Positive trends are once again reflected in our recent office report. Distribution of The Good News magazine has remained constant and stable, despite the fact that a controlled renewal program is in operation. Circulation projections indicate that the distribution of the magazine will increase slightly, possibly by 1,000, by the beginning of next year.

One reason that the circulation has remained steady is the response from the Internet, both from the United States and from our local Google advertising. Recently over 100 requests were received in one day, which is a record. Average new GN contacts have risen sharply over the past months. Noticeable is the increase in the value of donations received from our GN readers. It seems that donations this year will once again surpass the record set last year.

The monthly average of literature received and sent from the East London, South Africa, office has increased by over 30 percent and is putting additional pressure on our staff members. However, at this stage they are still able to cope, and they continue to use two homes as offices to process the mail.

Malawi

Over the Pentecost season Bill Jahns visited both the Blantyre and Lilongwe churches in Malawi. There was a record attendance of 73 in Blantyre, where Mr. Salawila handles incoming and outgoing mail for Malawi from his home.

There has been a proposal from a member to purchase a tract of land for constructing a church hall and other buildings in Lilongwe. Mr. Jahns will keep the council informed regarding the viability of such a project.

Zambia

From July 7 to 13, my wife, Elize, and I visited the members in Zambia. The first stop was in the Copper Belt region in the north, where Sabbath services were conducted with 31 in attendance. After lunch a question-and-answer session was held.

We were also able to spend valuable time with Derrick and Cherry Pringle who use their office in the town of Kitwe as a base for receiving and distributing the literature for Zambia. The Pringles kindly drove us about 400 kilometers (250 miles) to meet with our pastor, Kambani Banda, and his wife in Mumbwa.

From there we traveled to meet with our members from three congregations in the Mumbwa region. Sabbath services were combined with 84 in attendance. We slept over for two nights, and spent a joyous time fellowshipping with our members.

Incidentally, this past season our members, who are all farmers, more than trebled their maize crop yields, largely due to the application of fertilizer supplied by LifeNets.

It was encouraging to witness the construction of three church halls, made possible by donations from the Good Works Program. Each of the three church areas will have its own hall once they are completed, hopefully before the end of October this year. We were able to keep costs down as a result of members offering their time and expertise with the construction process. Our trip to Zambia proved to be extremely profitable.

Zimbabwe

From Aug. 6 to 13 I undertook a visiting tour to Zimbabwe. I was met at the airport by Mike and Primrose Mukarati, who manage our office there. Their son Gabriel accompanied us on the trip and to our first stop, Mutare, where we met with a group of six new people. They all work for the same organization and are keenly interested in our teachings. However, some of them have to resolve a Sabbath problem, and we hope and pray that they can make alternative arrangements with their employer.

After visiting with our only member in Mutare, Mrs. Harrison, we returned to Harare. There I teamed up with member Harris Hlazo for the remainder of the trip. The Mukarati family returned to their home in Kariba.

From Harare Harris and I visited Theresa Chichaya and her family members in Kadoma. She is a widow, but is a successful small-scale farmer. It appears God blesses her as she reaps good crops, no matter what adverse weather conditions she has to face. With financial support from Australian brethren and the help of a friend I have known for years, we hope to reactivate a borehole water well on her property. This will be a great help to her, especially during the dry season.

Next we traveled to visit another member who, with her husband and children, farm in the Kwekwe region. They feel extremely insecure as the Zimbabwe government continues its policy of occupying mostly white-owned farms. So far their dairy farm has not been seized. They appreciate our concern and prayers.

Our last stop was the city of Bulawayo. There we observed the Sabbath with a group of 16. They now meet in a hall close to public transportation. Previously they met in the home of Stephen and Vetina Tshabalala, who just a few years ago were the only members there.

During the visit we baptized three people, including the son of Mrs. Chichaya. We also welcomed into our fellowship Fanwell Gorondo who left our former association in 2006 as a result of doctrinal changes. We also finalized plans for the Feast, which this year will be held at Lake Chevero, 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the capital city, Harare. Again, this was a rewarding and profitable trip. UN