Success Stories: October 16, 2024

Welcome Hondo church of Christ, Texas (remote): We welcome the Hondo church of Christ to the House to House/Heart to Heart School of Evangelism. The elders are focused, and their preacher is highly motivated. Keno Shrum (regional trainer) and his wife Jamie traveled from Coweta, Oklahoma, to Hondo to help them get started.

Andrew Patterson (preacher) reports, “Keno and Jamie Shrum came out a couple of weeks ago and did a fantastic job of starting us off! Everyone is excited right now. On Saturday, a wonderful group of young men and women from the University church of Christ in San Marcos, Texas, came to help us. Most of our members had left before we took the picture, but we had nine teams of two or three people for each team. We knocked on 273 doors and spoke to 83 people, making 26 contacts! We are hosting a Gospel Meeting this week, but next week, we will start sending out cards and following up on them. A couple of our ladies are organizing the cards this week to prepare for the following weeks.”

Welcome Shady Acres church of Christ, Sikeston, Missouri: We want to welcome the Shady Acres church of Christ to the House to House/Heart to Heart School of Evangelism. Their preacher, Keith, is determined to focus the congregation on local soul winning. The congregation’s response was strong and determined. We look forward to watching them grow.

Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: Brooks Boyd (elder) reports, “The Lord continues to bless us in special ways. Wednesday night, the mother of one of our new converts visited our Bible class. Sunday morning, we welcomed another faithful sister who had asked to be identified with the Glencoe congregation and to work under our elders.

“We also had numerous visitors, both Christians and non-Christians. Among them was a man who had visited several times. We have a Bible study pending with him and his wife as soon as we can find an agreeable time. On Sunday afternoon, a couple visited for the first time. They have become good friends with Rob and Nicole, and we expect to schedule a Bible study with them soon.

“This past week, we also found at least three new movers who were receptive to our visits, and they are now on our compassion card list. Last Friday afternoon, the Glencoe congregation contacted the community by providing supper for the Glencoe High School football team. Several positive comments have been made on social media by those who attended. To God be the glory!”

Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “We consistently have more and more first-time visitors than ever before, which is a great encouragement for our rural congregation. Our visitor team has gained information, and they will follow-up as much as possible. Last week, our ramp crew constructed a ramp for one of our members who has a close friend we are trying to convert. We hope the kindness shown will open the door for a Bible study. We are looking forward to Trunk or Treat, which provided us with many contacts last year.”

West Huntsville church of Christ, Alabama: Paul Owen (associate preacher) reports, “We had a very successful Fall Festival. We knocked on doors and invited families to attend. The Lord blessed us with a beautiful day on Saturday. We had about 40 visitors; we will follow up by sending cards and making visits!”

Highland Park church of Christ, Muscle Shoals, Alabama: Andrew Myhan (deacon) reports, “We finally have visitor teams, greeters, and card ministry teams locked in. We now look to do the same with transition/Bible study teams. We have one Bible study scheduled this week. We appreciate all prayers.”

Central church of Christ, Saraland, Alabama: David Dixon (preacher) reports, “For the first time in a month, we did not have any baptisms over the last week. But the work continues to be strong. We hosted a community event this weekend, which will hopefully yield some good contacts. We have a clean-up day planned for Saturday, which will allow bonding among our new and old members. Our attendance has been at or near 100 in the last few weeks, which is encouraging.

“The New Converts class is effective, as I can tell from my conversations with some of those students. We have modified some of the programs we implemented to fit the congregation, but one thing has remained the same. The Evangelism Table sits front and center in our foyer with updated numbers monthly, if not weekly. No one speaks of it, but its presence has kept us accountable to the goals we set and the methods to which we have committed.”

Petersville church of Christ, Florence, Alabama: Adam Richardson (preacher) reports, “Sunday was a good day at Petersville. We had six visitors, and we sent many compassion cards. We had to order more cards!

“Five of our men left for the Dominican Republic for a week-long mission trip, and we are planning a door-knocking event next Sunday for our trunk or treat on October 27. On that day, we also plan to dedicate time during the evening service to update the congregation on the evangelistic efforts and encourage continued participation to keep it centered in everyone’s mind. God is good!”

