Herbert W Armstrong

• La PURE VERITE subscription list reached an all-time high with 174,047 subscribers, up 34% over July 1984.

• "White mail" January through July totaled 31,750 letters, up 46% over the same period last year.

• Regular mail for the year to date has increased 45.5% with 62,143 pieces of mail received.

• Outgoing mail through July rose to 331,934 items, not counting the PV, an increase of 62% over 1984. (The above mail figures do not include French Canada.)

• The French GOOD NEWS, including French Canada, shot up to 24,191 subscribers, an increase of 120.8%. We have had a very encouraging 34% response from PV subscribers who received offers to subscribe to the French GN.

• Members, including French Canada, now total 1,432, up 7.6% over 1984.

• Income from tithes and offerings through the first half of 1985 grew 11.3%.

Recently, the doors have opened before us in Quebec City and four cities in the Abitibi region, about 1,500 kilometers northwest of Montreal. Mr. Armstrong's television program subtitled in French will be aired in Quebec City on CFEM channel 10 and channel 13 at 9 a.m., and on CKRN channel 4 at 8 a.m. each Sunday.

And our radio broadcast "Le MONDE A VENIR" will air on a network of stations in northwestern Quebec province known as "Radio Nord." The following stations will broadcast our program at 8:45 a.m. each Sunday: CKRN 1400 in Rouyn; CKLS 1240 in La Sarre; CHAD 1340 in Amos; CKVD 900 in Val d'Or.

The results of our first use of direct mail in France are now mostly complete. We mailed 138,734 letters from the U.K. near the end of June, and received, as of August 12, 4,800 responses — a response rate of 3.5%. Our overall cost per response was 5 pounds, or about $7.65.

We learned from this experience that a blank window envelope with no over printed attracting message pulled significantly lower than other mail packages used. We also discovered that the subscribers of science-oriented or intellectual magazines were our weakest responders.

Our best pullers were mailing lists of investment newsletters and magazines on finance and economics from a practical point of view. Perhaps those on these lists were interested in looking for tips and trends.

This year's French SEP camp, which ended July 28, was again held at Morhange in the Alsace-Lorraine region of France. The 67 campers and 23 staff members, including Ambassador College students who were in France for the French summer program, enjoyed good weather and fair skies.

The activities included archery, sailing, windsurfing, swimming, tennis, horseback riding, soccer, bicycling, woodburning, kayaking and a forest adventure.

The campers also had five classes (1 hour 45 minutes each), in which the seven laws of success, the importance of the family, what the World Tomorrow will be like, and the campers' roles in the Kingdom of God were discussed.

The mayor of Morhange visited the camp and was very impressed with our organization. He gave us his full support, granting free access to the camp site, loan of a freezer, two sinks, kitchen materials and regular servicing of the sanitation blocks by municipal employees, as well as the local gendarmerie for security. The French army also helped by loaning tables, drums and camp beds.

A newspaper reporter visited the camp and wrote an excellent article about us, praising the quality of the camp and the character of our campers. Even the local citizens of Morhange helped out in many ways. We are pleased that the SEP camp at Morhange was very warmly welcomed.

— Joseph Tkach, Ministerial Services