The Take His Word work sheets, as they come into our office, are an intriguing story of individuals searching for truth. And every chapter holds our interest as we read it in the day's mail.
This is my second assignment with It Is Written. In Seattle we were experimenting with the first set of work sheets prepared to monitor the response of Take His Word enrollees. While they were attractive, we found them a little too complicated and the questions slightly too difficult for the person studying his Bible for the first time.
In the Los Angeles area we are working with an entirely new series of work sheets, prepared by the Washington office in counsel with the field. These are very simple, printed on two sides of a single sheet, colorfully designed to captivate the interest of the enrollee and to elicit a response by means of a few very simple questions. These are working beautifully, with a much higher percentage of enrollees sending in the work sheets and completing the course. We feel that this new development is a real asset.
Our most rewarding moments, of course, are when we read words like these: "Thank you for helping me to understand my Bible. I was baptized last Sabbath."
Many among the television contacts reach a decision and are baptized without our ever knowing it. For not all are willing to send in work sheets. However, our records show that baptisms from our Take His Word students during the first half of 1963 total well over three hundred.
To give you some idea of the response from Take His Word, I would call attention to the fact that during the first two weeks that diplomas of graduation were being sent to persons completing the Take His Word work sheets, we found that every person who had been faithfully visited had made a decision to keep the Sabbath, and nearly half of these persons were baptized. The only graduates who had not made a decision were those about whom we had not received a visitor's report.
The work sheets are a diary of a search for truth. And we in the office are happy for the privilege of reading it first.
What the Washington Office Can Do
Since many and varied requests come to the General Conference It Is Written office, we thought it might be helpful to pinpoint some of the things that the office can and cannot do.
While the directing of the total It Is Written campaign must be a local responsibility, we are happy to help where we can with counsel, sharing the experience of the various fields. Wherever possible, Elder G. E. Vandeman or his associate will arrange to meet with conference committees, conduct rallies, and help to train workers.
The office can also supply certain materials, especially those that acquaint the local fields with the total program and with suggested reaping methods. We invite anyone interested to write for the brochures Paths to Decision and From Screen to Harvest. Also in some cases, negatives for use in preparing advertising can be purchased or borrowed from this office.
There are some things, however, that we cannot do. We cannot direct your program. This must be done locally. We cannot schedule your television releases or supply cue sheets for the stations. Only the Milton Carlson Company is equipped to handle this delicate responsibility. We cannot accept names for Take His Word enrollments. These are all cared for through local offices set up in conferences releasing the program.
We cannot lend films. We do not have a rental service. Films are purchased by the fields, and can be lent by us only for station audition or for preview by a field contemplating purchase. Nine new films have recently been added to the series, and another thirteen are anticipated, but we cannot supply these on loan to the conferences. We do have extra prints of three of these films—the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's subjects. But these prints are available, on a rental basis, only to those fields who have purchased the films but who need extra prints in order to cover all their outlets at the holiday season.
We are always happy when your request is something we can do. When it is otherwise, we share your disappointment. Please know that our first objective is to help you make It Is Written work.
IT IS WRITTEN STAFF
