Herbert W Armstrong

As we have previously reported, 1984 was a year of record-breaking growth for God's Church in nearly all categories. The following table illustrates the tremendous increases we experienced in the United States compared to 1983, which was itself a record year:

Category - 1983 - 1984 - Increase
Mail Received - 3,865,580 - 4,927,491 - 27.5%
WATS Calls - 621,732 - 790,793 - 27.2%
Total New Names Added to File - 1,085,228 - 1,710,324 - 57.6%
PLAIN TRUTH Subscriptions* - 2,315,708 - 2,596,851 - 12.1%
GOOD NEWS Circulation* - 173,358 - 379,682 - 119.0%
YOUTH Magazine Circulation* - 96,079 - 107,242 - 11.6%
Books and Booklets - 4,027,284 - 4,875,034 - 21.1%
Bible Course Enrollments* - 195,941 - 241,985 - 23.5%
Co-workers* - 49,205 - 55,605 - 13.0%
Donors* - 88,724 - 104,458 - 17.7%
*File counts as of December

Co-worker Growth Matches Subscriber Growth

During the past three years, the number of U.S. co-workers has increased from 33,000 to over 55,000. This is an average annual increase of 18%! This rate of growth is nearly as high as that of The PLAIN TRUTH magazine for the same period. It is evident that co-worker growth is paralleling the same upward trend of the PT subscription list.

Member Donations Up by 12.7%

We are also pleased to report that member contributions for 1984 were up by 12.7% over 1983. This was substantially higher than the increase in baptized members, which was 3.3%. Thus the brethren continue to give more per person in supporting God's Church than ever before — an obvious reflection of the increased dedication of God's people in helping to do God's work!

Ambassador Students Appreciate College Experience

With the second semester of college now underway, we thought to share some comments received in the mail from Ambassador students. A number have written in to express their heartfelt thanks for the fine opportunities available in Pasadena and Big Sandy. From their comments, it's clear that attending Ambassador College is one of the greatest blessings these young people have experienced. Following are a few of their letters:

I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank you very much for your faithfulness to God and the example you have set for all of us. I am currently a freshman at Big Sandy. God has truly given me a chance to partake of the best education a person could hope for.

I look forward to each and every day trying to learn as much as I can, but knowing that there is still much I need to learn. It is easy to tell that this is God's college and that the faculty is bending over backwards to train us in the way we should go. Truly this is a part of my life I can be extra thankful for.
O.V. (Big Sandy, TX)

I send the enclosed check simply because I am so thankful for all the blessings I have received. I am an Ambassador College student and even though money is not as plentiful as it once was, my blessings are much more abundant.

I want to thank you most sincerely for opening this college in the first place, and being guided by Jesus Christ. It is indeed the only place to be where one can "recapture true values." I pray for continued growth of the Church and am working diligently to do as much as I can for the work in my own small way.
V.S. (Pasadena, CA)

Please let Mr. Armstrong know that I personally appreciate the care and concern he has given me over the years. I have benefited just this past school year because I was able to attend Ambassador College at Pasadena. Nowhere else have I seen so many excel­lent teachers. Mr. Armstrong has repeatedly shown that he has God's guidance by the fruits of God's work. The college with campuses at Big Sandy and at Pasadena has been a rich blessing to every member of God's Church.
J.M. (Pasadena, CA)

Please accept this letter of appreciation for your dedication to the Ambassador College campus and its student body. Just after my arrival here, you took time out of your busy schedule just so you could personally welcome the incoming freshmen (of which I am one). Even while writing, I can see you out of my dorm window here at Grove Terrace personally inspecting the construction taking place nearby. I would just like to thank you for being such a fine inspiration to us all!
D.J. (Pasadena, CA)

I am about to embark on one of the most exciting opportunities of my life in a few days, being a freshman student at Ambassador College, Big Sandy. This is in fact a very unusual thing, as I am at last able to attend after seeking this goal for thirteen years! I appreciate very much God's opening the door for me to attend, in this, my third tithe year.
R.H. (Big Sandy' TX)

— Richard Rice, Mail Processing Center