Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: David Marker (elder) reports, “We have had quite a bit of success in the last month. We had two baptisms and three restorations. That also adds to our New Convert class, which is progressing well. The new converts are a result of everyone working together. We all have various gifts, whether teaching, encouraging, sending cards, preparing meals, planning events, or visiting the sick or bereaved. When we utilize those gifts in a concerted way, God is glorified. We have two more ongoing Bible studies that should result in conversions soon, and another man has shown interest as well. It is very encouraging to see God blessing our efforts!”
Highland Park church of Christ, Muscle Shoals, Alabama: Andrew Myhan (deacon) reports, “Our congregation just completed the School of Evangelism seminar, and we are currently enrolled and implementing the early stages of the process. Ayson has attended with some of his family members,
and we studied with him, using Back to the Bible. Ayson was immersed on Wednesday night!”
Central church of Christ, Saraland, Alabama: David Dixon (preacher) reports, “Central is experiencing the ups and downs of evangelism. When you focus on reaching the lost, opportunities are presented in ways besides the typical efforts. Contacts come in through avenues other than postcards, door knocking, or visitors. God provides. But we have hit a lull in our prospecting. We continue to have sessions for writing cards weekly. We are doing a biweekly Monday Night for the Master. And we are well on our way to meeting our growth goals for the year. I look forward to the upcoming brotherhood door knocking Day on September 21. It will boost our contacts and reenergize our members. Steadiness and consistency are the keys to success in any endeavor, and evangelism is no exception. We are committed to converting people to Christ and know every soul is worth all the effort! To God be the glory!”
West Huntsville church of Christ, Alabama: Paul Owen (associate preacher) reports, “One of our members, a baseball coach/ teacher, taught and baptized Tre, an 18-year-old student, a couple of months ago. The teacher/coach looked across the cafeteria room last Friday and saw Tre teaching a young lady and fellow student, using Back to the Bible booklets! The young lady has also been coming to services with Tre.”
Petersville church of Christ, Florence, Alabama: Adam Richardson (preacher) reports, “Petersville had a great week! We have coordinators in place, and they are reaching out to get members involved. The wheels keep turning! We will start an evangelism class in September to train members to conduct Bible studies. We sent 25 cards last week. Best of all, we had two baptisms this past week, and we have a Bible study scheduled for this afternoon with one of our young men!
Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “We are working with two families who worshipped with us yesterday. On average, we have 12-14 prospects who receive cards each week, and we average 15-20 card writers each week. This Sunday in Bible class, we will do an expedited lesson through the Back to the Bible series with the church for any new ones that need to learn the process for the studies.”
Malvern church of Christ, Arkansas: David Burruss (preacher) reports, “We currently have one Bible study underway, and compassions cards are being sent weekly. In September, we will meet after morning services to get additional participation with the compassion card program.”
Rison church of Christ, Arkansas: Keden Shrum (preacher) reports, “A visitor returned for the second week Sunday. He is dealing with many health issues, but we are trying to work out a time to begin Back to the Bible. Care Team B met Sunday evening to sign cards. On Monday, I visited a man from the community in the hospital. He grew up in the church but has been gone for years. We had a good visit, and I look forward to revisiting him soon.”
Lake City church of Christ, Florida: Jim Flegert (elder) reports, “Our Mission Monday/Sunday team delivered bags to six families from our compassion card list today. We pray that our efforts will help broaden the borders of God’s Kingdom.”
Niceville church of Christ, Florida: Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “This week I am away at PTP learning more about evangelism. We had one Bible study with two people this week. We had one new family visit Sunday. Our card team sent out 30 cards. We have new studies in the works.”
Bremen church of Christ, Georgia: Scott Broughton (member) reports, “This past week, two Bible studies that were in progress completed the first book of the Back to the Bible. The New Converts class is continuing. One of the participants has been having difficulties getting a study with someone for a few weeks. We prayed for that situation. I also went over the Does It Matter study guide.”
Cartersville church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Charles Harris (regional trainer), “Our new converts are greatly encouraged by their class and their mentors. Our compassion card work grows as each week passes. This week, we will be making several visits to set up Bible studies. We are working on using House to House Heart to Heart more effectively as a contact creator. Usually, when the church starts working, most of the members are excited, but then the excitement fizzles out. This is not so with implementing the HTHSOE model. Excitement among the membership here continues to grow stronger.”
