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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, SEPTEMBER 2, 1986
In recent months there has been a serious downturn in the Australian
economy which has begun to affect the income for God's Work in this area
of the world. A recent survey by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and
the National Australia Bank on the Australian economy found that the
tertiary business sector, already experiencing its slowest growth in
years, is facing the prospect of continued decline. The tertiary business
sector covers retailing, wholesaling, transport and storage, finance,
property and business services, the construction industry, recreation and
personal services.
The survey also said that Australia can expect higher costs resulting from
the introduction by the government of the controversial fringe benefits
tax, and increased inflation. In addition, the latest employment figures
revealed a sharp rise in the number of jobless.
Our members and co-workers are being affected by these rising costs of
living, the slowdown in the Australian economy and the weakening of the
Australian dollar on the world market. These factors are of concern as
they will affect the ability of our members and co-workers to support
God's Work, and themselves, financially.
So far 13,751 "Plain Truth" subscribers in Australia have responded to Mr.
Tkach's May 5 semiannual letter.
This represents 15.9 percent of the
mailing list.
The majority requested both booklets offered by Mr.
Tkach -- "The Bible -- Superstition or Authority?" and "What is Faith?"
(Submitted by Robert Morton, Regional Director)
From New Zealand
The Eternal is continuing to bless His Work in this part
of the world with tremendous increases in almost every area of activity.
Income was up by a fine 27.3 percent for July, bringing the year-to-date
increase to 19.5 percent; mail for the month was up 48.2 percent, and the
year-to-date figure for mail received now stands at a plus 21.9 percent.
The "Plain Truth" mailing list is right on the target level we projected
for it at the beginning of the year. However, between now and the end of
the year an estimated 4,400 subscribers will be dropped off because of
failure to renew, so we plan to replace these by running more newspaper
inserts in September.
Our April series of 300,000 newspaper inserts brought in 3,600 new
subscribers at a cost per response of $7.61.
We're finding that the brochure holder program is working very well in New
Zealand, bringing in a return of about 6 percent, as opposed to a 1
percent return from the newsstand magazine program.
The church in Wellington is now maintaining 140 brochure outlets, a rate
of one for every man, woman and child in the congregation!
Because of the burgeoning response to the recent "World Tomorrow" radio
programs, we've found it necessary to add extra phone lines, and our
office phone number has changed as a result. The new number is Auckland
608-100.