International News at a Glance

• Passover and UB in the U.K. and Ireland
• Canadian Responses Growing
• GN Readers Invited in Isle of Man
• Mauritius Feast Site Announced

Passover and UB in the U.K. and Ireland

Services on the First Day of Unleavened Bread were held in 10 locations in the British Isles. The total attendance was 169 (compared to 148 in 2006), and the offering, before currency conversion costs are taken into account, was in the region of £5,680 (£4,104 in 2006).

The first Passover and Holy Day organized by the United Church of God–British Isles in the Republic of Ireland was held this year in County Carlow. John and Jan Schroeder were present and Mr. Schroeder conducted the Passover and first Holy Day service.

Services on the Last Day of Unleavened Bread were held in seven locations, in which the total attendance was 144 (147 in 2006), and the offering, before currency conversion costs are taken into account, was in the region of £4,086 (£4,241 in 2006).

—UCG–British Isles National Announcements, April 14, 2007

[ back to top ]

Canadian Responses Growing

In the first three months of the calendar year, UCG–Canada added nearly 1,500 new subscribers to The Good News magazine. As of March 31, we had 11,692 subscribers on file.

Incoming mail from January to March is higher than the same period last year. Especially encouraging is the increasing number of Internet subscription and literature requests—nearly 3,000 since Jan. 1. At the end of April, Internet requests were projected to exceed the total for all of 2004. These requests currently make up more than 50 percent of our total incoming mail. At the current rate, Canada could end the year with about 10,000 such requests—about 30 percent more than last year's record number of Internet requests.

All this incoming mail is resulting in a lot of outgoing mail. For the first three months of 2007, the average number of items distributed per month stood at 14,822. (That's about 500 pieces per month more than last year.)

The Canadian office has also received over 750 responses to the semiannual letter sent in February offering the Bible Study Course and the Holidays or Holy Days booklet.

Through April 12, 1,548 Canadians have responded to the Beyond Today television program. Almost 75 percent of those responses have been new additions to our file. We've added over 900 new subscribers to The Good News since the program began airing in May of 2006.

The program "Christians Who Don't Keep Easter" set several records in early April. It offered the Holidays or Holy Days booklet. The total number of responses came to 88—a record. Of those, 54 were from the program itself and the remaining 34—also a record—were from the beyondtodaytv.ca Web site. The phone responses to the TV program came from eight provinces. The average number of responses per program is steadily increasing.

The fiscal year ended March 31 with income for the year being more than budgeted. For that we are very grateful.

— Edwin van Pelt

[ back to top ]

GN Readers Invited in Isle of Man

The latest in a series of special Sabbath services in Douglas, Isle of Man, to which Good News readers were invited was held on March 3. The topic was "What Is Your Destiny?" Peter Hawkins gave a PowerPoint presentation on "God's Plan of Redemption" and David Fenney addressed "God's Plan of Salvation as Depicted by the Holy Days."

Over the past year invitations have been sent to around 30 GN readers advising them of each of these meetings. To date, seven new people have attended, some more than once. Two others have attended one of the regular Sabbath services in Ramsey, and five others have written or phoned expressing interest in the Douglas meetings, but have not yet attended.

Just before the start of the service, David Payne was ordained as an elder. He will assist David Fenney.

— UCG–British Isles National Announcements, March 17, 2007

[ back to top ] 

Mauritius Feast Site Announced

The Ventura Hotel in the village of Grand Bay on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius will be a Festival site this year. The site was announced after the March/April United News was printed.

Festival activities will include plenty of time for fellowship with the dozen local Church brethren from Mauritius and neighboring Reunion (we expect a total attendance of about 25), and excursions to sites of interest including the Port Louis waterfront and the Botanical Gardens.

A pleasant walk from the hotel allows access to the waterfront, offering a selection of restaurants and shopping, as well as deep-sea fishing, glass-bottom boat rides, wind surfing, sailing and scuba diving. It is also possible to make a 100-foot dive to a shipwreck on the Blue Safari submarine.

More information is available in the Festival Planning Brochure sent in April. Registration forms may be received by contacting info-fr@ucg.org; or by writing to French Department, United Church of God, an International Association, P.O. Box 541027, Cincinnati, OH 45254-1027, USA; or by calling (513) 576-9796.

— Joel Meeker

[ back to top ]