International News at a Glance

• Three New Asian Web Sites Created
• A Record 715 Attend in Canada
• Canada Reports on Mailing Responses
• German GN Goes to 20 Countries
• German Statistics Announced
• UCG Included in University Project
• Brethren Safe After Indonesian Quake
• Beyond Today Television Program Begins Airing in Canada

Three New Asian Web Sites Created

Three new Asian Web sites—for Singapore, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong—are being created. The initial focus is on countries where United already has members, readership and ministerial involvement. This will help overcome the impression that we have no physical presence in other Asian nations besides the Philippines.

Web site domain names have been secured and work has begun on these Web sites in the Philippine office. The sites for Hong Kong and Sri Lanka are already up and running. Members can even register for the Feast in Sri Lanka on the Sri Lankan Web site. They can log onto the sites via the main UCG.org Web site (these sites are listed under international congregations).

We're very excited about the prospects of this new initiative, and we feel Asian readers throughout the region will appreciate the more specific attention offered.

—Dave Bake

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A Record 715 Attend in Canada

The First Day of Unleavened Bread saw a record attendance of 715 across Canada, an increase of 11.2 percent over last year's attendance of 643. The previous record attendance of 700 was reached on the Day of Atonement 2004.

The Holy Day offering for the First Day of Unleavened Bread came in at 9.9 percent over last year.

The average Sabbath attendance in Canada is up 2.1 percent over last year for the first three months of the year.

—Edwin van Pelt

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Canada Reports on Mailing Responses

The Canadian office began mailing letters the second week of May to over 9,000 former subscribers of The Good News. The letters are being sent to those who did not respond to the two renewal letters that were sent in late 2004. The letters are being mailed at the rate of about 500 per day so the office staff won't be overwhelmed with responses all at once. Based on the results of the other letters sent out this year, we expect over 1,200 responses to this letter.

The other letters the Canadian office has sent this year have been quite successful. In January we sent 5,223 letters to people on our database who were not subscribers of the GN . To date, we've received nearly 1,000 responses and added over 400 new subscribers.

Also in January, 499 letters were sent to those who were receiving the Bible Study Course but did not renew it after Lesson 3. To date, 90 people have requested to continue receiving the course as a result of the letter. The most recent subscriber development letter was sent to 2,771 people, and we've received 436 responses. The responses to these letters continue to arrive every week.

—Edwin van Pelt

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German GN Goes to 20 Countries

The May-June issue of the Gute Nachrichten (German Good News ) magazine is mailed to 4,071 readers in 20 European countries, a 2.8 percent increase over the previous issue. For the first time, a "Readers ask, we answer" column was included to answer questions from subscribers. Including former readers, the Gute Nachrichten database now contains 15,088 subscriber records.

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German Statistics Announced

This year 101 people met in the German-language region to keep the Passover. On the First Day of Unleavened Bread, 132 people attended services in four locations: Haan-Gruiten (48), Munich (10), Schriesheim (29) and Winterthur in Switzerland (45). The offering was 7,108 euros, a 11.1 percent decrease compared to 2005.

On the Last Day of Unleavened Bread, 112 people attended services in four locations: Cologne-Porz (42), Munich (13), Schriesheim (29) and Winterthur in Switzerland (28). The offering (5,870 euros) increased 1.2 percent.

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UCG Included in University Project

As part of a project on religious diversity in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany's largest state, the University of Bochum will provide information on the Internet about 250 Christian churches, including UCG–Germany.

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Brethren Safe After Indonesian Quake

Jeff Caudle reported May 27, "I've been in contact with Soegito and Martha Widjaya, Indonesian brethren who live in a small, rural village about 1 1/ 2 hours' drive to the east of Yogyakarta. They are safe and doing fine after the 6.3 magnitude earthquake in their region... I'm sure they would sincerely appreciate our prayers for God's intervention, protection and comfort for their countrymen . . ."

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Beyond Today Television Program Begins Airing in Canada

Airing of the Beyond Today program began in selected areas in Canada on the Christian Television network at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, May 21. (The Christian Television network is currently available only to Rogers digital cable subscribers in Ontario but will be expanded across Canada over the next several months.)

The Beyond Today television program also began on Vision TV at 11 p.m. on Sunday evening, May 21, on the West Coast. There is no adjustment for different time zones, so the program airs at 2 a.m. Monday, Eastern Daylight Savings time and at 3 a.m. in the Maritimes (3:30 a.m. in Newfoundland). Vision TV is available across Canada on cable and satellite.

Response for the very first showing was 15 calls from six provinces. "This is even better than what we had hoped for," said Anthony Wasilkoff.

The Council of Elders passed a resolution May 11 allowing Beyond Today to be aired in Canada on a month-to-month basis as a market test. The resolution also stipulates that until the airing of Beyond Today has completed its research and development stage in the United States, airing the program in any other part of the world requires Council approval.

—Edwin van Pelt and Don Henson

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