Fayette church of Christ, Alabama: Josh Taylor (deacon) reports, “Sunday was a great day, and this has been a great year! Virginia and Bonnie came forward Sunday; they asked to be restored to the Lord’s church after being away. We are so thankful for their hearts. They were both on our compassion card list several months ago, and they began visiting with us. Our minister was able to converse with them last week, and on Sunday, they came forward! To God be the glory!”

Malvern church of Christ, Arkansas (remote): David Burruss (preacher) reports, “We wrapped up our Gospel Meeting and preacher conference with Matt Wallin last week; we had a great week. We continue to send compassion cards, and the congregation has been actively inviting people to services. We currently have one Bible study in progress and hope to have another soon. We are also starting a new men’s ministry program and hope to have five to eight men involved in that program.”

Rison church of Christ, Arkansas: Keden Shrum (preacher) reports, “On Saturday, we set up a booth at a local festival. It produced a few contacts, including a young family who said they were looking for a church home. On Sunday evening, Care Team A met to sign cards, and we included that family, sending them invitations to worship.”

Windsor church of Christ, Colorado: Lucas Stephens (member) reports, “We did our congregational survey yesterday, and I believe it went very well. We have our men’s leadership meeting this Thursday, during which we will discuss the survey and potential candidates for the overall coordinator position. We are each individually working through the modules on the website, and I believe the app will also be very beneficial.”

Niceville church of Christ, Florida:  Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “We have been waiting a long time for what happened this week. Fred Tillman, a long-time worshipper, the husband of a member, and a friend to all, became our brother. Our new brother has been attending Niceville for many years, much longer than the 25 years I have been here. On Sunday, I walked out to the foyer and spoke to Fred, who was sitting in the foyer dealing with some pain from a recent surgery. I sat down and talked to him about our mutual ailments. Fred said, “Do you think you could get Kenny [one of our elders] to baptize me after church?” I asked him to repeat what he said, and he did. I couldn’t believe my ears. I assured him we could easily do that. I walked to the front and first spoke to Ken, then sat down beside his wife and told her the good news. She was surprised. I cannot tell you how many years she has shared her concern for her beloved husband. The entire congregation was so excited. Decades of prayers were answered, and the Lord’s Kingdom has grown again.  “On Sunday, we also had two visitors. This week, we had three Bible studies, sent five compassion cards, and had one baptism.”

Eatonton church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Roderick Coney (preacher) reports, “The Eatonton congregation sent out 18 compassion cards this week. They continued to study Growing in Christ in the Wednesday evening Bible class. They have added two new contacts to the prospect list. Please continue to pray as we continue to strive to do the Lord’s work in Georgia.”

Cartersville church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Charles Harris (regional trainer) reports, “Bible studies are progressing. New mover visits and compassion cards are making a difference. Our Gospel Meeting with Jeff Archey has been attended by many, both members and visitors.”

Lafayette church of Christ, Georgia: Jesse Teague (deacon) reports, “We finished the Gospel Meeting with one baptism. A young man had decided his previous baptism was not what it should have been, so he ensured his soul was in the KIngdom and obeyed the Gospel with a clear conscience! We had a foreign missionary report to the congregation last night. We focus more on local evangelism, but that does not mean we have to exclude helping others as well. It was encouraging and helpful to see what others are doing and how blessed we are.”

Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Matt Amos (preacher) reports, “The HTH Campaign had 12 people who volunteered this weekend. They knocked on 58 doors and added three to a follow-up visit list. The Prison Ministry Group is working with a Senator to obtain contact with one of the congregation’s wayward sons who is incarcerated. He is helping us to establish contacts for potential Bible studies. The compassion card group completed 52 compassion cards. WCOC had three non-Christian visitors at our Sunday morning service.  We had one Bible study. We welcomed one person back to the fold.”

Honolulu church of Christ, Hawaii: Tagiilima Esene (regional trainer) reports, “Aloha from the Honolulu congregation! We are currently continuing our studies with six souls. We started another Bible study last week. We have a steady flow of visitors still coming to our assemblies; we will prospect them soon.

“I want to share something with our preachers and evangelists. Some may be doing this already. It is essential to emphasize working together as the church. One of the ways we do this is by highlighting the involvement of our members in soul-winning work. Here is an email I sent out to our church family this week:
“Rejoice church! Another soul has come home. When Dreden visited, he met some of you at the door and was very encouraged and welcomed. Others took time to get to know him. Others took time to pray for him. Others helped by paying for a meal with the preacher to connect with him. Rashelle started studying with him last year. She brought me on to help further our Bible studies with Dre. This is all our work, with God working with us and through us. After our Bible study this morning, Dre made the most crucial decision in life: putting on Christ in baptism. To God be the glory! This week’s highlight is Dreden making the most critical decision of his life. We praise God for His church (who waters and plants the seed) and for giving the increase!”

