be 'squeezed' through the fabric of our own lives," Wilson says. "We share what we are learning with each other and process our growing understanding along with the illustrations and examples God brings across our paths. Once it has become a part of who we are, we teach it to others (one-on-one and in groups) and learn from their responses to the principles. Only then do we write.

"Trusting in His Goodness represents ten years of that process in each of us."

A disciple of Christ is, by definition, a convinced adherent of a school or individual. In the case of Jesus, His disciples were those who followed Him while He was on earth, as well as those who continue to follow Him and His teachings today. Discipleship is an inherent part of the Christian life.

Author Bill Hull writes, blogs, and speaks about discipleship, encouraging the church to reconsider what it means to be a Christian and to live a life of uncomplicated obedience to Jesus. One of his main focuses is how today’s church approaches discipleship.

“The most common paradigm is for churches to treat discipleship as of secondary importance, a needed activity that takes place somewhere in the bowels of the church’s infrastructure,” he says. “The reason for this is that discipleship is a needful process for new Christians, and it can be accomplished through laypeople. The leaders of congregations look for some good material or curriculum and in a few months, the work is done.

“A less common approach is to take it seriously and to extend the process into normal life. This is usually done in small groups and, in some cases, through one-on-one appointments. It is better than nothing, but it fails to address the most important issues of the Christian experience.

“The least-done but most-effective approach is for church leadership to become disciples themselves, to be the embodiment of Christlikeness, and to intentionally develop an apprenticeship system where they are schooling the next generation and even the generation after that,” Hull says. “This will require a serious realignment of what the church believes to be important. It actually starts with how you define the Gospel. Only when discipleship becomes a natural part of the Gospel, will it take its place at the center of all spiritual life.”

In Christlike, Hull examines the true basis for spiritual growth that, according to spiritual transformation leader Dallas Willard, is “nothing less than the settled and intelligent resolve to become Christlike.” Church leadership can benefit, too, from this book’s lessons.

“It’s more important to be a disciple than to have a plan to make disciples. And we are called to be disciples and make disciples before we are called to create churches and run them,” he explains.

“As C. S. Lewis said: ‘The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose.’”