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T H E D O R C H E S T E R
Park Lane, London
Wednesday, June 6, 1956
To ALL THE BRETHREN back home:
We've been so busy since returning to London, I have not
until now gotten around to writing since our arrival here.
Our problem in developing the work over here is the same as
everywhere---finding a medium, or media, for reaching the people
DAILY. A once a week broadcast, ending at midnight, is too late
for more than a very few to listen to regularly every week. The
result is that only a small portion of listeners over here are
REGULAR weekly listeners---and we've learned in America that once
a week is not enough.
There is NO possibility, presently in sight, for daily radio,
TV, or any other mass media, and it may be one to five more years
before we can even get the 11:00 P.M. slot on Radio Lux. And 11:00
P.M. is the earliest they will allot to a religious program. But
there IS a way to reach the people nightly---just what we are now
doing here in London---personal evangelistic campaigns. We do not
yet have the trained man-power for it. But in two to five years we
MUST have men trained and available for full-time service over
here, who can speak at least as well as our present best---who can
develop into speakers somewhere near as good as Billy Graham---and
enough of them to have at least five teams of two men each going
full time in Britain. THEN you'll see the work take a burst ahead
over here, until it will grow somewhere near the magnitude of the
work in the U.S. General plans are now laid. We must soon, now
---not later than fall---make the first start in our newspaper
campaign over here. That will cost as much, or even more, perhaps,
than Radio Lux., but it will bring results accordingly. Then, by
the time our evangelistic campaigns start full blast in Britain, we
must increase the newspaper space, and use large enough newspaper
space in each local city where a campaign is being held to
advertise the meetings so that the ads will be SEEN, and draw a
crowd.
In the present meetings in London, we have used no newspaper
advertising---just two letters sent from the office here to the
local mailing list. There are only some 200 names in metropolitan
London, but we sent out about 500 letters, including territory some
50 miles distant. But people do not travel long distances here for
a meeting like at home, so we have not had much more than the 200
local letters to draw from. We knew the crowd would be small. We
have a very nice hall, though not as modern and nice as the one in
1954, seating 200 on first floor, and 100 in balcony. We are
having some 45 to 55 in attendance so far---it seemed to me more
last night than Monday night, and some have come some little
distance. BUT, while not every one is intensely interested, the
majority appear to be. After meetings they want to ask all kinds
of questions, and first and foremost among them is about the
Sabbath, and law and grace, etc. I have already learned that these