Greetings everyone,
We are in the middle of a very busy week here at Headquarters. The Council of Elders conference is going great in every way. Mr. and Mrs. Meredith hosted an evening at their home last night for all of us. Excellent food, fellowship, laughter and friendship were everywhere to be seen! Today is the last day of the conference. We will hold a Regional Pastors conference tomorrow, and after that the visiting ministers will begin to wind their way back home, some to the four corners of the earth. Don't forget to pray that God will protect all of them as they travel in this increasingly dangerous world.
CHURCH ADMINISTRATION
New Zealand Update—Mr. Kinnear Penman
Just a brief note to let you know that last Sunday's [Nov 2] programme "Jerusalem, World Capital?" broke response records here in New Zealand. So far we have received 194 responses of which 106 have been from first-time responders. Mail responses are still being received.
There have been wonderful responses to the new series of Tomorrow's World programmes on Prime TV. From Nov 2nd programme we have received 198 requests for "The Middle East in Prophecy" booklet. And, so far, 123 for the booklet offered this past Sunday [Nov 9].
A good feature of our responses is the continuing number of calls each week from first-time responders. Each week we are averaging approximately 60% of calls from viewers who have never phoned before. Mr. Wayne Pyle who is the church's media statistics evaluator says that they consider a new-responder ratio over 50% as excellent. It is only when that percentage falls to less than 25% that they consider a station's viewing audience as "saturated". When that happens it is time to consider changing programme times or stations.
During October we have received calls from:
Northland 16, Auckland 155, Waikato 29, Bay of Plenty 46, East Coast 29, Manawatu 32, Wellington 30 and Canterbury 31.
We have also received our first responses to the advert in Vanuatu offering our Bible Study Course. So far just five coupons have come in and we hope there will be many more. Incidentally, we already have 72 active students of the BSC in Vanuatu and 301 in New Zealand.
Please also support with your prayers the current mailing of Mr. Meredith's semi-annual letter. This will go to all our subscribers and will offer a new booklet, "Revelation: The Mystery Unveiled!"
Caribbean Update—Mr. Jonathan McNair
We're really beginning to see solid growth in Barbados.
Barbados has begun to comprise a larger percentage of the responses in the Caribbean. We are getting more calls there. Also, however, Trinidad's response level has dropped drastically as a result of a phone workers strike. We've lost half our calls there because of people not being able to get through. If it weren't for that, our responses would be even higher!
The attendance levels have increased very nicely also. We had some high spikes and low dips in our attendance and TV responses, but if we look at the overall picture, we've steadily climbed past our January levels. That's encouraging!
Philippines Update—Mr. Rod McNair
In the Philippine Work, I am pleased to hear that there are new responses from Misamis Oriental, from those viewing the new Tomorrow's World television telecast in Camiguin. The program began there just last August. Also, Mr. de Guia recently told me of two new individuals in Cebu City who used to get the Plain Truth who are now interested in attending. The owner of the TV station where the program is being televised in Naval, Biliran, is also interested in attending with us, and used to be a Plain Truth subscriber.
God has been sowing seeds for years in people who are now making their move! Through the efforts of Mr. Armstrong and God's people through the years, many people around the country and the world are responding to His Truth. It is now time to reap the harvest, knowing God brings the growth (1 Cor. 3:7).
TELEVISION
Mr. Wayne Pyle reports: It looks like this week's telecast is going to surpass last week's. We aired program #179, "The Harlot of Revelation," offering the Antichrist booklet. From Thursday through Sunday we received 2,018 phone calls, and we are expecting the final count to reach 2,368. Last week's program, "The Beast Is Rising Up!" generated 2,100 replies.
The call count overwhelmed our two call centers. Both had to resort to voice machines (VRUs—Voice Response Units). USA 800 had more than 40 operators to take our calls from WGN viewers at 5:00 am in Kansas City. Nevertheless, more than 300 calls went to VRUs, and 135 went to the VRUs in our Canadian call center.
COMMENTS
We heard very inspiring reports from the ministers at this C.O.E. conference. As we went around the table and each of the men updated us on his area, a theme began to develop about what is happening in God's Work. We kept hearing about steady growth that is taking place in many places, and also that a maturing is becoming more and more evident in many of the congregations. The focus is tightening on our personal relationship with God, and the urgency of getting the Work done. As world events accelerate, it seems God's people are sensing that we must accelerate forward apace and even ahead of these developments. We are beginning to settle in and come together in unity and teamwork, as never before, both in the ministry and in the churches of the Living Church of God. This is giving us more traction spiritually and physically to press forward, ever forward. The Apostle Peter aptly describes this growth and maturity in I Pet. 5:10-11, "But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."
Enjoy God's Sabbath and all the good things it brings!
Charles E. Bryce