Lafayette church of Christ, Georgia: Jesse Teague (deacon) reports, “Last night was the third Sunday, so Group 2 met to send compassion cards. We had 12 saints helping with the cards, and five souls in need of the Gospel will be receiving cards soon! We have one Bible study in process at this time while Book 1 has been completed, and Book 2 is scheduled for next week. What a blessing to have men who will engage the lost in a loving way and teach them the only Gospel that can save their souls!”
Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Matt Amos (preacher) reports, “The Prison Ministry Group has expanded our Bible study program to Gordon County Jail. We hope our classes will be filled with men interested in Bible studies. The Pre-Convert/Evangelism Class had twenty-three attendees on Sunday morning. Our Compassion Cards Group created and sent eleven cards last night. WCOC had three non-Christian visitors at our Sunday morning service. We conducted two Bible Studies this last week.”
Collinsville-Troy church of Christ, Illinois: Jason Wright (elder) reports, “We are three weeks into our new schedule, with the third hour being devoted to the mission of the church. The second and fourth Sundays are for hands-on evangelism, and the first and third Sundays are for training. This past Sunday, Renn (minister) covered the evangelism model. Over the next few weeks, we will cover it step-by-step and in more detail.
“This week, we will mail 172 cards. This coming Sunday, we have around 40 follow-up visits to make. All our teams are in place and working hard. We had a coordinator meeting this Sunday and discussed tweaking some areas to be sure things that are working well. We continue to have visitors from the community. There are multiple Bible studies taking place, and prospecting is going well. We will grow!”
Beloit church of Christ, Kansas (remote): Dustin Dougherty (regional trainer) reports, “Next Sunday, Lord willing, I will be with the good brothers and sisters of the Scott City, Kansas, congregation. They are very small in number, but I enjoy visiting with them occasionally. As you know, I have been working to establish an up-to-date directory of every congregation in Kansas. I have some preliminary numbers that reflect the status in this state. During the early months of this year, I began mailing over 120 survey questionnaires to every congregation in Kansas. Twenty-two of those letters have returned as undeliverable, with no forwarding address or vacant written on the envelope. I can only assume that these 22 congregations are no longer with us. At this writing, 25 congregations responded by filling out questionnaires. Five reported growth over the last ten years, five reported maintaining numbers, and 15 reported falling numbers over the last five and ten years, some a significant drop. On the attendance side, eight congregations reported an average attendance of less than 20; several of those in single digits. Nine reported attendance between 20 and 50, and two congregations reported numbers of 100 or more. Only two congregations out of the 25 who responded were interested in personal or congregational evangelism. I will contact them very soon to see what we can do to help. Unfortunately, I am sure these numbers are not isolated to our locality. I pray that these works might continue, that congregations could be trained, and that lost souls may be taught the saving Gospel. To God be all the glory and honor forever.”
Coldwater church of Christ, Murray, Kentucky: Luke Puckett (preacher) reports, “One of our members had a contact who found out he has cancer. His name is Brian Hicks. We began to send him cards. A couple of weeks before PTP, we began a study with him. Brian’s son, Ryder, who is 14, was there, and Brian invited his friend and neighbor, Andrea Dodson. We studied with them through Back to the Bible. Last night, two of our deacons finished Book 3 with them. Ryder and Andrea both were baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of their sins.
“For an unknown reason, and to our shock, Brian wasn’t baptized. We will continue to study with him, using Does it Matter. We pray that he will obey the gospel by the end of this study next week.
“We want to report these two baptisms and ask for prayers on Brian’s behalf. Please pray that he will obey the gospel soon and that all goes well with his surgery and treatment for his cancer. To God be the glory.”
Paintsville church of Christ, Kentucky: Zach Collins (preacher) reports, “We have two Bible studies taking place at our family at Paintsville! One Bible study is with a young man, brought to us by two members of our youth, who is searching for truth. He identifies as a “Baptist,” but he saw the inconsistencies, according to Scripture, with the teachings of the Baptist denomination. The second Bible study is with a Mormon couple who have recently left the LDS church. We hope to complete the second lesson of Back to the Bible with this couple soon. We appreciate all prayers for receptive hearts with the teaching of Scripture in these studies, that they will be receptive.”
