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BY JENNIFER MAE
BARIZO
"If there is one work more important than the other, it is that of getting our publications before the public," Ellen G. White said. White staunchly supported colporteuring, stating that "the canvassing work, properly conducted, is missionary work of the highest order." But even in her time she realized that the work was suffering. "This work has not of late had the life infused into it," she wrote. The same is true today. According to North American Division Director of Publishing Robert Smith, sales have dropped from 24 million dollars to 10 million dollars in the past decade and the number of books sold is a quarter of the number sold in 1991. Attributing the decline to cuts in financial support and a lack of leadership, Smith says that "the LE [Literature Evangelism] program is way off in sales, and there has been a cutback of one third of the leaders." Difficulties in the program stem back to 1991 at the annual council, when policies were relaxed regarding publishing in North America. Formal structures were all but done away with, and each union was left to decide how to run their own programs. Several unions (the Atlantic, Columbia, and Pacific unions) abandoned their former structured programs and sought the help of Family Enrichment Resource (FER) an organization that promised more money for the LE program and higher commission for the workers. FER proposed new products such as video bible stories, but within five years, FER had folded. Victor Scalzo, who worked in the Literature Evangelism arena for 29 years, recalls when the LE work in the Columbia Union began to disintegrate. Scalzo had worked previously as a literature evangelist, a district leader, and as an assistant to the publishing director for the Pennsylvania Conference. He also took charge of the collection departments of the Ohio conference and later the Columbia Union. A VISION LOST "FER was supposed to be an experiment, but many conferences accepted FER's plan, and millions of dollars were lost. It was a mistake," says Smith. Scalzo stresses that the vision of literature evangelism was lost. "The program is all but non-existent now. After 27 years, workers lost their benefits. Where there used to be hundreds of LE's, now there are less than 10," says Scalzo. But he is confident that the dream will be regained. "We lost the vision . . . but God will bring it back. It is His work, saving souls for the kingdom," says Scalzo. In 1996, FER disbanded, leaving some unions millions in debt. At that point, the Pacific Press Publishing Association took over literature evangelism not only in the Pacific Union, but also in four other unions: Canadian Union, North Pacific Union, Mid-America Union, and Southwestern Union. "It was inevitable that we would take over," says Pacific Press president, Bob Kyte. "We had to step in and try to assist the program. They [the workers] were in jeopardy." HHES and FHES were not brought back. Instead, a new program was presented, that made colporteurs independent contractors, giving the option of using different methods of selling, but making them no longer employees of the union. They were given a higher commission, but benefits such as health insurance and retirement plan were lost. According to Kyte, the transition was a traumatic one, and caused a number of literature evangelists to leave the profession. This occurred at a time when financial support for literature evangelism was dwindling. "The church felt like they could no longer put the traditional 1.8-3.5 percent of tithe towards LE work," says Smith. Support for the unions under the Pacific Press was considerably reduced to less than one percent of tithe. "It's a misnomer that the program can be run on one percent. When the percentage of tithe supporting the LE program was cut back, it destroyed the publishing ministry," says Smith. As a result, employee benefits have decreased, and income often cannot be generated for publishing leaders. According to Smith, many unions have lost well over half of their leaders. A CONSTANT
STRUGGLE In addition, Smith commented that there are still unions who are making profits and winning souls, prominently the Lake Union and the Southern Union, that still operate under the traditional programs, offer employee benefits, and whose unions provide funding to furnish strong leadership. "We're on the
frontlines, and we have to According to John Bernet, publishing director of Lake Union, there are close to 100 full time literature evangelists and 200 students distributing books. "Thanks to hardworking LEs, the Union has had a $384,000 gain in the past six months," says Bernet. The conference is currently providing 2.37 percent of tithe for the LE program. The program used to get more than 3 percent, but cutbacks were made. "It was hard at first, but we've had big increase in sales, and our gain for the year is over half a million dollars," says Bernet, who explains that the union is still using HHES, and going strong. HHES runs its own Bible school, and a Bible correspondence school at the Lake Union Office. Bernet says that the secret is strong leadership, and contends that no program can be run without leadership, especially a Christian one. Consequently, under this leadership, the Lake Union maintains a thriving student program, with more than 200 students working during the summer. "We're on the frontlines, and we have to fight the battle to finish God's work," says Michelle Loomis, an enthusiastic 20 year old from Boonsboro, Maryland, who has been a colporteur in the Lake Union conference since she was 17. She was one of the many student colporteurs in the Lake Union conference who spent their summer furthering the work of literature evangelism. "The union really supports the students," says Loomis, "it makes Christianity fun for us." Loomis insists that the focus is not on the money, its about people. The summer of 1999, Loomis was a student leader, and says that there is a leader for every six to 12 workers. Southern Union also boasts a growing student program. According to Bill Beckworth the publishing director of the Southern Union, there are 174 young workers, producing $800,000 during the summer. "Some of our students take back $7,000 for college. The average they make a summer is $3,300," says Beckworth. The benefit is more than financial, however. Eiren Mounce, a nursing student at Southern Adventist University has been a colporteur since 1996 and credits LE work with a change in her spiritual life. "I learned that wherever there is a person-to-person contact, that is where the ministry is. We must focus on soul-winning." Mounce also spoke about the "wonderful leaders, who trained the to be leaders." Smith agrees wholeheartedly with the power of well-grounded leadership. "There must be leaders to recruit, train, motivate, and encourage," says Smith. According to Beckworth, each conference has a publishing director, and attests that the Southern Union leadership and administration supports the program. "The Southern Union sees publishing as our mission," says Beckworth. The Southern Union kept the traditional program and did not have any involvement with FER. The conference had a $150,000 gain in 1998, despite getting only 1.5 percent of tithe. Beckworth insists that the program gets enough to survive. "Publishing is evangelism, and all evangelism costs money," says Beckworth, "but there have been marvelous conversions, and I believe in the future of the work." Mounce also feels that there is a future in literature evangelism. She says that practically all of her friends are involved in colporteur work. "When we take the focus off the numbers, and focus on the people, we will be successful," says Mounce. Burnet also feels that LE work will make a strong comeback. "We are all praying for a revival," he says. Smith has aspirations for the LE program, especially since 11 conferences have reverted back to the FHES program, complete with local publishing directors, and emphasis on leadership. "I think that today's students will be tomorrow's leaders in administration," Smith says with hope. He adds, "We need to spread literature like the leaves of Autumn, because the books we sell are guaranteed seeds sown for the kingdom of God." Jennifer Mae Barizo is a graduate of Southern Adventist University who now studies in new York City.
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