Our History

In the middle of the last century, a Dr. Calvin Katter was taking regular safari trips to Africa. He would bring along Christian literature to distribute to the contacts he made there. This led to him recruiting his Minnesota friends to collect and ship gospel literature to needy believers in the places he visited. Dr. Katter and his friend Clifford Anfinson began accumulating donated books in their garages. In 1961 they incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit ministry. ICLD outgrew several small locations in the early years, and since the mid 80's has been at the Chicago Ave. location in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Over the years leadership has passed to others who also saw the value of this work.

Our Mission

All over Africa, Asia and elsewhere, growing churches are hungry for biblical literature. But in many nations it is either not available or too costly to purchase. Making use of the surplus of Christian materials in the United States, ICLD blesses these needy believers at no cost to them. We ship primarily to English-speaking areas of the developing world. They plead with us for Bibles, reference works, devotionals, as well as evangelism, discipleship and Sunday school materials. We respond to their requests as we are able. Our ultimate purpose is to spread the message of Christianity far and wide.

Our Volunteers

Throughout its history ICLD has prospered due to a team of dedicated volunteers who believe in its mission. Our workers gather weekly to sort, package and ship materials, while others labor offsite on supporting tasks. Many of our workers are retirees who contribute for years and decades until the Lord calls them home. ICLD is non-denominational and our helpers come from a range of church backgrounds, including some former overseas missionaries. ICLD has no paid staff; everyone donates their time.

Our Financials

ICLD is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Both the literature we send and the money to ship it all comes from many generous donors across America. In addition, we are given new overstocked material printed by Christian bookstores and publishers. All donations of literature and money are tax deductible, and receipts are given. ICLD has no paid staff and spends nothing on fund raising. About 80% of the money donated goes toward postage, the cost of shipping boxes of books overseas. The remaining 20% goes toward supplies, equipment and our building.

Brochure

Visit the link below to see our brochure. Use it to tell your friends and church about our ministry. Please feel free to download and forward the file wherever you wish. You also have our permission to print, copy and distribute it.

View Brochure

Visit Us

If you are in the Minnesota Twin Cities area and would like a tour, we'd love to show you our building. Please contact someone at ICLD to set up a time to visit.

Contact

Our Fruit

See who's been blessed by the Lord's work through ICLD.

See Our Fruit

 

Ready to Ship