Central church of Christ, Paducah, Kentucky: Adam Faughn (preacher) reports, “We rejoiced that, last Monday, Anna Hollowell was baptized into Christ. She had been studying for some time with a couple of our sweet sisters, and she decided to obey the Lord. We look forward to helping her begin her life as a Christian.
“This past week, we had three different Bible studies postponed for different reasons, but it was encouraging that the prospects postponed and did not cancel. We believe we will have four or five studies this week, and a couple may draw closer to a study. We continue to pray that God will bless the efforts we make in faith and that He will receive all the glory.”
La Plata church of Christ, Maryland (remote): Eric Sykes (regional trainer) reports, “This week was Polishing the Pulpit. I spoke on evangelism and helped with our meet and greet. Brother Rob met with all the regional trainers, and we discussed how to expand. I am thankful to be part of this work.”
East Main church of Christ, Tupelo, Mississippi: Barry Kennedy (preacher) reports, “This past Sunday was an uplifting day of worship to God. Five people responded, asking for prayers. Several visitors came today, so our prayer is that we can immediately begin prospecting these souls. Our bookmark/prospect list focus was prayer this week for erring Christians. Following our second worship service, our Evangelism Team Coordinators enjoyed a fellowship meal together and meeting led by Wade Bryan, program coordinator, to review progress of our evangelism effort and new information for team leaders as we continue into the next phase of the program. We are deep enough in now that we can make visits and ask for Bible studies. About 30 coordinators were a part of our meal and meeting on Sunday afternoon, and enthusiasm is still high! (Isaiah 40:31).”
West End Blvd church of Christ, Cape Girardeau, Missouri: Jared Scaggs (preacher) reports, “It is PTP week! Please keep Jewel in your prayers, as this week will be her third lesson in Back to the Bible studies. College classes begin this week, so our college students are starting to return. We are looking forward to meeting new contacts, especially since we have some freshmen attending SEMO. We have ten prospects who will receive compassion cards.”
East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “The visitor whom we met about a year ago is consistently coming to worship services for the fourth time in a row. We are grateful to God that she feels comfortable, and we are developing our relationship with her. We still have three Bible studies in progress. Several are sporadic; we are praying that they will become consistent. We had a troubleshooting meeting with the brothers after worship and placed brethren again on the coordinator’s spreadsheet. Next week, we plan to evaluate ourselves with the HTHSOE Checklist and act! We appreciate all prayers.”
Carthage church of Christ, North Carolina (remote): Randy Chambers (preacher) reports, “This past week, we had three personal Bible studies. We also continued our mailing to the two prospects; one has lost a home due to fire and the other has lost a job. We also mailed out compassion cards to a newly married couple. We are receiving positive feedback from the recipients of the cards so far.”
New Concord church of Christ, Ohio: Terry Townsend (preacher) reports, “Things continue to move forward. We rejoice as one who has been visiting our assemblies for several months obeyed the Gospel on Sunday! We just received our monthly New Movers list and will soon be taking baskets to them. Follow-up visits to our contacts and compassion card recipients continue. Two Bible studies will start Lesson 3 of BTTB this week. We are hopeful that both will end in baptism.
“We did have one baptism. Beverly is 80 years old, and she obeyed the Gospel Sunday morning. She has been attending with her daughter and son-in-law for the last few months. Her grandson and his girlfriend (college-age) obeyed the Gospel a few weeks ago.”
Streetsboro church of Christ, Ohio: Ralph Price (preacher) reports, “We currently have seven people on our compassion card list. We are sending out 40 cards this week. We had more visitors yesterday. They left after Bible class, so we could not invite them to lunch, but we gave them a visitor bag, and we have their contact information. We have seen some encouraging growth among our new converts recently. Our new mover program is also going well. Our members are stepping up and getting them delivered.”
