Proclaim to the World the GOOD NEWS OF THE WORLD TOMORROW
Box 111, Pasadena, Calif. 91109
Publishing: The PLAIN TRUTH a Magazine of UNDERSTANDING
Written from Ambassador College in England
November 11, 1964
Dear Co-Workers with Christ:
Greetings again from England! Mrs. Armstrong and I are scheduled to return, tomorrow, to America—provided the fog lifts. The notorious London fog has grounded planes at London Airport the past day or two.
We plan to fly direct to Dallas on a London-Dallas flight, visiting the new Ambassador College at Big Sandy, Texas, a few days. Then back, next week, to Headquarters at Pasadena.
The new book on sex and marriage is off the press! This is the very first real book we have ever published—an inch thick! I received the very first copy of the first full book last Monday. Our mailing department began mailing the books out from Pasadena last Friday. It's going to be a mighty big job—mailing out 250,000 of these inch-thick books, and will take several days.
I hope you will have received yours by the time this letter reaches you. I hope, sincerely, that this book will be of real help and value to you—as well as interesting. I would appreciate knowing, if you will write and let me know. It certainly has met an enthusiastic reception here at the college in England. Already I have taught several two-hour classes from it— even before I received the first book—by using page proofs run off for me before it was printed. I feel that our new greatly enlarged printing plant has done a superb job of printing and binding.
The college here in England is already in its fifth year. THINK OF IT! It seems as if it had only started last year—and yet all the original pioneer students who were here four years ago are gone now—that is, from being students.
I have been simply THRILLED—and given great encouragement and inspiration—to see the wonderful fruit borne by that pioneer class of 27 men and 8 women. Of course a few of those original students of four years ago dropped out along the way— that was to be expected. But many of them are today serving in important positions in GOD'S WORK—all around the world!
I want you to take a look at what has been produced out of that first small group of pioneer students. YOU—as a Co-Worker with Christ in His great Work—have your part and interest in it, as I have mine. I hope it gives YOU the same encouragement and inspiration it gives me.
Eight of those students were upper-classmen, transferred from the college at Pasadena. Two of the men were seniors. Both graduated in June, 1961. Both are now ordained ministers, serving many people in the United States today. Both married girls who were Ambassador students at Pasadena—both now have children.
The other six sent from Pasadena were 3rd-year students— three were men, three were girls. One had entered Ambassador at Pasadena in 1958 from Surrey, England. He became student Body President his last two years here in England. Today he is an ordained minister, serving in the Manchester, England, and Glasgow, Scotland, areas.
One of the other two men sent over from Pasadena is now an ordained minister and faculty member teaching in the new Ambassador College in Texas. There's a personal story, concerning my own family, in relation to this man—so perhaps you'll let me take space to tell it.
Just before the college opened over here, in the fall of 1960, Mrs. Armstrong and I brought over with us, as a transfer student, our daughter-in-law, Lois—widowed wife of our son, Richard David, who was killed in an automobile accident in late July, 1958. With us was her son and our grandson, Richard David, then age 2 1/2.
To organize and operate our new radio studio here in England, we had transferred from Pasadena Mr. Benjamin R. Chapman, who had been for two years before entering Ambassador at Pasadena an electronics engineer—this following his graduation from U.C.L.A. He gave up his high-paying job to study at Ambassador in Pasadena in 1959. He entered the college here as a junior. During his first school year here, he fell in love, first with our little Dickey. Then, later by some two or three months he and Lois found they were in love. They telephoned Mrs. Armstrong and me in California to ask our consent to their engagement.
There was a big barrier in the way. We were not willing to lose Lois as our daughter, and she was not willing to give us up as "Dad and Mom." We removed the obstacle by adopting Mr. Chapman as our son—in our affection, even if not legally. In the spring of 1961, Mrs. Armstrong and I flew back over for the remainder of that school year, and I performed their wedding ceremony the day we arrived. Little Dickey said, "We're a FAMILY now!" Today Mr. Chapman is a member of the faculty at the new Texas Ambassador College, and they have a lovely new home over- looking the beautiful Lake Loma (named after Mrs. Armstrong) on our campus there. A little sister has come to join Dickey, and another little brother or sister is expected soon. Dickey says, "I want a brother!" Mr. Chapman graduated here in 1962, and Dickey is now in the first grade in school.
