International News at a Glance

• Additional Feast Site for Australia
• Canadian GN List Grows 28 Percent
• Part-Time Elder Employed for New South Wales
• Deacons Ordained in Australiad
• French Public Lectures Held in Montreal
• Australian Treasurer Reports

Additional Feast Site for Australia

The Australian National Council has approved an additional Feast of Tabernacles site for 2008. The present sites are all on the eastern side of the continent, but the additional site will be located in Western Australia in the coastal town of Busselton, about 230 kilometers (2½ hours) south of Perth.

Because of age and distance, many of our Western Australian UCG members have not been able to attend the Feast in recent years. After discussions with the growing Perth congregation, it was agreed that 2008 would be an appropriate year to establish a Festival site in the west. Indications are that a number of people with a Church of God background are likely to celebrate the Feast with us. Attendance will also be boosted by UCG members from the eastern states who have expressed interest in visiting this popular tourism destination. Full details will be included in the 2008 Festival brochure.

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Canadian GN List Grows 28 Percent

The ad in the November edition of the Canadian Reader's Digest continues to draw responses. We've now had over 3,700 responses—far better than we anticipated. The response rate is 0.428 percent, which is considered excellent. A response rate of 0.25 percent is considered very good, and we've exceeded that by a healthy margin. While some of those who responded to the ad have since cancelled their subscription to The Good News, others have requested additional literature. Still others have already become donors.

Canadian responses to the Beyond Today television program continue to come in as well. The average number of responses per week is now 35, and in 2007 we've had over 1,900 responses.

These two efforts, in combination with our ongoing Internet campaigns, have added substantially to the Canadian subscriber base. The January-February 2008 issue of The Good News will be sent to over 15,000 subscribers in Canada. That's an increase of over 28 percent since the beginning of our fiscal year April 1.

Incoming mail in Canada has exceeded the previous year's record. We've had over 21,000 pieces of incoming mail from all sources, for an average of about 60 items per day. Included in the total mail are our Internet and e-mail requests. Those items account for about 8,500 pieces of the total incoming mail. Almost 40 percent of our total mail is from the Internet and e-mail.

Income for the year is very good. Total income in Canada is about 5.5 percent higher than we budgeted.

—Ed van Pelt

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Part-Time Elder Employed for New South Wales

During the 2007/2008 budget and operating plan discussions by the Australian National Council, plans were made for the employment of a part-time elder to assist New South Wales pastor Bruce Dean.

Elder Doug Gray has accepted an offer to take up this appointment, and current intentions are that he will begin on Feb. 1, 2008, for a 12-month period. This is somewhat dependent on Mr. Gray being able to vary his current employment arrangements.

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Deacons Ordained in Australia

Three deacons were ordained in Australia recently.

The Feast of Trumpets 2007 in Perth, Western Australia, was an extra special occasion as Peter Davidson was ordained by Don Goodger as a deacon in the Perth congregation.

Tony Edge of the Melbourne, Victoria, congregation was also ordained on the Feast of Trumpets.

Tom Korrelvink of the Hobart, Tasmania, congregation was ordained by Barry Williams on the opening night of the Feast of Tabernacles at Devonport, Tasmania.

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French Public Lectures Held in Montreal

On Aug. 25, 2007, a public lecture in French was presented in Montreal, Quebec. Two split sermons were presented by Daniel Morasse and Walter Hehle from Ottawa, Ontario. English translation was provided through FM headsets for the anglophones in the audience. The attendance was 48, with five new people coming to hear the messages from the 484 Good News subscribers who were invited.

Joel Meeker is scheduled to present a public lecture for Quebec in the spring.

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Australian Treasurer Reports

The overall tithes and offerings received in Australia exceeded the budgeted amount by $91,000 (all figures in Australian dollars). During the year the Church in Australia spent $1.26 million compared to a budget of $1.19 million, a difference of around $71,000.

We again received an unqualified report from the audit firm. This is the most desired outcome in the world of auditing.

—Allan Hambleton

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