Cheyenne church of Christ, Oklahoma (remote): Nathan Brewer (member) reports, “I conducted my first BTTB study last week, using Book 1. The lady committed to a second study, but she has since canceled. We had more training yesterday before morning Bible class on dealing with prospects and getting to the transition questions, and we updated the Prospect List. We purged the names of those who seem to be unlikely prospects right now, and we added names of unfaithful, inactive members in the area. For tomorrow evening, we have scheduled a study of Book 1 with a member’s husband; he is not a Christian.”
Sullivan Village church of Christ, Lawton, Oklahoma: Steven Hill (preacher) reports, “We have officially installed four elders (Jim Beverly, Glenn Brennan, Ron Price, Craig Robinson). We are in the process of installing several deacons. The evangelism program is about to be up and running again! Losing an elder has taken its toll, but from what I can see, we have all grown from it. We have become closer, and we also remained unified through it all. Now we are seeing God’s blessings as we have more leadership and spiritual resolve than ever before. We look forward to see what God will do at Sullivan Village! We appreciate all prayers!”
Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (regional trainer) reports, “Last Sunday, we had two restorations. A husband and wife who had fallen away for three decades visited us several weeks before. Jamie and I took them to lunch after worship service and visited for several hours. They shared with us what had happened that drove them away. I am not familiar with the status of the congregation they attended 30 years ago, but I know that the congregation now is quite liberal and weak today. We did not go through Does It Matterduring our visit; however, we discussed much of the material in Does It Matter. Last Sunday, they were restored and placed membership with the Coweta congregation.
“On Wednesday evening at Bible study, just before leaving for PTP, I visited with a young man who had come with a member to our adult VBS class a few weeks before. He has attended services fairly regularly since VBS. I asked him if he would be interested in going through Back to the Bible and learning about what we believe, how to worship, and how to be saved. He said he would, and so we will begin that study as soon as I return from PTP.
“On Thursday evening, while at PTP, Jamie and I went to dinner with our dear friend and soul winner, Mark Garner. While eating, we were discussing the Bible. As we were leaving, the couple in the booth behind us stopped me and asked if I would pray with them about some things they were going through. I happily obtained a little more information and then prayed with them. I asked for their contact information, and they gladly supplied it. I texted them later that evening and asked if we could take them to dinner on Tuesday evening. I feel confident from our discussion that they will be open for a Bible study. Since we will fly home the next day, I contacted one of the members from the Sevierville church of Christ. He will join us for dinner as we work to secure a study, and then he will carry out the study with this couple. We request prayers for these studies as we pray daily for all who labor in His name.”
York church of Christ, Pennsylvania: Mark Raschke (deacon) reports, “We successfully conducted our first Sunday of worship in our new building. Again, we had a large crowd, with a slightly different mix of attendees than last time. Our members are doing an excellent job of connecting and reaching out to these attendees. None of them fell into the typical category of visitors; instead, it was a mix of former members and family whom we had not seen in some time. We will begin planning to follow up with all these people to rekindle their fire.”
Union church of Christ, South Carolina (remote): Terry Hale (preacher) reports, “We had three visitors on Sunday and gathered contact information. They received visitor bags. They also requested a Bible study.”
White Oak church of Christ, Tennessee (remote): John McGiffin (preacher) reports, “I started the ministry at White Oak church of Christ two weeks ago. They have had some introductory lessons on evangelism and the HTH/HTH model. Past visiting ministers have encouraged them to start door-knocking and new move-in programs.
“We will start preaching the message from the pulpit. The next men’s meeting will be the first week of September, during which we will decide on the specific days and times to start training the congregation with the prescribed lessons from HTH/HTH.
“Several visitors have been present. One is a family member; another couple is a tenant of a member. That person has visited twice. I have called and encouraged that person. We plan to have them over to our home once we unpack. They are willing to meet us for lunch during the week, and we will take advantage of that willingness. We have just really started and look forward to implementing the program.”
Forest Hill church of Christ, Germantown, Tennessee: Scott Cain (preacher) reports, “We have had two more baptisms in the congregation since our last report. Also, a young lady was baptized again to make her calling sure because of the evangelistic emphasis. I was privileged to study with the husband of one of the members at DeGaulle Drive in New Orleans, and he was baptized at the end of July.”
New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fultz (elder) reports, “We had eleven visitors from our community. Our congregation submitted four contact cards. We composed 41 compassion cards. We had one Bible study and delivered one new mover basket.”
