Herbert W Armstrong

WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD
WORLD HEADQUARTERS
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91123

HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG
President and Pastor

July 18, 1972

Dear Brethren in God's Church:

   THANK YOU! THANK YOU!! Brethren, for your response to my letter of May 31, in which I was forced to tell you that a most severe financial crisis was approaching. I had to ask once again for SPECIAL offerings to avert it.

   I realized that the situation was different than when I had to make a similar special appeal on March 30, 1970, and I estimated that our ability at this time might preclude more than about half the special offering response of the former crisis. And that is almost exactly what was raised.

   However I was able, this time, to foresee the coming crisis, and ask this special help before the situation had become so desperate. And now, IF we can keep the regular income up to normal, we will pull through. However, if there is any letdown in receipt of tithes and offerings, we shall yet face a very desperate situation. The income, so far this month (July), is NOT up to what it normally should be.

   But Brethren, HOW WE SHOULD BE THANKFUL AND REJOICE! The most powerful door our God has ever opened for His Work is already UNDER WAY! The DAILY TV programs are starting on more than TWENTY TV stations across the country — starting YESTERDAY, July 17. These stations include the nation's number one independent station, WOR — channel 9, New York, and Garner Ted Armstrong is now being heard DAILY on stations in Buffalo, N.Y. (reaching Toronto), Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle-Tacoma, Denver, Kansas City plus a network over Kansas, Dallas, Fort Worth, New Orleans, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, Washington, D.C., Austin, Texas (Ex-President Johnson's station), Nashville, Bellingham, Washington (covering Vancouver, B.C.), Charlotte, N.C. — so far, we have 24 stations carrying the program DAILY, besides being back on all the stations formerly used once-a-week (until they clear a daily strip for us).

   But ALREADY, that is a FINE national coverage. Our advertising agency is working daily on opening up DAILY TIME on more and more stations. We expect, in reasonable time, to cover the United States as thoroughly by television, as we have been by radio.

   Brethren, it is surely a MIRACLE that in about three short weeks, we have been able to obtain DAILY TIME on so many stations. Five weeks ago I would not have thought we could obtain ANY daily strip on ANY station! This is what I have WANTED to do for 17 years — but never thought it even POSSIBLE, before.

   It is MISSION IMPOSSIBLE — ACCOMPLISHED!

   This is by far the MOST POWERFUL means of reaching people with Christ's Message ever possible. IT HAS NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE! Some stations are putting on RE-runs of old former weekly half-hour shows, such as "Father Knows Best" (which I recommend), The Martian, I Love Lucy, Rifleman, Dragnet, Gunsmoke, etc. But I don't think ANY half-hour program has ever run, NEW and first- run, DAILY before!

   To get started, for the first four weeks, we ourselves are running RE-runs of our former weekly documentary programs, but after that the NEW daily hard-hitting series will be ON THE AIR. Garner Ted already has done 25 NEW daily programs. We are doing them, full color, on TV tape, which will be sent to the stations. My son is now doing SIX new programs a week — for the past four weeks plus the first ONE of which I wrote you before. He has already proved that he CAN produce six new TV programs a week. IT IS A REAL ORDEAL — never done before! But IT'S GETTING DONE!

   My son, Garner Ted, also is working hard on getting the PERSONAL APPEARANCE programs organized. The first one is to be held at Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He is very well known there — has spoken there twice before national conventions, and been on weekly TV for a long time. He is planning to take along a slightly abbreviated chorale from the chorales of both Pasadena and Big Sandy campuses, a band, an MC, and uniformed ushers — male students. We found, in the America Listen campaigns, that audiences love to see our sharp, clean-cut students, and talk to them.

   These new Personal Appearance programs will be for THREE NIGHTS — Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, beginning August 25, at Calgary.

   Two weeks ago, I flew up to Oakland for the Sabbath service. A special large auditorium was engaged, and 1495 Brethren from six Bay Area churches attended. Last Sabbath, I spoke in the morning at Des Moines, and in Omaha in the afternoon. Three Iowa churches combined in Des Moines, with 726 present, and also, I think, three churches combined at Omaha, with more than 1,000 present. Ministers, Local Elders and their wives and I had a most enjoyable dinner together in the evening at Omaha, and I flew the ministers and elders from Des Moines out there with me. It was a wonderful get-together.

   Having the jet plane makes it possible for me to get to one or two churches on a Sabbath, like that, and I will try to do more of that in the future. Also I visited the Imperial Summer Camp at Orr, Minnesota, Thursday evening and Friday. The young students put on a combined "sing-along" and entertainment show Thursday evening, and the annual water show Friday afternoon. It was simply GREAT! It's the largest such camp, for both boys and girls, in the U.S. And no other is remotely like it. The one disadvantage is that we can't take more of the children of our Brethren. It's too bad there can't be THOUSANDS of such camps. There will be, in the World Tomorrow!

   Sunday I must leave for Tokyo again. A meeting is arranged with Japan's new Prime Minister Tanaka, whom I already know. His picture will be on the front cover of The PLAIN TRUTH in the September number, and my meeting with him will provide the cover article. A request has come from Foreign Minister Malik of Indonesia (who also is President of the General Assembly of the United Nations) for me to stop by Djakarta this trip for a meeting with President Suharto. Also another meeting is scheduled with the King of Thailand, where Ambassador College is assisting in the King's educational program for his mountain people. Then there is to be another meeting with the President and Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (Ceylon), and a telex today said they will provide a helicopter at the airport to fly us to Colombo (an hour or more by car).

   Then on to Jerusalem, where we have 90 students winding up a summer's work at the archaeological project, clearing off the debris over David's throne, where Christ is to sit and rule the world. Each year at this time, the officials of Hebrew University host a banquet in my honor, with all our students and staff attending.

   Brethren, Garner Ted's new DAILY TV programs are, in my judgment, FAR better than his documentary-type programs. In these he can really cut loose with the GOSPEL Message. They are going to have tremendous IMPACT on millions of people.

   Next week's TIME magazine will have a full page ad we are running to refute false attacks, and tell the TRUTH about the WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD. This week's TV GUIDE carries the same ad — 19 million copies!

   Brethren, the Work is plunging on ahead in GREATER POWER THAN EVER BEFORE! But it can FINISH the WORK OF GOD ONLY if we are a real believing and PRAYING Church. Garner Ted has assigned to all who will participate in the Personal Appearance campaigns not less than ONE-HALF HOUR of prayer on their knees EVERY DAY! Unless the power of God's SPIRIT is in us, and behind this Work, it will fizzle. With that POWER nothing can stop it. REMEMBER — pray earnestly for me, and for Garner Ted and his wife. Pray earnestly for THE WORK — and that God will provide, through His people, the needed financial income. It's going to be a very tight squeeze during the next six months. YOUR CONSTANT AND EARNEST PRAYERS ARE NEEDED, as well as financial sacrifice. Garner Ted and I, Mr. Portune as Executive Vice President and manager of financial affairs, Mr. David Antion as the new Director of Church Administration, and all of our leaders here at Headquarters are PUTTING OUR ALL — an ALL-OUT EFFORT — into finishing this Work. But we seriously need YOU to back us up. Satan will continue to work harder than ever, especially through the malcontents and dissidents who are trying to destroy God's Work. A man with a gun, who already has killed one man and recently got out of the penitentiary, is reported to be in the vicinity now to "get" either Garner Ted or me. Our lives are on the block. Will YOU pray earnestly for our protection? Remember, GOD'S power is supreme!

   THANK YOU — THANK YOU again — and remember, we can't slacken up in our efforts even for a minute!

With deep love, in Jesus' name,
Herbert W. Armstrong