From Dr. Roy McCarthy: 1984 was the best year in the history of God's Church in Southern Africa. God richly blessed His Church with some spectacular increases, leaving one with the feeling that God is speeding up His work. This has encouraged and stirred everyone to finish the work rather than just do the work. In this report we will briefly summarize the growth in Southern Africa and our future plans — especially for 1985.
We still have no television nor radio available to broadcast "The WORLD TOMORROW." We must therefore continue to concentrate on increasing distribution and circulation of the 48-page PLAIN TRUTH magazine. Our latest circulation statistics show 213,000 on our subscription list. Another 56,000 magazines are distributed on newsstands — giving us a monthly circulation of 269,000 magazines. This raises our readership to over 800,000. The total number of subscribers increased during 1984 by 56.3%.
During 1984 we added 169,318 new subscribers — an increase of 96.5%! Our ongoing three-letter renewal system keeps the file active — hence in 1984, 87,270 subscribers were dropped because they failed to renew. The following identifies the sources from which we added the new subscribers.
Source - Response - % of total 169,318 Direct Mail - 62,192 - 36.7% READER'S DIGEST - 48,669 - 28.7% Newsstands - 21,179 - 12.5% Regular Mail - 18,909 - 11.2% Other: Blow-in Cards, Waiting Rooms, Newspaper Ads - 18,369 - 10.9%
The percentage of response to our direct mail efforts was a healthy 5.18%.
The highlight of 1984 was the 28,980 responses to the READER 'S DIGEST advertisement placed in the February issue! The two subsequent ads (in August and October) brought in totals of 10,970 and 7,843 respectively. In 1984 there was a 67% increase in total incoming mail.
Our GOOD NEWS circulation is 9,815, an increase of 15.2% and due to rise soon when responses come in to Mr. Armstrong's letter to PT readers who have renewed twice offering the GOOD NEWS magazine. YOUTH magazine circulation has risen by 17.2% and stands at 1,140.
Our finances during 1984 showed an increase of 17.4% for all accounts. The operating account (assistance and festival funds excluded) showed an increase of 15.8%. Our donors total 1,906, a 16.2% increase, and co-workers total 1,619, a 10.6% increase.
These fine increases were recorded in spite of the fact that South Africa has a depressed economy due to the prolonged drought, a low gold price, an inflation rate of 13% and a very low rand/dollar exchange rate. A record low of 42.3 U.S. cents to a rand was reached on January 15. Unemployment has increased as firms retrench or close down. This has affected several of our members. Salary increases have been very low — in some cases some have even taken cuts in salary or a decrease in hours worked per week.
Our members total 1,557 — an increase of about five percent over 1983. Baptisms in 1984 totalled 118, which is an 18% increase over 1983. Our prospective member list shows an increase of 14%.
Presently we have 17 congregations pastored by 11 full-time field ministers — six preaching elders and five local elders. There are four local church elders. Another five ordained men are employed in the office in Cape Town.
As of December 22, the Johannesburg Church, which had reached an attendance of 618, has been separated into two congregations — the Central and East Churches. The Central Church is pastored by Mr. Dan Botha and the East Church is pastored by Mr. Ron Stoddart. Other recent transfers have been Mr. Andre van Belkum to Cape Town, with an attendance of about 370 (220 members), and Mr. John White to Pretoria. Four pastors have a two-church circuit and one has three churches. The total average Sabbath attendance is 2,529.
A successful SEP was held at Wagondrift near Estcourt in Natal during 1984. And smaller Youth Camps were conducted at Elgin in the Cape Province and in Zimbabwe. Mr. and Mrs. Fred Kellers and three Ambassador College students assisted.
The 1984 Feast of Tabernacles was indeed our best ever. God certainly blessed the members — their joy, fellowshipping and concern one for the other were much in evidence. Attendance was up just over seven percent and holy day offerings for the year averaged a plus 36.5%. 1985 will see Feast sites in Livingstone, Zambia; Mutare, Zimbabwe; Grand Baaie, Mauritius; George and Durban in South Africa.
