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WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91123
HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG
PASTOR GENERAL
April 30, 1985
Dear Brethren and Co-Workers with Christ:
This is a special letter to our immediate family of
co-workers and members. I want to take you into my confidence and
explain to you a major problem in the work of God.
I thank God that I do not have to write to you that the work
is in financial difficulty, or that we are way behind in paying
bills, or that the work is in serious danger. None of those things
are true. This true work of God is in good sound financial
condition. God is blessing the work abundantly. It is bearing
precious fruit as never before.
If you watch some of the religious programs on TV, you
probably have noticed that in general they are all begging their TV
audiences desperately for money, pleading that they are behind two
or more million dollars in paying TV bills--about to be thrown off
the air. And indeed more and more are going off the air, and we
are buying up their time. Thank God, we are not in that kind of
trouble.
Rather, we never have to appeal to television viewers for
contributions. On the contrary we tell television stations we pay
all bills promptly. We are in healthy and sound financial
condition. The God we serve does supply our need. And I often say
that we will be blessed financially according to how well we please
our Lord and head of the Church, Jesus Christ.
God has promised to supply all our NEED--not all our wants.
That is the point of this letter. We--you and I--are in very
serious NEED right now. In Matthew 9:37-38, Jesus said to us of
his Church: "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are
few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send
forth labourers into his harvest."
That is precisely our present condition and NEED. Four
times this year more than 17,000 telephone calls have come in from
one TV program, requesting special booklets and/or a subscription
to The PLAIN TRUTH. Upwards of one million PLAIN TRUTH subscribers
have requested also a year's subscription to the GOOD NEWS magazine
for more spiritual and biblical articles. We have twelve hundred
and six ordained ministers visiting prospective members, counseling
about baptism--but they are swamped and unable to visit and counsel
with all who have requested this spiritual counseling and help.
These ministers have up to more than 75 new prospective members
waiting for each minister to call personally for counsel toward
baptism and complete conversion. Besides this, each minister has
to call each week on several members of his local pastorate for
counsel and spiritual guidance and help. These ministers are
swamped and unable to get to all that voluntarily have requested