One of those pioneer girls from Pasadena married one of our ministers—at that time stationed here in England—who had graduated a few years earlier at Pasadena, and had been a Student Body President there. The third of the three girl students sent to that pioneer class from Pasadena graduated in 1962—received the equivalent of a teacher's degree from the Royal College of Music in London while here—and is now a member of the music faculty at our new college in Texas. The other of the men students transferred from Pasadena, a German-born student, graduated in 1961, and now is in charge of the branch office of our German Department, stationed at the college at Bricket Wood, and a faculty member teaching German.
That accounts for the eight pioneer students sent over here from Pasadena in 1960 to SET THE AMBASSADOR POLICY, SPIRIT, AND CHARACTER in the new college here. Every one occupies an important position in the very WORK OF GOD today.
Now a quick glance at the pioneer freshmen who entered in 1960. Two are now on the faculty here. One is supervisor of our mailing room. One, whose wife was also a member of that class, is manager of our offices in Geneva, Switzerland. One is now managing our offices at Duesseldorf, Germany. He married a Pasadena student later transferred here. One, married to one of those pioneer girl students, is an ordained minister, pastor of a church in Brisbane, Australia. Two are serving in our office in Johannesburg, South Africa—one of these already an ordained minister. Two are serving in the ministry in America and Canada, one already ordained—the other soon to be. Two others of the girls of that first freshman class have married ministers in God's Work. Two of the men have important positions in our office here, and one is head of our carpenter and cabinet-making shop.
Of the total of 35 pioneer students who started, 25 have found important places in GOD'S WORK!
Co-Workers, I think that is a mighty fine record of accomplishment for the very first class received into this college in England four years ago. Those students are serving today in ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD—Australia, South Africa, Switzerland, Germany, England and Scotland, the United States and Canada!
This WORK OF GOD was virtually a one-man Work until Ambassador College started in Pasadena, 17 years ago. Our colleges are training important executives, ministers, teachers, college professors, secretaries, for service all over the earth.
Jesus said the harvest (of precious lives for God's Kingdom) is plenteous, but the LABORERS ARE FEW! He commanded us to PRAY FOR God to send forth more laborers for the harvest. We now have THREE Ambassador Colleges for training these called, consecrated and dedicated people for these vitally important posts.
BUT THESE COLLEGES CANNOT GROW UNLESS we can continue our expansion program for NEW BUILDINGS! We have to have dormitories for students to sleep in and to study in. We must have dining halls in which to feed them. We sorely need more and more class- rooms and lecture rooms in which to teach them. We must have more library space for more books. We must have auditoriums in which to hold assemblies and worship services. Auditoriums at Pasadena and England are completely outgrown. These buildings are not luxuries —WE SIMPLY CANNOT MAINTAIN OUR COLLEGES WITHOUT THEM!
God's Work is GROWING! It is producing an ever- increasing great HARVEST! THINK OF IT! Twenty-five to thirty million people are HEARING and READING the very Gospel JESUS CHRIST BROUGHT, every week! Never in earth's history have SO MANY precious souls been reached with the one and only TRUE GOSPEL!
But JUST ONE THING IS LAGGING BEHIND. We are actually receiving LESS MONEY in the SPECIAL OFFERINGS for this BUILDING EXPANSION FUND than we were a year ago. Instead of increasing, IT IS DROPPING.
Co-workers, DO YOU WANT THIS PRECIOUS WORK TO BE STOPPED? The WORK OF GOD on earth simply cannot grow UNLESS THESE COLLEGES GROW! The past two years we have been receiving applications from seven times as many prospective students as we have had space to accept. We are having to say to SIX out of every SEVEN: "Sorry— we don't have enough space in our present buildings to house you, feed you, or teach you." Hundreds of students simply have to be terribly disappointed because they cannot come.
REMEMBER—this Work never began to GROW and REACH MORE THAN A FEW PEOPLE UNTIL Ambassador College began to put God-called, properly trained men and women into this Work with me. As the colleges have grown, so the WORK has grown. Money invested in necessary new and larger buildings is money invested in REACHING MORE AND MORE PEOPLE WITH CHRIST'S TRUE GOSPEL! It is money invested in bringing eternal life in God's Kingdom to more and more people!