Our office move to Cape Town took place prior to and immediately after the 1984 Feast of Tabernacles. Not only did we drop from 6,000 feet above sea level to the coast, but we descended from the 35th floor of a 50-storey building to the fifth floor of a seven-storey building. We have slightly more floor space but our rental is about 30% cheaper. We are 25 minutes away by road to where The PLAIN TRUTH is printed. The environment and office facilities certainly add to our enthusiasm.
One area of concern has been Zimbabwe, where the pastor of the Harare Church was refused a residential permit — a result of changes in the government's attitudes toward religion. The pastor, Mr. Robert Klynsmith, can enter on temporary visas, which he has no difficulty at present in obtaining. We would appreciate your prayers for God's intervention.
Plans for 1985 include a second direct mail letter to about 900,000 households, although we may decide to be more selective and mail to smaller, more specific mailing lists. We are mailing out the first direct mail letter to 110,140 additional households — 72,980 in English and 37,160 in Afrikaans- at the end of January.
We plan four, perhaps five, READER'S DIGEST advertisements — beginning with the February issue, and then basically every other month till October. We also plan to place 10 advertisements during the year in top national magazines. In addition, we plan to increase our newsstand distribution to 80,000 per month and continue with the blow-in card from time to time.
God's work is being done — we are going through the doors open to us as fast as we are able. Please pray for us, as we pray for God's work worldwide, that the doors may remain open in the areas we administer, and that we may be granted utterance through the pages of The PLAIN TRUTH, GOOD NEWS, and other publications to bring the only message of warning and of hope to mankind prior to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
From Mr. Robert Morton We are pleased to report that the work of God's Church in Australia and Asia has been blessed with solid growth throughout 1984. The following is a brief summary of what Christ has accomplished in this area of the world during the past twelve months.
For the first time in the history of God's Church in Australia, The PLAIN TRUTH mailing list exceeded the 100,000 mark. By the end of December, circulation had risen to 101,060 subscribers — a 68.3% increase over 1983.
Through the newsstand programme, advertisements in READER'S DIGEST and other leading Australian magazines, "The WORLD TOMORROW" telecast and the library/waiting room programme, 59,115 new subscribers were added to The PLAIN TRUTH mailing list during 1984.
In Asia The PLAIN TRUTH mailing list also recorded a healthy increase. Throughout the year 30,356 new subscribers were added to the file, bringing our Asian subscription list to 55,651 — a 59.9% increase over the previous year. New subscribers came onto the Asian PLAIN TRUTH mailing list mainly from advertisements in READER'S DIGEST in Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka. In addition, about one-fifth of the new subscribers were added as a result of "word of mouth."
Extremely encouraging results have been achieved in the newsstand programme throughout Australia. The field ministry and members are doing an excellent job in promoting The PLAIN TRUTH, resulting in a 114.3% increase in newsstand circulation — from 70,000 to 150,000 copies per month. Currently there are 607 newsstand outlets throughout the country, and 365 members are involved in newsstand distribution.
In Asia, interest in The PLAIN TRUTH magazine on the newsstands has been exceptionally high. A small newsstand programme of 800 copies per month is currently being tested in Malaysia, while in Sri Lanka, 3,000 copies are distributed each month on two newsstands. As finances permit, we will increase the newsstand circulation in Asia throughout 1985.
An exciting new development for God's Church in Australia occurred in late December. Our new WATS number — 0 08 074 222 — was advertised for the very first time on "The WORLD TOMORROW" telecast over Channel 7 Brisbane. From that first weekend of advertising our new number on Mr. Armstrong's programme, we received 107 WATS calls, of which two were visit requests. We have begun to receive a steady trickle of calls during working hours, indicating that viewers are jotting down the number and waiting to call us at a time suitable to them.
