Herbert W Armstrong

My wife and I traveled to the Montreal, Quebec area for Pentecost, where the churches of Trois-Rivieres, Sherbrooke and Quebec City joined the hosting Montreal AM and PM churches. The assembled congregation totalled 824 — a record attendance. They also gave a record offering.

The growth of the French-speaking churches in Quebec is very encouraging. Our ministers there have a hard time keeping up with the numerous visit requests.

During my Montreal visit, I held a ministerial conference for the French­ speaking ministers and their wives. My wife and I also had the opportunity to fellowship with all the ministers, deacons and their wives at a dinner hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Donat Picard.

On Sabbath, May 25, Mr. Bruno Leclerc, an A.C. graduate, was raised in rank to preaching elder. He serves part time in Montreal and part time in the Val d'Or church.

As of May 31, La PURE VERITE was sent to 165,675 subscribers, an increase of 30.5% over May 1984. We have added 40,993 new names to our computer files, an increase of 35.1% above the first five months of 1984.

Circulation of La BONNE NOUVELLE DU MONDE A VENIR, the French GOOD NEWS, is currently 18,887, up 72.5% over last year. We expect circulation to shortly surpass the 20,000 mark.

Presently, we have 3,919 donors — up 29.8% — having added 1,105 new donors year-to-date. Co-workers total 2,062, 527 of whom were added this year. Part of the increase in donors and co-workers may be attributed to the improved reporting by various regional offices in conjunction with our new receipt system.

Our total membership is 1,423, up 7.6%; while the number of prospective members is 193, up 62%. Total income through April 1985 is up 9.1% over 1984, counting France, Switzerland, French Canada, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Belgium.

Mr. Bernard Andrist left Geneva on May 28 to visit Cameroon and Zaire, two of the twenty-three French-speaking African countries. We currently have 60 members in Cameroon and 31 in Zaire. In Cameroon Mr. Andrist has so far met 55 people in Yaounde and 35 at Makak. Unfortunately, we are still having difficulties in Cameroon (where services have been suspended for over a year) getting authorization to allow our brethren to assemble on the Sabbath. We used to have three churches meeting regularly — Yaounde, Makak and Douala.

We have just mailed 140,000 direct mail packets from the United Kingdom to addresses in France. Similar types of direct mail packets have worked well for us in Quebec. This is our first direct mail effort in French Europe.

Finally, we are happy to announce that Joel Meeker — 1984-85 Student Body President at Ambassador College in Pasadena — has been hired as a full-time ministerial trainee to serve in the region of Alsace Lorraine, France, under Mr. Olivier Carion. Unfortunately, we couldn't give Mr. Meeker a year off to spend time with his new bride, Marjolaine, who worked in the French Department while attending college!

From Mr. Carn Catherwood: The incoming mail figure of 10,537 pieces for the month of May nearly equalled the record set in the Italian Department in December, 1984 (11,082). May incoming mail was up 113% over the previous May and the year-to-date increase over the same period last year is 28%. Even with this very good figure, we have seen only the beginning of a surge of responses resulting from Mr. Armstrong's semi-annual letter and three ads, one of them in READER'S DIGEST.

Nineteen prospective members were visited on a seven-day tour conducted by Mr. Mike Caputo around the spring Holy Day season. As has been the trend in past tours, there was lively interest shown in the Church and its teachings, with several of those visited well on their way toward baptism.

Mr. Caputo and his family will be moving to Rome near the end of July. They have been in Pasadena for the spring college semester, where Mr. Caputo worked in the Italian Department and was a full-time student. Having spent two years at Ambassador College in the mid 1970s, he now has non-graduating senior status. With Rome as home base, he will be serving the brethren and prospective members throughout Italy.

Also moving to Rome is Mr. Carmelo Anastasi, an Italian citizen who attended Ambassador College for one year and now serves the department from his home in Sicily. He will continue to translate TV scripts and look after donation mail, as well as supervise the mailing of the PV in Italy.

Appreciation for Ministerial Refreshing Program III

Dear Mr. Tkach:

Greetings from Zimbabwe! We arrived back here safely on the 11th and were immediately plunged into Sabbath services, counselling, clubs and Pentecost! It's good to be back!

My wife Glen and I would like to thank you and all those whose contribution to the MRP has made it such an outstanding success. We were privileged to attend the MRP for the first time nearly two years ago, and the programme was very fine then — but this year we thought it was doubly as good!

Like the Feast, it really does get better — and it places a commensurate responsibility upon us to derive the maximum benefit from all that is given and to share it abundantly with our flock. Truly, God's government is mightily in action, for as God gives to Mr. Armstrong so he gives to us and we to the flock (Matt. 10:8).

We determined to get to know as many of the ministers and their wives as we could, as well as members in Pasadena and the administration, students and faculty of the College. We were thrilled to have the opportunity to hear top quality music in the most beautiful Auditorium in the world, to attend the 1985 annual field day, and to hear the Imperial Schools' choir give a really fine performance for the visiting ministers. We were delighted by the immaculate service rendered by the students serving us at the club dinners. Coming from an area where one only sees other ministers about once a year at the regional conference in Cape Town (itself a wonderful privilege), we are all the more appreciative of the effort that everyone at Headquarters is making — and year round too! — for God's people.

We are very mindful of the urgent need to put more full-time ministers into the field, knowing there are many trained and ready to go, but that funds are needed to hire them. Now is the time for fervent prayer and urgent petitions before our Great Creator and Ruler. We are inspired, filled with new zeal, certain of our role, determined in our objectives and thoroughly equipped to fulfill our calling — thanks to the Mighty God who moves His Church through Mr. Armstrong and everyone at Headquarters. Keep up the momentum, knowing that our prayers are behind you 100%, as in unity of Spirit we accomplish our commission.

Bill and Glen Bentley

Dear Mr. Tkach:

The third Refreshing Program is now history for us but we plan to let the information learned remain with us for a long time. There was a strong urgency to DO what we had learned — to pass it on faithfully to the brethren exactly as we had been taught, so the whole Church speaks the same thing.

Thanks so much for your part in it and all the work put in by all the speakers, under Mr. Armstrong's direction. I'm looking forward to using it all in many, many sermons to come.

Please convey to Mr. Armstrong our deep heartfelt appreciation for the program. We're already looking forward to the next Refresher.

Philip and Carole Shields

— Joseph Tkach, Ministerial Services