From Mr. Frank Schnee September and October were very busy and exciting months for Festival preparations and activities. Final arrangements for Bonndorf, West Germany, and for Brno, Czechoslovakia, were made in early September and preparations for the new Festival site in Krakow, Poland, also went very well.
On September 16 brethren from the German-speaking area gathered in six Festival locations for the Feast of Trumpets. Attendance was up 11.7% over last year and the overall offering was +22 .8%.
Prior to the Festival, I escorted Cedok representative Dr. Jaroslav Macourek to our Bonndorf Festival site to meet with a Czechoslovakian folklore group that was to perform in Bonndorf at the Festival and then at seven other cities in the Black Forest.
On Atonement, seven Festival locations hosted our German-speaking brethren and many guests from overseas. The Holy Day offering showed an excellent +35.5% increase over last year.
On Friday, September 27, my wife and I flew to Warsaw and on the Sabbath had the historical first Sabbath service in Warsaw, Poland, for this age. From Warsaw, we drove to Krakow for our first-ever Festival in Poland. Orbis (the Polish government travel agency) went out of the way to make a marvelous physical Festival possible. The fine Holiday Inn, the food and activities (including the trip to Zakopane in the beautiful Tetra Mountains) contributed to the success of this new site.
After services on Monday, we drove on to Brno, Czechoslovakia to be present for a folklore evening. Those attending in Brno felt that this was the best Feast ever there.
On Tuesday, October l, we drove on to Prague to meet with a representative of the Russian Intourist agency, who made it possible for Mr. John Karlson (Office Manager) and me to be received later in October in Intourist in Moscow and Leningrad. After meeting with the Intourist representative we flew to Zurich, which is the closest airport to Bonndorf (an hour's drive), and made it in time to attend the very outstanding performance of the Lake Konstanz Symphony Orchestra at our Festival hall. A number of hotel and restaurant owners, as well as other local residents, were present.
After the Feast John Karlson and I flew to Moscow where we were received by a high-ranking representative of Intourist. We made very successful arrangements regarding a possible Festival 1986 in Leningrad, which we visited.
The Bonn office received a number of visitors after the Feast, including evangelist Dr. Roderick Meredith and his family.
In October we sent out over 18,000 "Good News" offers to "Klar & Wahr" readers who renewed this past year. We have received over 4,500 requests, which is a 25% response. Our "Good News" list is growing and we expect that with the January issue our subscriber list will reach 28,000.
International News
Worldwide Church of God