The Christian products world may be facing hard times, but its ministry is as vital as ever, an industry pioneer reminded Pacesetter attendees last night.

Phil Vischer told how the VeggieTales brand he created in the early 1990s soared along with the Christian retail channel during years when the CBA summer show "started to feel less like a trade show and more like a celebration, a party. We were doing so well."

But things changed-his company went bankrupt, and Christian retail stores started to close. Now at ICRS, "the crowds are a little smaller and the lights a little dimmer ... in other words, the party that was the CBA in the late '90s is over."

Having recalled one year during the boom years when a music company's trade show exhibit had included a glass booth inside in which people could try to catch dollar bills being blown around, Vischer said-to applause-that the Christian products industry was no longer seen as "a shiny glass booth filled with money-and that's OK. In fact, it's probably better that way.

"The party may have ended, but our call to ministry has not. The world's need for the gospel has not," he said. Speaking to introduce his new "What's in the Bible?" DVD series for children, Vischer added: "We don't expect Hollywood to show up. We would actually prefer to see the Holy Spirit move with us than Wall Street."

Three other Pacesetter speakers also drew loud applause. Son of Hamas author Mosab Hassan Yousef spoke of why he had chosen to risk his life by going public with his story of converting to Christianity from an extreme Muslim background-and introduced a member of Israel's security agency Shin Bet who spoke of what he had learned about love and friendship through Yousef's witness.

Stephen Kendrick, co-writer and producer of Courageous, the 2011 release from the makers of the best-selling Fireproof and Facing the Giants, talked about the new film's message of fatherhood and spoke through tears of the godly impact his own father had made on his life.

Introducing a special behind-the-scenes film report from the set of the latest film-click here to see-Kendrick thanked retailers for their part in impacting countless lives through helping distribute the movies.

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