McKenzie church of Christ, Tennessee: Randy McAdams (elder) reports, “We had an exciting evening Wednesday, August 14, when another church attendee put on Christ in baptism. David and his wife Linda, a faithful member, have been attending for many years and came to the point in his life that he wanted to be baptized into Christ (photo attached). Many have rejoiced in this event. We also sent out our second round of evangelism cards this week, reaching out to ten members and non-members. We are thankful for our teams that are so diligent in this program. We always pray that we are sowing seeds for Christ that will sprout and mature into faithful members of His church.”
Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “We rejoice that our dear sister, Kenzie, responded to the Lord’s invitation last Wednesday by confessing sin in her life and asking for the prayers and support of the church as she tries to overcome the temptations that are being hurled at her by Satan. Another precious soul has been snatched from the fire. It was stressed that night that it is our responsibility, as her brothers and sisters, to walk with her in this struggle against temptation. We still have three studies going on in various stages. They are with Emily, Travis, and Charles. We pray God will give the increase. About 15 of our members are attending PTP this week. Mike has spoken several times. Mike, Jeff, and I were privileged to speak about our evangelistic efforts at Covington.”
New Hope church of Christ, Middleton, Tennessee: Cole Wade (preacher) reports, “We delivered new movers’ baskets to a family who just moved to the area last month. We got her contact information and added her and her family to our monthly meal delivery program. We ask for prayers as we move forward with this contact!”
Hebron church of Christ, McMinnville, Tennessee: Derrick Stiles (preacher) reports, “As is the circumstance for many congregations, we attended PTP this past weekend and enjoyed many wonderful lessons to help renew our zeal for evangelism. At home, it was business as usual. We mailed out 80 compassion cards and assigned coordinators for other work areas. We appreciate all prayers as we evangelize our community and work to save souls!”
Hillcrest church of Christ, Springfield, Tennessee: Tim Taylor (associate preacher) reports, “We had three visitors on Sunday. Our visitor team is doing a great job of greeting and obtaining contact information. We took one of our visitors out to eat.”
Stoney Creek church of Christ, Elizabethton, Tennessee: Mike Blevins (elder) reports, “We have five studies, including a new one starting tomorrow night. There has been significant progress by sending cards to a family who has been unfaithful. They are now coming regularly. We have several of our members at Polishing the Pulpit.”
Celina church of Christ, Tennessee: Daniel Burton (member) reports, “I wanted to take a moment to share some thoughts and encouragement regarding our evangelistic efforts here at the local congregation, especially in light of what several of our families are experiencing this week attending Polishing the Pulpit.
“PTP has been a tremendous blessing, offering us deep encouragement and great ideas. One thing that has resonated strongly with me is this: ‘We come together to worship, and we leave together to serve.’ This simple thought encapsulates what the local congregation is accomplishing. We worship together and then begin our week of service. What better way to serve than through personal evangelism by reaching out to lost people, sharing the gospel’s good news, and inviting others to hear the good news?
“Our daily interactions are opportunities to plant seeds, offer encouragement, and share the good news with others. We are happy to report the congregation responded once again with enough contacts to fill our prospect list for the month. We continue visiting those families from the HTH new movers list and are having amazing results. We are running at 80 percent of the new mover visits being added as prospects. The compassion cards are being sent, and the visitors are coming. It is truly a blessing. We continue to strive to be a congregation known for our commitment to serving others through evangelism. Our congregation is dedicated to evangelism. As we renew, refresh, and recharge, we will focus on sharing the good news of Christ and making an impact in our community.”
Hillsboro church of Christ, Tennessee: Chris Sliger (member) reports, “The community dinner (pizza party) at the Hillsboro church building on August 14 was a success! We were overjoyed to have more than 20 guests at this event (not including the many Hillsboro members), with 15+ of these guests not current members of the Lord’s church. Multiple guests chose to stay for worship Wednesday evening, and we made great conversation and solid first impressions. Card Team B wrote cards to the guests on Sunday evening, and we will continue to reach out to these folks to encourage them to revisit us. We thank God for allowing us this opportunity.”