Australians generally seem to be in transition between being a "write-in" society to becoming a "phone-in" society, and the WATS system in this nation is still in the experimental state. Currently we have four WATS lines (known in Australia as the "008 Service"). These four lines were especially laid to the Gold Coast for our use and currently we are the only local organization with this facility. The WATS number is now being advertised on "The WORLD TOMORROW" telecast across the nation, and we expect 1985 to be a very productive year as more and more people make direct contact with God's Church by phone.
A major effort by our members in Australia throughout 1984 dramatically increased our library/waiting room subscription list. At the beginning of the year we had only 376 libraries and waiting rooms on file. By the end of December over 9,900 new outlets had been added to the list, many of which also requested a subscription to the YOUTH magazine.
In addition, two of our Church members were successful in placing The PLAIN TRUTH, Mr. Armstrong's books, and a number of relevant booklets into the library of every prison and corrective institution in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory. The number of prisons and corrective institutions which are now the recipients of the Church's publications is 66.
Other encouraging increases have occurred in The GOOD NEWS and YOUTH circulations. In Australia The GOOD NEWS mailing list rose by 86.6%, and in Asia by 78.4%. Australian YOUTH circulation climbed by 61.0%, and in Asia it rose by 63.3%.
These fine increases in our magazine subscription lists have brought in many additional requests from our readers. In 1984 we received and processed 302,355 items of mail — a 47.4% increase over the previous year. In addition, outgoing mail passed the million mark for the first time in the history of God's Church here in this area of the world: 1,025,051 pieces of mail were posted — a 25.3% increase over 1983.
Mr. Armstrong's visit to Japan, China, Hong Kong, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Thailand in November and December greatly enhanced God's work in these Asian countries. As a result of Mr. Armstrong's visit with leading officials in Sri Lanka, "The WORLD TOMORROW" telecast was accepted for airing over Colombo TV station, ITNll. The first telecasts aired in early December, and resulted in 526 responses. A special system has now been organized so that the literature requested by viewers in Sri Lanka can be placed in their hands with a minimum of delay.
Currently 38 full-time ministers serve the brethren in 50 congregations throughout Australia and Asia, and 27 full-time employees serve in the Australian regional office.
This past twelve months 152 members were added to God's Church in Australia, bringing our total membership to 3,222 — a 3.1% increase over 1983. In 1984, 25 Asian members were added to God's Church, bringing the membership in the Asian area to 389 — a 7.2% increase over the previous year.
Attendance in 1984 at the six festival sites in Australia increased by 5.2% to 5,702, and the brethren continued to wholeheartedly support God's Church through their holy day offerings — up 25.4% over 1983. In Asia 702 brethren gathered to observe the Feast of Tabernacles at four festival sites — Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Burma and the Solomon Islands. This was a 13.4% increase in attendance over 1983.
SEP camp at Lake Moogerah began December 27, 1984, with a jam-packed programme of activities, education, challenge, fellowship and fun scheduled for our young people. This summer 224 campers from Australia and Asia were accepted for SEP. They are being served and supervised by 11 ministers and wives, and 78 staff members. Reports indicate that this is the most outstanding camp ever conducted for our young people in this country.
We are very grateful to Jesus Christ for continuing to provide our financial needs through the members, co-workers and donors. With an increase of 13.0% in December, our end-of-year increase in income finalized at 15.2%.
Recent Ordinations
Mr. John Borax, associate pastor of the Calgary (North), Canada congregation, was raised in rank to preaching elder Sabbath, January 5, 1985. Hands were laid on him by the Regional Director for Canada, Mr. Colin Adair, and by Calgary pastor Mr. Graemrne Marshall.
That same Sabbath, in San Fernando, the Philippines, Mr. Bermevon Dizon was ordained a local elder by evangelist Mr. Dean Blackwell, Philippine Regional Director Mr. Guy Ames, and office manager Mr. Rod Matthews.
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