About Us
"In 1990, the Christian Bookstore in Blairstown, NJ was going to close its doors and the owner was looking for someone to continue this much needed ministry in this rural town. My wife Becky and I began to pray to confirm whether it was God's will for us to take over the Christian Bookstore. When we believed that God was, in fact, impressing upon us to proceed, we began planning a new location for the store in a strip mall, contacting suppliers and constructing the store.
River of Life opened in September of 1990. The store was well received by the Christian community and continued to grow for the next three years. But the viability of Christian bookstores in smaller, less densely populated areas is not sustainable. With sadness, River of Life closed on December 31, 1995.
We moved the store to a building we had on our property and continue to serve some of our loyal customers. My love of music and the contacts that I had developed over the previous five years brought new music customers looking for the new Praise and Worship music that was beginning to be birthed all over the world. As the Internet became popular and email became the new way of communication, I began sell worship music by email to people I had met on the web.
In 1999, we launched the River Of Life web site. The response was wonderful! We began selling worship music worldwide and our supply of music also became worldwide. As our customer base grew, so did our catalog. We were able to provide the church with the music and worship leader resources that were fueling a worldwide desire to worship the Lord in 'Spirit and Truth'."
Who We Are
River of Life is a family-owned and operated full service Christian bookstore. Vince and Becky Perna have owned River of Life since September 1990 and to them, it is more than a business, it is their ministry.
"We have been able to provide quality resources for the church and have used River of Life as a springboard to develop relationships with local believers, music ministries, Christian musicians, and our local church body."
The Perna Family attends Vineyard Assembly of God Church in Blairstown, NJ.
Vince is on the Board of Deacons, Worship Leader and Men's Bible Study instructor.
Becky is Director of Children's Church Activities — conducts a Bible study dealing with women's issues — and a vocalist on the Worship Team.
Joshua Caleb, their one son living at home, is active in the Tweens Youth Group and currently taking drum lessons, with an eye on the Worship Team.
"As a family, we have used our musical abilities as an evangelistic tool to impact our local area for the cause of Christ. We have played at and organized Nights of Worship and Prayer, bringing local churches together and used rock 'n' roll worship to play at Teen Outreaches at various churches."
River of Life Discount Christian Bookstore
60 Knowlton Road • Columbia, NJ 07832 USA ☎ (908) 459-9195 •