TARGET 80 is the slogan that has united workers and laymen throughout the Far East. We are now about midway between the beginning of the program and the date set to reach the target, 1980.
Basically, TARGET 80 is a deter mined effort for TOTAL INVOLVEMENT of ministry and laity alike in evangelism. It envisions the harnessing of every department, institution, worker, and layman for the work of the Lord.
TARGET 80 started with union-wide meetings conducted by the officers and departmental leaders from the division. The next step was mission-wide meetings and church elders' meetings. This was followed by church-level lay training and involvement throughout every mission in the division. "Church Planting" was instituted, and every church was encouraged to divide to go to an unentered territory, and begin a new congregation. As a result, there are now about 1,600 companies and 4,200 branch Sabbath schools. These companies, new churches, and branch Sabbath schools are from the area where the most out standing growth is taking place. In a large church it is easy to allow others to do the Lord's work, but in small groups every person is pressed into service.
One of the major aspects of the TAR GET 80 program has been the setting of goals. Each mission and union, along with the division itself, set goals that they hoped to achieve year by year until 1980. Some missions and unions have reached these goals, others have not; however, the total division goal in baptisms has been reached. The chart in the center column on page 27 shows the goals that have been set since 1973 and on through 1980, with the actual baptisms through 1976.
Our division membership stands at 324,215 at the end of 1976. We are hoping that in the months ahead we will be able to increase our efficiency, and with the Lord's blessing far exceed each of the goals set.
Public evangelism continues to be one of the most effective means of bringing interests to decision and in helping members remain firm and strong in the message. The Far Eastern Division each year sets aside a large percentage of its funds for public evangelism. In the 1977 budget, 44.3 per cent of the appropriations are designated for evangelism. When added to the union and local mission funds, this will make a total of approximately US$1,303,379 designated for public evangelism in the Far Eastern Division during the twelve months of 1977.
Major campaigns are held every year in many of the main cities of the Orient. Guest evangelists from the United States have been invited repeatedly to come and join in the evangelistic thrust. In addition to these campaigns, national evangelists in every union and mission have held thousands of campaigns. Lay efforts have played a major role in the baptisms taking place in the Far Eastern Division. During the year 1976 alone, 2,385 lay efforts were held, and laymen have had a part in winning 20,- 694 souls to Christ.
The Sabbath school and child evangelism department of the Far Eastern Division has made some dramatic changes in the operation of Sabbath schools and children's outreach in recent years. Up to this date, approximately 550 lamb shelters, jungle chapels, and village chapels have been constructed.
In harmony with the basic concept of TARGET 80 in harnessing every institution for evangelism, the schools of the Far Eastern Division have been extremely active in soul-winning endeavors. Mountain View College in the southern Philippines has been the model that other institutions have endeavored to emulate. During the past four years, Mountain View College has won approximately 1,000 souls each year through its student-and-teacher evangelism program. Mount Klabat College in East Indonesia has won about 200 converts during the past twelve months. There are student-missionary programs modeled after the programs on most of our senior-college campuses in the United States. The schools in the division include nine senior colleges, 94 senior and junior academies, nearly 500 elementary schools, and a score of mission schools, with a total enrollment of nearly 50,000 students. Baptisms at some of these schools are higher than that of some missions.
The publishing department is playing a major role in the achievement of the TARGET 80 goals. The nearly 3,500 literature evangelists in the Far Eastern Division delivered US$4,632,000 worth of literature during 1976. But most important of all, they were responsible for 4,130 baptisms. In addition to their daily contacts with thousands of people, these literature evangelists have led in planting new church companies, con ducting lay efforts, and in helping with the general leadership of many of the churches where we do not have pastors.
Through twenty-two hospitals and numerous clinics we are touching the lives of more than a half-million persons in the countries of Asia. In addition to our medical personnel, laymen are giving help to approximately 3,400 individuals daily. It is through these many contacts that prejudice is broken down and hearts are warmed and made ready to receive the truths of the Bible.
Remarkable Increase in Giving
A good test of the health of the church is always the faithfulness of its members in terms of tithes and offerings. Using this as a thermometer of health, the Far Eastern Division shows vigorous growth. The tithe in 1972 was US$2,832,740 and in 1976 it was US$6,589,041. This remarkable in crease is the result of church growth and major emphasis on stewardship. As membership has risen, the tithe has also risen proportionately.
English-language schools have made a contribution in contacting thousands of persons in recent years in the Far Eastern Division. There are now nine teen English-language schools in the countries of Japan, Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia. Approximately 120 student missionaries and volunteers from the United States and Canada are presently teaching English and Bible in these evangelistic centers. Thousands of the best-educated people in the Far East have attended these English-language institutes, and hundreds have already been baptized. Many of these individuals are now in the organized work. The faithfulness of numerous volunteers has made this missionary outreach possible.
Radio, television, and Bible correspondence schools continue to play a large role in the evangelistic outreach. On February 1, 1977, a new Chinese radio program opened with a broadcast from Macao, beamed into the People's Republic of China. In some areas we are not allowed to broadcast, but we do have Bible correspondence schools. By personal contact of faithful members, we are able to enroll thousands of people in the Voice of Prophecy Bible correspondence courses. One such correspondence school is located in Singapore, where we have 26,000 active names at the present time.
As we look to the future we feel we must give our attention to a number of special needs. Number one on our list is our burden for the massive cities of the Orient. We have not yet learned the secret of reaching the millions there. Second, the non-Christian religions have never opened to the power of the gospel. Third, most of the converts that we have are young and have special needs. They need schooling, and our schools are bulging with students. They need jobs and job training so that they may be free from Sabbath problems and persecution. These students need our schools also as a relief from the alienation that they often suffer at their homes and places of employment. Fourth, we have an acute need for churches. Thousands of congregations are meeting in homes. Some are meeting in the most dilapidated structures imaginable. Fifth, we feel we must put a new emphasis on training, especially for the new converts. Training for witnessing will help avoid apostasies. The Acts of the Apostles, page 206, states, "Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue."
At one of the Vietnam workers' meetings a poster hung behind the podium read, "While Time Remains." How prophetic those words were for Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos; and we could say that it is true, also, for all Southeast Asia, the Orient, and the world. While time remains, we in the Far Eastern Division pledge ourselves to make the very best use that we possibly can of each day that the Lord has given to us to prepare the people of the Orient for the coming of our Lord.
