Brazil Visited by Portuguese-Language Coordinator

April 29, 2011

Trip to Brazil – Four Members Baptized

Jorge de Campos (pastor for Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky, and Portugal and Brazil), just completed a pastoral visit to Brazil during the days of Unleavened Bread. In total he visited 14 baptized members from Maloca de Moscow (in the North of Brazil), to Rio de Janeiro in the South, and Montes Claros in the mining state of Minas Gerais.

Four baptized brethren with their pastor: Verônica Gomes, Aguida Gomes da Silva, Jorge de Campos, Adriano da Silva and Bernardina Pereira Manduca.

During the first leg of the trip he kept the Sabbath before Passover with 31 brethren. After a number of counseling sessions, God added to His Family four people which were duly baptized in a small pool area in Maloca de Moscow. Please click on the accompanying photographs for more detail.

Baptizing Bernardina Manduca.

Ten United Church of God members in Maloca observed Passover, with Mr. de Campos conducting the service. In addition, three services, a youth Bible study, a lead-men training program and a family-oriented biblical question and answer session were conducted in a small hut outside of Bonifácio Mateus and Suely Mary Inácio’s home.

The local brethren selected a coordinator, Benedito Gomes da Silva, and a Treasurer, Suely Mary Inácio. The night to be much observed was also held in small covered area outside of Bonifácio’s and Suely’s home.

Hut in Maloca de Moscow where Sabbath services and Bible studies were conducted.

Mr. de Campos then visited members in Rio de Janeiro and in Montes Claros. The Last Day of Unleavened Bread was held in Montes Claros with 7 people attending.

These scattered brethren have many challenges in a society with literally many pagan religious pressures. We need to pray for God’s protection for these members and children.

Please visit our Portuguese-language website to see the growing effort to preach the good news of God’s Kingdom to those whose primary language is Portuguese. Eleven booklets have currently been produced, with more in various stages of translation and production, plus a regular Portuguese supplement to our English Good News magazine is continually produced.

Below are additional photographs with explanatory captions for you to see.

Jorge de Campos—Portuguese-Language Coordinator

Benedito grills the meat for the Night to be Much Observed.

Aguida, Adriano and Suely enjoy the Night to be Much Observed.

Carlos, his wife Vanda, and Jorge enjoy fellowship during the Night to be Much Observed.

Last Day of Unleavened Bread in Montes Claros with the Giovane Macedo family.

May-June “Bonnes Nouvelles” Printed

April 28, 2011

The May-June 2011 issue of Bonnes Nouvelles, the French edition of our Good News magazine, is now off the press and in the mail. It is already available online at www.revuebn.org.

The July-August issue is well into production now as well. In addition, a new booklet is being translated and will hopefully be printed later this year.

Please pray for God to bless our publishing efforts in the French language—that the gospel of God’s Kingdom will successfully reach the vast French-speaking world.

Maryse Pebworth—Edition française

UYC Application Deadline May 1

April 28, 2011

United Youth Camps Announcement

Registration for campers and staff is coming along well at our five youth summer camp locations. Hundreds of campers and staff have applied so far and are excited about being together at camp this summer. Just a reminder that the registration deadline is Sunday, May 1. But don’t panic, if you are a few days late, we understand. But it is time for all campers and staff to register online now to reserve your week at camp. Please register online at uyc.ucg.org.

Camp scholarships are also available if needed. Please see your pastor for details.

Several camps have specific needs for staff. Camp Pinecrest needs a registered nurse, canoe staff and counseling staff. Camp Hye Sierra is looking for a certified lifeguard and dance instructor. So if you can help, please contact the specific camp director.

Campers and staff, we are truly looking forward to a wonderful camp season this summer. Be sure to apply now so you don’t miss out.

Steve Nutzman—National Coordinator, United Youth Camps

“Easter” TV Program Makes 3rd Position

April 26, 2011

“Easter” Program on WGN American Attracts Third Highest Viewer Response

Beyond Today television program “Easter Exposed,” hosted by Steve Myers, aired on WGN America on Sunday, April 17, 2011. This repeat program logged 1,354 responses at an excellent $8.86 cost per response (CPR). These results place this airing at third highest in terms of response. The program’s first airing occurred just over a month ago on March 13, 2011. At that time it produced 1,156 responses at $10.38 CPR. So, considering the impressive results obtained for the second airing, it appears Beyond Today on WGN is attracting a growing audience.

