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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, AUGUST 9, 1985
Feast in Fiuggi this year. Many of the prospective members are now begin
ning to donate and tithe, which will aid the growth of the Italian branch of
the work of God's Church. This support shows their commitment in a period
of economic instability.
Mike Savoia, a junior at Ambassador College, is presently participating in
the Italian summer program. He is attending the University for Foreigners
at Perugia in central Italy.
In addition to studying a great deal of
Italian, Mike is also taking a variety of other classes. This is the first
year of the program and it appears very successful thus far. Mike is cur
rently employed subtitling the Italian "WORLD TOMORROW" program. He has
also worked in the Italian Department processing mail and helped in trans
lating the Italian hymnal. His studies this summer should add immensely to
his skills in the Italian language.
The first Bible correspondence course test was mailed in June with Lesson
4. Also in June approximately 3,800 new students were enrolled in the
course, largely as a result of a recent offer for the correspondence course
in the Italian language. Most people are very receptive to the lessons and
the response has all been positive.
Donations for May showed a 122% increase over May 1984. The growing number
of donors has been very encouraging, having risen from 177 in 1984 to 280 in
1985. The number of co-workers has more than doubled in the past year,
increasing from 27 to 64. All this has contributed to a healthy increase in
indigenous income.
From Mr. Peter Nathan The Eternal blessed us with another fine increase in
income during June--up 19.6% over June of last year. This lifts the year
to-date figure to an 11.8% increase, almost right on the 12% budgeted
figure. Incoming mail was up by an excellent 57% in June, bringing our
year-to-date mail increase to 15.3%. Mail from within New Zealand is up
24.3%, while mail from the Pacific Islands has decreased by 6.8% so far this
year. Outgoing mail for the first half of the year was up 19.5%.
The major factor in the June mail was the 4,500 responses to Mr. Armstrong's
semiannual letter. This already represents a 14.5% response from our sub
scribers in New Zealand.
(Responses from the Pacific Islands haven't
started arriving yet.)
Over 70% of our semiannual letter respondees
requested both booklets offered--THE UNITED STATES AND BRITAIN IN PROPHECY
and A WORLD HELD CAPTIVE.
During the last three months there has been an average 20% increase in dona
tion mail, and there has been a very pleasing upswing in the number of
donors. The number of new donors added in the first half of 1985 is up over
50% compared to the same period last year. On the other hand, the number of
co-workers has remained rather static so far this year.
After a period of low inflation due to government-imposed wage and price
controls, New Zealand is once again suffering from sharply rising inflation
now that the controls have been removed.
The annual inflation rate is
around 17%. As of July 1, postage charges also increased by an average of
17%, making quite an impact on our budget. However, we know the Eternal
will continue to provide for us in order to do His work in New Zealand with
increasing power.
--Joseph Tkach, Ministerial Services