Herbert W Armstrong

Bible lectures take place in three countries
Lectures were conducted for the first time ever in tropical Panama and lofty Bolivia on June 29-30 and July 26-28, respectively. Mr. Mauricio Perez conducted lectures at the Panama Hilton where 49 attended, of which 30 were new people. Response was 7% of the PV mailing list. Mr. Perez said that the group was very enthusiastic, and that several people showed serious interest in the Church.

Subscribers in La Paz, Bolivia (elevation: 12,000 ft./3,636 meters) were delighted to hear Mr. Reginald Killingley, a native of La Paz, as he delivered lectures to an incredible turnout of 597, of which 316 were new people — a 24.6% response. The two new members in Bolivia were there to help Mr. Killingley and his assistant Mr. Wilfredo Saenz, and, were deeply inspired by this new forward step in God's Work. PV circulation in Bolivia is now 2,570 compared to under 50 a few years ago.

Mr. Herbert Cisneros conducted his ninth Bible lecture since mid-1983 in Guatemala City August 10-11 at Hotel Ritz Continental. A total of 185 new people heard him deliver two powerful messages. Mr. Cisneros reported that at least 15 Protestant pastors were present, and that more than 30% of those attending had attended one or both of the lectures he held in Guatemala in 1983 and 1984. Mr. Leon Walker was present at the second lecture when Mr. Cisneros told the group that obedience to the Ten Commandments is necessary. Mr. Cisneros will give four more lecture series this year.

PV circulation rebounds; 200,000 level to be reached
After dipping to 174,000, PV circulation has climbed and is ready to go over 200,000. The September issue was sent to 188,172 subscribers in 105 nations. Because very few subscribers are due to be dropped off the list, the November-December issue should be sent to about 200,000, and the January 1986 issue to 205,000.

GN circulation steadies; offer sent to 35,000 in four countries
Circulation figures for the Spanish GN were 12,786 and 10,253 respectively, for the June-July and August issues. Circulation should rise significantly as 35,000 GN offer letters will be sent this month to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain and Portugal. As many as 7,000 responses could be generated from this mailing.

Editorial update
Since November 1980, typesetting input of all Spanish magazines, CC lessons, booklets, reprints and co-worker letters has been done internally by Spanish Department personnel. In December 1984 the Spanish Department became the first area outside Publishing to begin working with the Bedford typesetting system. This not only has allowed the Spanish Department to become familiar with the new system, but our installation has also served as a test site for future remote installations of the Bedford computers (now well under way).

Use of the Bedford system means that more of the production cycle is performed by the Spanish Department staff. To streamline the steps in the production cycle, we have purchased two IBM Personal Computers, one for the Pasadena office and one for our principal translator (a Church member and salaried employee) in Bogota, Columbia. Formerly, the translator sent us typewritten manuscripts, which we would in turn input into the typesetting device. To eliminate a double typing (once by the translator and once by our terminal operator) we now receive floppy discs from the translator, so we no longer need to rekey the copy. We then edit and correct the manuscripts on our PC, and insert typesetting codes in each article. The material is then "downloaded" to the Bedford computer and each article or booklet is formatted into a complete typeset galley ready for final proofreading. Full use of the IBM PCs began only a short time ago, but it appears that it will be advantageous.

— Joseph Tkach, Ministerial Services