International News at a Glance

• Senior Pastor Visits Mae Sot, Thailand
• Baker Visits India and Sri Lanka
• Australia Reports Record Renewal; Growth Through the Internet
• Canada Reports Growth

Senior Pastor Visits Mae Sot, Thailand

On June 11 David Baker, senior pastor for Asia, and Fil Olimpo, a member living in Bangkok, Thailand, visited the family of Davidson Lay Beh at their home in Mae Sot, near the Thai-Burmese border.

Davidson Lay Beh contacted the United Church of God in early April to request membership in United. (He was baptized by Victor Kubik during the Feast of Tabernacles in 1993.) He is the son of Saw Lay Beh, a faithful minister of the Church of God in Myanmar until his death in 2000.

Mr. Baker said, "I know that Davidson and his family would greatly appreciate your prayers for God's guidance and protection in a very challenging location and situation."

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Baker Visits India and Sri Lanka

David Baker, senior pastor for Asia, visited many members and prospective members in India and Sri Lanka from May 23 to June 8.

May 23 in Delhi, India, he met with Eugene Kumar and his parents, who have been members of the Church of God for many years and recently contacted the United Church of God. May 24 he traveled to Agra to baptize George Samuel, who has been requesting to be baptized for the past two years. May 25 he had "a very profitable discussion" with two Good News subscribers in Delhi. They are both receiving sermon CDs from the home office.

May 26 he flew to Pune, India, to spend the Sabbath with United member Prakash Mandora and his family and baptize Prakash's wife, Sara. They were joined for Sabbath services by Sumeet Kumar Vaid, a GN subscriber. The next day he met with G.P. Samuel and B. Yohan from Chirala, who had traveled through the night to meet with him.

May 29 he flew to Kochi on the southwestern coast of India to see Good News subscriber George Jacob Paul, then traveled to Madurai to meet Simon Daniel, a subscriber who grew up in the Church.

June 2 Mr. Baker flew to Colombo, Sri Lanka, to spend the Sabbath and Pentecost with the Sri Lankan brethren. Ashraf Rehmat from Karachi, Pakistan, joined them for services. He contacted the home office more than a year ago and has a keen interest in becoming a part of the United Church of God.

June 5 Mr. Baker returned to India and met more Good News subscribers in Chennai. That evening he met with Darwin and Jane Paul, a young couple who deeply desire to follow God's way of life. June 6 he met with Vivek Raj and his parents, who have subscribed to the Church's literature since the 1960s.

June 7 he met with subscribers in Hyderabad before flying to Calcutta to meet with Tarun Ghosh, a teacher who is already observing the Sabbath and is beginning to observe the Holy Days. Two representatives from the Church of God Israel from Mizoram also flew to Calcutta to meet with Mr. Baker and continue discussing their desire to be a part of the United Church of God.

Excerpted from July/August United News Asia (www.ucg.org.ph/una).

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Australia Reports Record Renewal; Growth Through the Internet

The largest renewal of Good News subscribers ever conducted by UCG–Australia (8,914 subscribers were sent renewal notices) resulted in a response rate of 42.5 percent. This is the highest response rate so far.

UCG–Australia's Google ads were shown 18 million times during the 2005-2006 financial year, resulting in 4,093 new hard copy Good News subscribers, up 78 percent over the previous year. Besides the 19 ads being run for Australia, six were run for New Zealand and two for the United Kingdom.

Also, pastors in Australia are being contacted by people who have never received a printed copy of the GN, but have received all their knowledge about the Church from the Web site. This is saving the Church printing and postage.

UCG-Australia has also created an interactive Bible Study Course quiz for each lesson. They can be viewed at www.ucg.org.au/content/bible_course.asp.

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Canada Reports Growth

As of Sept. 30, UCG–Canada received more mail this year than we did in all of 2005. Requests for subscriptions and literature received by e-mail continue to come in at a record pace. By the end of December we estimate to receive from 7,000 to 7,500 such requests. That compares to 5,116 requests received in all of 2005.

Sabbath attendance across Canada from January to August is running about 3 percent higher than last year.

—Edwin van Pelt

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