Mountain Creek church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Michael Tomshack (elder) reports, “This was a slow progress week as we have many members out with COVID and other sickness. Lord willing, this will quickly pass. It is not a discouragement; it is simply part of this life. One of the benefits of sending House to House monthly is when the workers are down, the message continues to be spread in our focus area.”
Rivergate church of Christ, Madison, Tennessee: Doug Tooley (preacher) reports, “We had four visitors on Sunday. One family declined a lunch invitation. One lady has visited with us several times now. We have two Bible studies that are ongoing. I have two others that I’m prayerful will be started soon. We are sticking to our compassion cards and continuing to remind people of the importance of our list of prospects. We are looking to add another team to our rotation.”
Chapel Hill church of Christ, Tennessee: Matt Jones (deacon) reports, “We recently had our all-coordinators meeting and had a good discussion. We identified an adjustment that everyone agreed to try. We have found in our community that it seems better to have the person making the visit be the one who plans to conduct the Bible study. This seems to be a smoother transition.
“We plan to conduct some additional training on how to perform a personal Bible study so that all the burden does not fall only to a select few, and we will continue to keep the entire congregation engaged. We still have many other efforts ongoing, and we will soon be starting back up our Wednesday night Community Table, which is an outreach tool that offers a free meal to our visitors before our Bible study time. We are continuing to stay active in the work of reaching lost souls!”
Graceton church of Christ, Diana, Texas: Johnny Willeford (elder) reports, “Our group A met Sunday afternoon to sign 46 compassion cards for six new contacts. We had three families visit with us for our morning worship service. This next Sunday evening will be our last Summer Guest Speaker Series. We also had a good turnout for our monthly Family Game night and fellowship. This next Sunday morning we are going to address the congregation about the drop-off in our members not showing up for our compassion card signing. Please pray for our efforts to remind them of our commitment to evangelizing our community. Our prayers are with you and your family for success at Polishing the Pulpit.”
Colleyville church of Christ, Texas (remote): John Garza (regional trainer) reports, “Currently, my wife and I are at PTP being recharged by the Word of God and the brethren. It’s been encouraging to listen to many people tell me their stories of teaching lost souls the Gospel of Christ, and it has been very encouraging to meet with all of the regional trainers to enjoy time getting to know one another more and learn from each other’s experiences. Back home, we have a plan set for us to start working on the program, which I am even more excited to do. Waiting for me, I have two Bible studies set up to begin. To God be the glory.”
Fruitvale church of Christ, Texas: Carl McCann (elder) reports, “We continue to work the evangelism model. Our members are helping out in big ways, including assistance in card writing, making visits, assisting in studies, offering free rides, and acts of benevolence. We are averaging three new contacts a week. We are showing them compassion, and because of this, we have Bible studies. Two of the couples we are studying with will be entering Book 3 this coming week. Each of our studies has been shared at a table with a meal. We are growing relationships. This coming week, we will begin follow-up work, and from that, we hope to gain more studies.”
Granbury Street church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas: Ryan Cowan (deacon) reports, “Personal Bible study efforts are pressing on. Kaitley Cowan met with her neighbor to study Book 2. Unfortunately, Kaitley’s prospect did not receive this study as well as hoped. Kaitley is re-evaluating her plan for a future study. A church member near Houston emailed us information about a family member. This family member is seeking to make some positive changes in his life, and his first desire is to connect with a church. Armed with this contact, I could begin Book 1 with Joel. Joel very much appreciated our first study and plans for a second one were made upon my return from PTP.”
Wheeler church of Christ, Texas: Garrett English (preacher) reports, “I will watch the video and check the website this week to see where we need to improve. We continue to send out cards in great abundance and are having great responses. In the next few weeks, we will deliver our follow-up for VBS. We are working on getting the materials to people who know each family.”
Bridgewater church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (deacon) reports, “This past week was a good week for us at Bridgewater. On Friday, we had another soul saved from sin and added to the body of Christ. About a year ago, Michael became a Christian, and then last Friday, his wife, Jennifer, was added to the body after studying with Doug. The congregation offered many prayers on her behalf, and she decided to put her Lord on in baptism. The angels are rejoicing, and so is this congregation. Pray for her growth.
