International News at a Glance

• German Subtitles and Voice-Overs Being Added
• British Isles Welcomes New Donors and Coworkers
• New Group in Zimbabwe Meets for Pentecost

German Subtitles and Voice-Overs Being Added

Over the last few weeks UCG-Germany editorial staff member Jesmina Allaoua has translated 25 of the Beyond Today commentary scripts provided by UCG Web manager Aaron Booth and his volunteer helpers.

You can see an example of the German subtitles currently on the German Good News Web site www.gutenachrichten.org. The featured example by Steve Myers is interesting because it presented a translation challenge: "cover up" in German doesn't have both meanings (as in "make up" and "trying to hide something") as it does in English. So we worked around that.

Working on these subtitled Beyond Today programs gave us our next idea—to do them as "voice-overs" with the spoken German text added locally.

The voice-over style is often used for interviews, etc., on German television and was very successful for the telecast in our previous affiliation (we have a couple of UCG members who came into contact via the voice-over telecast).

Clay Thornton at the home office will provide the original English Beyond Today video commentary, and UCG–Germany will do the rest ourselves. The subtitles will provide the text for the audio track we will add.

This project has opened up a new media avenue for us, enabling us to make use of Beyond Today material.

—Paul Kieffer

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British Isles Welcomes New Donors and Coworkers

The UCG–British Isles Office Update of June 30 gave a summary of how the office interacts with those who become donors and coworkers.

When a subscriber donates for the first time, we send them a thank-you note with an offer of the Making Life Work booklet and a Gift Aid form that they may fill out if they wish, with a freepost envelope.

If the same person donates again within a six-month period, this could indicate a genuine interest in becoming more involved with the work of the Church. We then designate them as a coworker and offer a subscription to United News, enclosing a sample copy.

We enclose these offers with the receipt for the donation, and they are sent out soon after the end of the calendar month.

A number of people have recently requested our standing order form, which indicates an intention to donate regularly.

Over the past 12 months, 165 subscribers have sent in a donation when they returned their renewal form (8 percent of the 1,976 subscribers who renewed). Of course, a number of readers also donate at other times.

Here is a comment from one of those who support UCG–British Isles financially: "I have been seeking answers to many questions in Scripture, and through your publications they are answered! I enclose a donation towards your ministry. As I am a pensioner, for now this is all I can afford" (M.M., Wiltshire).

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New Group in Zimbabwe Meets for Pentecost

A small group of 14 people gathered for the Feast of Pentecost in the town of Masvingo in the heart of Zimbabwe.

Three of us drove from Harare (the capital) on the morning of June 7. We drove the 300 kilometers (about 185 miles) to Masvingo and held a church service that morning. Two of us were accommodated at the home of Mr. and Mrs. C. Zimuto, who are helping the Church in organizing meeting places and other errands in that area. There were 12 in attendance.

The next day, Pentecost, 14 people attended. We would have liked two hours for the church service and get-together, but we were only allowed one hour because other groups had already booked the place. However that did not dampen the spirit of the group. We held a quick one-hour Pentecost service then had our get-together outside.

We shared a meal that Mrs. Zimuto had prepared while we fellowshipped. Afterward we drove the Zimutos and a few others back to their homes before we got on our 300-kilometer journey back to Harare.

It was a really enjoyable Pentecost, being the first one in that area. We hope that there will be more gatherings to worship God and fellowship in the future, in addition to the five or six Bible studies that have been conducted in the area in the last six months or so.

—H.N. Hlazo

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