From Mr. Frank Schnee: At the end of June, our office manager Mr. John Karlson, my wife and I flew to Orr, Minnesota, to attend a conference for YOU camp directors and regional directors who could be present. Though we do not have a summer camp in the German-speaking area, we do have a winter camp each year in Austria, which will be expanded this year to include campers from international areas. It was very valuable to see the set-up of the camp at Orr, and to have the guidelines, as set by Mr. Armstrong, spelled out for us. It was very good to more fully understand the overall purpose of the camp and the efforts being made to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers. The opportunity to visit Orr will have a tremendous impact on our winter camp, since we have seen areas in which we can improve our overall effectiveness.
While at Orr, I was impressed by the understanding, concern, warmth, love and patience shown to the campers. It's very encouraging to see that Mr. Armstrong visits and personally speaks to each group of campers at Orr. This young generation, more than any other, needs the love and understanding being shown to it through the Church's youth program.
On July 7, a group of Imperial and Ambassador College students, led by Imperial faculty member Mr. Mike Carter, stopped by our Bonn office for a visit and tour of the facilities.
During July, we were also visited by Mr. Roger Lippross from Publishing Services in Pasadena. Mr. Lippross came to see the new Bedford typesetting system, which we have recently installed, before traveling to the Church office in the Netherlands. Miss Peggy Warkentin, who has been training us to use the new equipment, has been traveling back and forth between England, Holland and Germany to help get the system operational.
On July 10, we were very happy to welcome Mr. Grant Spong and his family, who arrived from North Carolina. Mr. Spong will pastor the Bonn, Dusseldorf and Darmstadt churches. He will also be assisting at the new Feast site in Krakow, Poland and directing the Festival choir there.
On Sunday, July 21, Mr. Ray Wright, director of Publishing Services in Pasadena, and his wife arrived from London to discuss publishing operations. This type of personal contact is very helpful in keeping this aspect of God's Work in Germany running smoothly.
Also during July, the Ambassador College Summer Program students had the interesting opportunity of having a two-week trip through the Elsass area of France, Strasbourg, southern Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In Switzerland, the tour continued on the Stein am Rhein, where a 10th century monastery was visited. The students then took a breath-taking gondola ride up to the top of Mount Santis in the Alps, followed by a cheese fondue dinner in the heart of the Swiss cheese area. In between all this they were given a day off for some waterskiing on Lake Konstanz in Germany. After their stay in Switzerland, the students traveled to Austria, where they spent several days at local church elder Helmuth Kaserer's home. Visits to Salzburg, Vienna and other places of interest were also made.
We were sad to see the 1985 summer program students depart for the United States at the end of the month. We had a fine group and very much enjoyed having them here. As we have seen in the past, this program continues to be very valuable in providing manpower for God's Church in the German-speaking area.
To end on a very happy note, our income for July showed an increase of 29.4% over July of last year. This brings our year-to-date income to a 2.5% increase over 1984.
From Mr. Frank Brown: Reports from the Summer Educational Programme at Loch Lomond in Scotland are very positive, with tremendous enthusiasm from everybody attending, though there has been heavy and continuous rain. Although some activities had to be curtailed, spirits were not dampened and alternative activities have been developed. Mr. Herbert Armstrong had planned to visit the camp but was unable to do so. However, I was able to visit on the weekend of August 3. A fuller report will come next month.
PLAIN TRUTH circulation for the U.K. and Eire reached 122,150 with the July-August issue, an increase of 15.1% over July 1984. GOOD NEWS circulation is 17,660, an increase of 131% over 1984. Growth is also evident in the donor and co-worker lists: donors are up 6.1%, while co-workers increased by 1.7%. The year-to-date increase in mail income stood at 14.4% at the end of July.
Scandinavia: The combined English and Norwegian PLAIN TRUTH circulation for Scandinavia reached 34,634. This increase of 27.8% over last year is primarily a result of the current advertising programme in newspapers and magazines in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. A further advertising campaign is planned for the autumn to bring circulation up to the targeted end-of-year level of approximately 50,000. GOOD NEWS circulation in Scandinavia is 1,581, up 138% over 1984.
The Norwegian editor, Roy Østensen, has been in Pasadena to assist in developing the Norwegian subtitles for "The WORLD TOMORROW" programme currently being shown on Janco T.V., a cable station in Oslo, Norway.
Europe and Middle East: English language PLAIN TRUTH circulation is very strong in Europe, and especially in the Middle East. As a result of the war in Iran, little mail has been getting through for a long time, but recently there has been a flood of requests for the magazine from Iran. Many who write in express an interest in learning about Christianity.
The entire island of Malta can now receive "The WORLD TOMORROW" telecast from the Sicilian transmitter of the Italian station Rete Quattro. PLAIN TRUTH penetration in Malta is already one of the highest in the world, and now the island is receiving "The WORLD TOMORROW" — something that most Europeans are yet to be blessed with.
Africa: During the recent black Africa ministerial conference held here in early July, Mr. Josef Forson, pastor in Ghana, was raised to the rank of preaching elder by Messrs. Greg Albrecht, David Stirk and myself.
In Nigeria, we have now secured a site for this year's Festival. It is in Kano, at the Bagauda Lake Hotel, the same site used in 1983. Because of the rate of growth in Nigeria, it is very probable that we will need more than one Feast site in future years.
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