“Those who wanted to participate in the new movers’ program met Sunday afternoon to get materials to send to our new movers. Ken Mitchell is the coordinator of this program, and we look forward to some visitors, and, hopefully, Bible studies, from this. I met with David from China on Sunday evening. He speaks good English, and we studied Believe the Bible Lesson 2: Bible Inspiration. He seems to be grasping God and His word. David has been at our Sunday evening service for four weeks and wants to know about God and the Bible.”
Southwest church of Christ, Austin, Texas: Mark Speir (deacon), “We had many returning visitors working to get studies. We set up one Bible study that starts on Wednesday. We had one response who has been out of service for a while and is now requesting prayers for family members. We will try to restore her to regular attendance. Also, one high school student who is attending the Spanish congregation was baptized after morning services. It was the Macias’ grandson, Luke Chico.”
Wasatch church of Christ, Clearfield, Utah (remote): Daniel Welker (preacher) reports, “We have started applying suggestions that were given to us from Padan and his wife regarding generating prospects via the church’s Facebook page. Several new prospects have been generated from the tactics we are employing. On Sunday, we had a planning meeting for our trunk or treat that we will be doing on October 25. We discussed how we could use this event as an evangelistic tool, and many great ideas were given. We closed the meeting with one of our elders praying for the souls we will reach. We have one ongoing study.”
West Side church of Christ, Salem, Virginia: Jeff Durham (elder) reports, “Members are having several ongoing studies. One had the first study with a lifelong school friend, and the responses were encouraging. The spouse of a new convert, who has been coming frequently since their conversion, expressed a desire to learn more about what should be done to be pleasing to God. One of our elders led the first Back to the Bible study Sunday night with them after services. We will pray for these and others who have hearts desiring the truths God’s word provides. Also, we will be mailing 72 compassion cards this week.”
Chesapeake church of Christ, Virginia: Ernest Benjamin (regional trainer) reports, “It has been a great week of study, worship, and fellowship at Polishing the Pulpit. While we are still working to implement the entire HTHSOE model, we are grateful for the progress and spiritual fruit.
“While I was away this week, I received a message from our assistant minister, Jeremiah Settle. He had been studying with Justin and Sydney Stagner, a young married couple who had been visiting the congregation for the past several months. Jeremiah informed me that Justin and Sydney had been baptized into Christ.
“This is just another testament to the goodness of God and the power of His word. It’s also a testament to the reality that the work can go on and souls can be saved even though the model isn’t fully employed. As I said, we are still working diligently and prayerfully to implement the model fully, but we are no longer letting that be an excuse for us failing to do all that we can right now.”
Peninsula church of Christ, Virginia: Ben Phillips (preacher) reports, “While many of us are currently at PTP, the work has continued back home. We have multiple studies scheduled and ongoing. There are six souls involved in these studies. Some of these continue to attend services, which is a great blessing and demonstrates their interest. One of them even brought her mother.”
We are continuing to prospect souls through the compassion cards and meals. On our return from PTP, we will send cards to a list of contacts from AMC who did not receive cards but needed to be on the list. This allows us to continue to work the relationships we are building while we seek more contacts. We appreciate prayers for the work. May God give the increase.”
Williamsburg church of Christ, Virginia: Jim Bishop (elder) reports, “We had our monthly door knocking. We reached 60 doors and hung 30 door hangers. We made seven contacts and had three prayer requests. The congregation is eager to make contacts. Additional coordinators have been added, and many people are seeking out a location to work. In addition to that effort, the coordinators formulate teams within their respective areas. The congregation has been divided into five groups. Compassion cards will begin in the next few days. Follow-up to requests on the contact cards has already begun. We have one Bible study scheduled for Tuesday.”
Marlon Retana (regional trainer): This has been a wonderful week. Our last PTP in Sevierville was eight years ago, so this one has been special. I was asked to speak twice about what I love to do, serve the Lord, and do it in Spanish, but also it was good to see old and new faces as we meet. I did not count, but there have been many who approached me. Some I had never met before, and others did not know of my existence, but all of them thanked my wife and me because of what we do. Many also provided wonderful feedback about how beneficial the resources we make available have been in their local work as well as in their mission efforts. We keep busy at Escuela Bíblica En Línea, and Lord willing, new courses on 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus will be recorded soon.”
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