Our story
Thomas: In the summer of 2019, I saw Haakon Lie's sketches for the first time. On the paper, a ram and a lion appeared, but I immediately understood that it was about something much bigger. Before me stood the prophet Samuel as he anointed the young David as king. At that moment, I knew that something unique had been born.
This is how Fennec Publishing was started – with the vision of creating a new biblical universe for children where all the people are animals.
The goal is simple, yet grand: that through these stories, children will meet and come to know Him who was and is the Lion of Judah , our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
5 years of work - day and night
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Energy intake
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Study God's Word
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Study the meaning of names.
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Study historical sources
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Sketch characters and scenes
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Male characters
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Male scenery
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Write a script
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Typography and graphic layout
The first book is finished.
After five years of hard work, we could finally hold the first book in the trilogy in our hands. What a joy and blessing that moment was.
If we had known what mountain awaited us, we would never have dared to start. But thank God for the grace of ignorance, and for the light that guides us step by step.
An overnight sales success.
The book shot straight to the top of the Christian bestseller lists, and new print runs had to be ordered.
The entire packing process started on the kitchen counter in Haakon's apartment, but as the mountain of boxes grew larger and larger, we moved on to my (Thomas') living room.
Eventually, we professionalized both operations and distribution in our small publishing house. We might miss the daily morning trips to the central Post Office – but only a little.
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We're launching the book at Sion Sellebakk. We wondered if anyone would come, and realized something was about to happen when there wasn't enough room for everyone.
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Haakon's apartment will be converted into a publishing house, workstation, and packing area.
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Hundreds of books are carried upstairs, signed and packaged, and carried downstairs again - before they are posted.
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We need more space and are moving to Thomas's living room.
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We had promised that the first books would receive a personal message and signature. Between 3,000 and 4,000 books will be signed throughout the summer.
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We didn't have an agreement with the postal service. So we snuck into the central warehouse in Østfold and delivered books manually.
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The German Bible Society will be our first partners. They had been looking for a new children's Bible universe.
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Anders Torvill Bjorvand makes contact and becomes our first investor and chairman of the board. He helps us reach an international audience.
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Fennec travels around the world to meet new potential partners to spread God's Word to children in a new and unique way.
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The Fellowship of the Fennec Foxes is expanding. Joshua Arthur is our newest member.
We are on a journey with a simple, yet life-changing goal: that children, through the Lion of Judah universe, may meet and come to know Him who was and is the Lion of Judah – our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Along the way, we've discovered that we meet people who share the same vision. We see a richness that is just as valuable as the goal itself. We build friendships and form a community - The Fellowship of the Fennec Foxes.
Maybe we'll meet on the road?
Haakon Lie
Illustrator and author
haakon@fennec.no
Haakon has published the children’s book "What would the animals have as a job ?" at Cappelen Damm publishing house. This book is also published in China.
He has illustrated several children's books, such as the series " Ulvegutten Tal " by author Tor Åge Bringsværd.
Haakon loves God and everything he has created. And he is an ardent digger of God's Word. Haakons goal with The Lion of Judah is for children all over the world to experience that the Bible is the most exciting book there is.
Haakon teaches and preaches the God's Word from the Bible's rich use of symbols from the animal kingdom.
Thomas S. Hansen
Marketing and finance
thomas@fennec.no
Thomas holds a Master of Science in Marketing from BI and is marketing manager in the Arca Nova Group .
He is a graphic designer and creates marketing materials.
Thomas loves the Bible, good communication and storytelling, and is also a pastor in Filadelfia Moss
Thomas' dream with The Lion of Judah is to animate it in order to reach a new generation of children with Jesus' love.
Anders Torvill Bjorvand
Chairman of the board
anders@kommunion.no
Anders is a faith-driven investor who has started two IT companies and sold one of them, and he has an MBA.
He has written 7 books, the last of which is the children's book Guds Fjell.
Anders' dream with the LoJ project is that tens of millions of children will become deeply familiar with the Bible and develop a personal relationship with the main character, its Alpha and Omega, Jesus Christ.
Our investors
Owners
We have a wonderful group of faith-driven investors behind us. They help us to drive purposefully and long-term.
- Anders Torvill Bjørvandt
- Asbjørn Aandstad
- Ole Lunde
- Øystein Selbekk
- Morten Mellergaard
- Magne Eriksen
Michael Jahnke
Head of Publishing
jahnke@dbg.de
In Germany, we find our first member of the international advisory board, the venerable Michael. He has been baptized with our own fire and ice ritual, also called Viking baptism. As a trained educator with many years of experience in religious education, he carries a deep love for both the Bible and storytelling. Michael is passionate about The Lord of the Rings and driven by the power of memorable and captivating characters.
Joshua Arthur
Content producer
Joshua@fennec.no
Joshua is a social media expert and a marketing graduate from Queen Mary University of London. He has been a youth leader at Hillsong London and a board member at Black Community Commitment.
With roots in Ghana, the Netherlands, Norway and England (and several languages under his belt), he will now help bring the Lion of Judah to millions of children and families around the world.
He barely survived our fire-and-ice ritual. It was the first time in history that his body ended up in the Oslofjord.
