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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, APRIL 18, 1986
International News
Fro• Nev Zealand During February the brethren in all Church areas in the
region were able to see video tapes of Mr. Tkach's January 18 sermon, as
well as the "Tribute to Herbert W. Armstrong" telecast and Mr. David
Hulme's first two programs. Everyone was greatly upliftea and inspired to
see the way the Eternal is dynamically leading Bis Work.
God has continued to bless us with a phenomenal beginning to 1986.
February's income was up 43.2 percent over the same month last year, and
incoming mail was up 145.3 percent.
In last month's "Comments" we described our incoming mail increase of 102
percent as "staggering." We're still trying to find a suitable adjective
to describe this month's 145 percent increase! Year-to-date mail is now
up by 120.7 percent, and income up by 27.8 percent.
Year-to-date outgoing mail is up by 61.1 percent, so the activity in the
office has been up in all areas! Another healthy sign is that new visits
are up by 80 percent so far this year.
The major contributing factor to the
response to Mr. Armstrong's semiannual
Ages." Almost 14,000 requests for the
offer to "Good News" readers bringing
semiannual letter bringing in 27 percent
mail increase is the excellent
letter offering "Mystery of the
book have now come in, with the
a 53 percent response and the
so far.
We're very grateful that the Eternal has blessed us with such fine income
increases to start the year, because a new raft of inflationary measures
are about to strike us. Postage charges are going to rise substantially
on May 1. Our postage bill consumes about 10 percent of our first-account
income, so these increases will hit us hard.
Postage for "The Plain
Truth" will rise by 30 percent, and for other mail the increases vary
between 20 and 28 percent.
On October 1, the government is introducing a tax on virtually all goods
and services purchased in New Zealand. This will increase many of our
expenses by 10 percent overnight!
Once again we are seeing in operation the old adage that "The Eternal
giveth•••but the government taketh away!" But we know that God has power
vastly greater than that of human government, and He will make sure His
Wo·
rk gets done 1
(Submitted by Peter Nathan, Regional Director)
From the caribbean
Millie and I were at the Refresher Program from
January 29 through February 11. This is the fourth refresher for us, and
it is truly amazing how the staff can make each program different. The
lectures were spiritually uplifting and very helpful. After the session
ended we stayed for the Festival Coordinators' meetings.
The new programs are being aired and the results are truly startling. The
mail receiving office in San Juan does not normally receive a large number
of responses from the television stations we serve, but beginning with the
special commemorative program on the life of Mr. Armstrong and continuing
with the new series of programs, our TV responses have just about doubled.