Below are the top ten airings on WGN America as of April 26, 2011.

Program	Aired During	WGN	WGN
Title	Week of	Response	CPR
Will I Go to Hell? (repeat)	Mar 27-Apr 2, 2011	1460	$8.22
Egypt in Bible Prophecy	Apr 3-9, 2011	1388	$8.65
Easter Exposed (repeat)	Apr 17-23, 2011	1354	$8.86
Get to Know Your Bible	Mar 6-12, 2011	1275	$9.41
The Moment After You Die	Jan 9-15, 2011	1227	$9.78
Easter Exposed	Mar 13-19, 2011	1156	$10.38
The Man Nobody Knows (repeat)	Apr 10-16, 2011	1156	$10.38
The Rapture: Fact or Fiction? (repeat)	Nov 21-27, 2010	1145	$10.48
Thy Kingdom Come (repeat)	Feb 27-Mar 5, 2011	1016	$11.81
Will I Go to Hell?	Oct 17-23, 2010	1001	$11.99

We are grateful to our Heavenly Father for His guidance as we move forward in our media efforts to preach the Gospel. Thank you for your ongoing prayers for the success of Beyond Today.

Peter Eddington—Operation Manager, Media and Communications Services

Beyond Today on WGN America for 40 Weeks

April 13, 2011

A new Beyond Today program titled “Egypt in Bible Prophecy,” hosted by Darris McNeely, aired on WGN America on Sunday, April 3, 2011. We are pleased to report that this timely episode quickly soared to second place in an overall response ranking. It attracted an outstanding 1,388 responses at $8.65 cost per response (CPR).

This is the second consecutive week Beyond Today breached the $9.00 CPR level. As we reported last week, repeat program “Will I Go to Hell?” hosted by Steve Myers, which aired on March 27, 2011, registered 1,460 responses, setting a record low $8.22 CPR.

In addition, our Canadian office reports that they, “set a new record of 200 responses from last week’s program, ‘Egypt in Bible Prophecy.’ Needless to say, the program was very timely and topical. The Middle East in Bible Prophecy was the booklet offered on the program. The past 5 weeks have all seen over 100 responses. Four of the past five weeks have been in the Top 10 for responses.”

As of the “Egypt in Prophecy” program, Beyond Today episodes have aired on WGN America for 40 weeks. A grand total of 31,835 telephone and Internet responses have been logged over that period, providing an excellent $15.08 overall cost per response.

Also, research and negotiations are ongoing to secure a West Coast television station to air beginning in July. We appreciate the professional media-buying company working on this for the United Church of God. Hopefully we’ll have an announcement about it soon.

As always, thank you for your diligent prayers for God’s blessings on all of our efforts to preach the gospel. Thank you too for your support and prayers for our dedicated, hard-working media team members.

Peter Eddington—Operation Manager, Media and Communications Services

Webcast: Wednesday Night Bible Study

April 13, 2011

The Cincinnati East, Ohio, congregation of the United Church of God is holding it’s sixth Bible study on the book of Acts this evening. It begins at 7:30 p.m. EDT and is available live via webcast.

Acts chapter 8, with the accounts of Simon the sorcerer and Philip and the eunuch, will be the topics of discussion. Presenters tonight are Gary Antion and Peter Eddington.

You can view archived copies of the first five studies by Gary Antion, Peter Eddington, Steve Myers and Randy Stiver. Simply scroll down to the bottom of the webcast page to listen to the first four presentations.

Please plan to join us online with hundreds of brethren from around the world at this Bible study. The book of Acts is a fascinating study into the early years of the Church of God.

Gary Antion—United Church of God, Cincinnati East pastor

 

San Antonio “Beyond Today” TV Recording Very Successful!

April 11, 2011

The special Beyond Today session recorded in San Antonio, Texas, on the Sabbath of April 9 went extremely well. Gary Petty recorded three new programs in front of the San Antonio congregation at 1:30 p.m. at the congregation’s normal meeting place.

