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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, MAY 4, 1984
International News
Report From New
z
ealand
Around 2,500 new PLAIN TRUTH subscribers were
added in this part of the world in March, largely as a result of three
promotions during the month.
Our double-page spread with insert card headlined "What Next For New
Zealand?" in the March READER'S DIGEST brought in 856 responses, and many
more were still coming in daily as the month ended.
An ad of similar format with the title, "The Peril To Your Life Grows" in
the June 1983 READER'S DIGEST has brought in 606 responses over a period of
nine months. These results indicate that New Zealanders, geographically
isolated from the rest of the world, have their minds more on parochial,
local matters than on the threat of nuclear war, which they view as somewhat
remote and unreal.
A newspaper insert in the AUCKLAND STAR of March 12th, delivered to 130,000
homes, has brought in 847 responses by the end of the month. Meanwhile, an
ad in THE NEW ZEALAND LISTENER has so far added another 135 new PLAIN TRUTH
subscribers.
Just under 7,000 items of mail were received in March, an increase of four
percent over the same month last year. White mail was up by 275%, but the
regular mail was down compared to March 1983. The year-to-date increase in
mail is now 10.7%.
Income for March was up by 3.9%, bringing the year-to-date income increase
to 7.9%.
Over 600 new Bible correspondence course students have been added in the
first three months of the year.
From Australia Mail received during March was the second highest in the
history of God's Church in Australia, surpassed only by an unusually large
number of letters received in December 1973. Our staff processed 29,552
letters this month--a 39.7% increase over the same month last year. Mail,
year-to-date, now stands at a 50% increase over the first quarter of 1983.
The exceptionally fine mail response is primarily due to our full-color
advertisements placed this month in READER'S DIGEST and WOMAN'S DAY maga
zines.
The READER'S DIGEST ad returned 2,712 requests, and 3,747 new
people responded to the WOMAN'S DAY advertisement. Responses to these two
ads are still coming in.
In addition to the magazine advertising, a composite "new subscriber/renew
my PLAIN TRUTH" card inserted in the March issue of The PLAIN TRUTH brought
in an unusually heavy response. Over 8,000 readers returned the cards, 927
of which were from new subscribers.
Requests for subscriptions to The PLAIN TRUTH from all media sources this
month added 8,862 new readers to our Australian mailing list.
Income for the month increased by 13.7%, bringing our year-to-date increase
to 16.4%.
--Joe Tkach, Ministerial Services