Look at it this way: Suppose some very wealthy man had come to me, before Ambassador Colleges were started, and said: "Mr. Armstrong, I will give you TEN MILLION DOLLARS for Christ's Gospel Work—on condition that you will never build any colleges. EVERY PENNY OF THIS MUST BE SPENT BY YOU ALONE ON GETTING OUT THE GOSPEL TO THE WORLD. You must not train anyone else to work with you." Do you know that I could have done very little more to get the GOSPEL to the world than I was already doing, alone, without that ten million dollars?
Before Ambassador College was founded, I tried working with other ministers. But they were either incompetent, dishonest, or they pulled off in another direction. WHY did not Jesus try to team up with the ministers and priests of HIS DAY—with the Pharisees, the scribes, and the Sadducees? They all WORKED AGAINST HIM! They were HOSTILE to His Message! They conspired to KILL HIM! Do you know that when I came, with that same Message, I found other ministers were just the same?
I had to DO AS JESUS DID! He called young men who were NOT preachers or priests. Peter was a fisherman. Matthew was a tax collector. They FORSOOK their jobs, joined Jesus, and for 3 1/2 years He TRAINED THEM. Do you know that the word "disciple" means STUDENT—or LEARNER? The disciples went to school to Jesus. He taught them!
God revealed to me, back in 1946, that He wanted me to follow Jesus' example. THOSE disciples became apostles, and they trained other young men, and God's Work through His early Church GREW, and GREW, and MULTIPLIED—for 38 years, after which the FALSE Church was allowed to choke off the preaching of the true Gospel to the world until our time, strange as that may seem.
Co-Workers, the need for additional buildings is now DESPERATE! Plans are all drawn and completed for the new dining hall at Pasadena. Unless we can break ground, and start the construction not later than January 1st, WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TAKE IN ANY ADDITIONAL NUMBER OF STUDENTS NEXT FALL at Pasadena. The same is true here in England, unless we get an additional girls' dormitory building.
We have long ago outgrown our assembly halls at both colleges, and cannot use them. We cannot take more students without additional classrooms.
THIS IS THE VERY LIFE-BLOOD OF CHRIST'S GOSPEL WORK!
Co-Workers, don't let this Work down! Next month I will have to ask for renewal of statement of intention cards for this SPECIAL Building Fund. Meanwhile, please, even if you have to give up something else, try to send in every month EXTRA special additional offerings for this fund—over and above your tithes and regular operation of the Gospel Work.
HERE WE ARE AT THE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING SEASON AGAIN!
Already the Christmas decorations are being put up over here in London streets and stores, and the shopping rush is on! It is a 100% pre-Christian PAGAN custom, which the Bible CONDEMNS. God says HE WILL NOT ACCEPT SUCH PAGAN WORSHIP! See Jeremiah 10:1-4, and Deuteronomy 12:29-32. Christmas shoppers spend lavishly, but they merely EXCHANGE gifts with OTHER PEOPLE—they do NOT give their gifts to CHRIST or for HIS WORK. No, they let CHRIST and HIS WORK go without, supposing they are honoring His birthday! But Jesus was not born on, or anywhere near December 25th. And only PAGANS observe birthdays! It's a PAGAN custom which GOD FORBIDS—and you DISOBEY HIM WHEN YOU DO IT! Write for our free booklets on the plain TRUTH about Christmas.
Co-Workers, ALL of everyone's Christmas-gift money ought to go to CHRIST, for HIS WORK. Do not fear what friends, neighbors, or family or relatives say or think. We should be concerned with WHAT GOD THINKS! It is HIS FAMILY we are to be born into—for ETERNITY—with everlasting LIFE as His gift to us!
And THIS is the season when, if ever, Christ's WORK is in NEED—when we ought all to be unusually GENEROUS toward it!
Continue faithful to Christ in your tithes—GENEROUS in your additional offerings—and also in further additional, SPECIAL Building Fund offerings! Then take JOY in seeing CHRIST'S WORK leap ahead in multiplied growth in reaching this lost and dying world with HIS PRECIOUS GOSPEL!
THANK YOU for having your heart in His Work! And think how THANKFUL YOU should be for the privilege of being a Co-Worker WITH CHRIST! Yes, with the LIVING Christ who heads and directs and blesses this Work!
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