Camryn Stetter and Sam Urbina

A particular highlight during the service was beautiful special music sung by Camryn Stetter and Sam Urbina. They did “Search Me, O God” based on Psalm 19:12 and “Think on These Things” based on Philippians 4:6-9, 20. Mr. Urbina provided ukelele accompaniment.

The media department team who drove to San Antonio to handle this special event included Clay Thornton, Clint Porter, Rudy Rangel, Jamie Schreiber and Peter Eddington.

As mentioned in an earlier post, the three new Beyond Today programs covered the following subjects:

• “Stability for a Stressed-out Life” offering our booklet, “How to Understand the Bible“
• “You Have a Destiny” offering our booklet, “What Is Your Destiny?“
• “The Stuff of Dreams” offering our booklet, “Making Life Work“

Editing and final production will now be done at the home office in Cincinnati, with these programs to begin airing on WGN America and across Canada in June and July. Below are several photographs from the Sabbath service. Click on each of them for a larger version.

Peter Eddington—Operation Manager, Media and Communications Services

Beta Test Site of New UCG.org Now Available

April 8, 2011

The UCG.org Beta Website is Now Available

After over a year in development and numerous hours of work by many people, we are excited to be able to offer a beta version of the new ucg.org website for you to test. Please visit http://beta.ucg.org to test out the new website and explore all of the new features within the site.

Be sure to sign up for an account and check out the translation and online chat features. If you have comments please provide feedback by clicking on the feedback link featured at the bottom right of every webpage. We will not be able to answer all comments, but please let us know your suggestions and what worked or did not work for you on this test website. This will help us to make any necessary changes before the official launch in May.

Be sure to check out all these new features:

• Website user accounts.
• Author pages with bio information, photo and content produced by that author.
• Online chat with other website user account friends.
• Powerful and enhanced search engine.
• MP3 recordings of various booklets and publications.
• Recipe section (biblically clean).
• Commenting on posted content.
• United Church of God congregation finder (by zip code).

Thank you for your feedback and all of those who have helped with this new site.

Aaron Booth—Internet Managing Editor

Beyond Today Goes on the Road

April 7, 2011

A special Beyond Today session will be recorded in San Antonio, Texas, on the Sabbath of April 9. Gary Petty will be recording three new programs in front of the San Antonio congregation at 1:30 p.m. at the congregation’s normal meeting place.

Other Texas-area brethren are invited to attend the video recording, which will take place within the normal setting of Sabbath services. The San Antonio congregation website is found at san-antonio.ucg.org with location details.

We have been extremely pleased with the ongoing increase in viewer response to our weekly program on WGN America. In addition to round-the-clock online access on YouTube and our website, Beyond Today also appears on numerous cable-access TV stations and across Canada on Vision TV and Star Choice Digital.

The three new Beyond Today programs will cover the following topics. Here are their working titles:

• “Stability for a Stressed-out Life” offering our booklet, “How to Understand the Bible“
• “You Have a Destiny” offering our booklet, “What Is Your Destiny?“
• “The Stuff of Dreams” offering our booklet, “Making Life Work“

Please pray for the safety of the five-man video crew driving from Cincinnati to San Antonio, and for the success of the recordings and overall production and editing.

Peter Eddington—Media and Communications Services

Dramatic Response to Beyond Today

April 5, 2011

Beyond Today Posts Dramatic New Record-High Response on WGN America

A stunning new record-high response was received for the United Church of God Beyond Today program titled “Will I Go to Hell?,” hosted by Steve Myers.

This episode, which aired on Sunday, March 27, 2011, received 1,460 responses at a new record low of $8.22 cost per response (CPR). These results top the former record-high 1,275 responses of $9.41 CPR for the program “Get to Know Your Bible,” which aired just three weeks earlier, on March 6, 2011. This is a 15 percent jump from one record to the next.

Also, a preliminary telephone response obtained for the program “Egypt in Bible Prophecy,” which aired last Sunday, shows that it will also be one of our better response efforts. Responses are still coming in all this week.

We give great honor to God for His powerful help and inspiration in making these excellent results possible. We also thank our wonderful brethren for their constant prayers and support. Please keep praying for God’s great Work. We have been blessed with a very good media team here at the home office in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Peter Eddington—Operation Manager, Media and Communications Services