Collinsville-Troy church of Christ, Illinois: Jason Wright (elder) reports, “After handing out more than 35 New Movers Baskets, we had three folks who want to have a Bible Study. We contacted two of them, and they want to visit our worship service first.

“We had a visitor from the community on Wednesday night. We gave her a visitor bag and got her information. On Saturday, we had our food and clothing giveaway. We had 65 families visit our building. We made several contacts and plan to follow up.

“We mailed out 100 compassion cards this week and began our invitation card portion of the plan. We continue to have studies with people; 12 are ongoing. Trunk or Treat is right around the corner. If only Christians understand that evangelism is not spooky, we will grow!”

Highland Village church of Christ, Bloomington, Indiana: Mark Stauffer (elder) reports, “Highland Village church of Christ completed its first compassion card signing yesterday. Enthusiasm was high, and there were many questions, comments, and suggestions from the members. Cards will be mailed Monday-Friday. We also began assembling gift bags for visitors. Two visitors, a married couple, attended our morning worship. We have had four visitors so far this month.”

LaGrange church of Christ, Indiana: Wayne Poe (elder) reports, “We did our second week of compassion cards and had another good turnout for that. The first week went well with compassion cards, and the outreach with them is promising. We look forward to getting the visitor coordinators set up this week and seeing how that goes.”

West Hammond church of Christ, Indiana: Robert Webster (preacher) reports, ““The Lord has blessed us with another baptism as we continue to be guided by the proven evangelism program and materials. The new Christian is Deonte Garza. We have more studies this week. We are more motivated and relentless in our efforts now than ever.”

Beloit church of Christ, Kansas (remote): Dustin Dougherty (regional trainer) reports, “Things are going well here. I just finished the first study of the week at the building. The study was with Book 2 of Back to the Bible. I also will have my Wednesday night study using the Growing in Christ book with another individual. It was great to have you and your family at Beloit last Wednesday night. Those that were in attendance were encouraged and edified by your lesson. Last Saturday, I was privileged to speak at the fall seminar series at the Salina church of Christ in Salina, Kansas. The topic provided to me was ‘The Local Congregation: A Lighthouse for the Community.’ I spoke on the need for personal evangelism at the congregational level and how we as Christians can act as Lighthouses in our communities by setting a standard of morals, behavior, worship, and love of our fellow man. We had a good turnout for the seminar, with around 60 to 70 people. I love being able to evangelize in Kansas and the greater Midwest region. May God be honored and glorified.”

Central church of Christ, Paducah, Kentucky: Adam Faughn (preacher) reports, “We are grateful to have two ongoing Bible studies. One, we think, is very close to salvation. She struggles to read a little, so her studies are going slowly but quite well. We are also very proud of a couple of our teenagers who have set up at least four studies to begin in the next week or so. We request prayers for these young people!

“On Sunday evening, we gave our monthly evangelistic report. In the last four weeks, our evangelistic card-writing teams have sent 377 cards, and an additional 180 have been sent to new movers. Last Saturday, we finished our work at the local farmers’ market, as their season is ending. We are grateful that a good number signed up for correspondence courses, and we have a couple that we hope will turn into personal Bible studies.

“Our new converts’ meetings are underway, and we are grateful to have this part of the work going. This coming Sunday is our Homecoming and Gospel Meeting with David Powell. We are praying for lost souls and erring souls to be here as we make great efforts to encourage many to come. We pray this leads to even more prospects.”

Aberdeen church of Christ, Maryland: Will Brown (preacher) reports, “The gentleman in the picture studied with one of our members and decided to obey the Gospel. We are overjoyed with the growth of the church. Yesterday was the eleventh baptism for the year, a new record. This is also the third baptism coming from members studying with people.

“Furthermore, two families who recently moved to the area chose to be recognized as members at the Lord’s church that meets in Aberdeen. Other members have been updating the accountability board. We have two ongoing Bible studies and a third starting next week, conducted by one of the new Christians. We must remember to focus on the positives and trust in God’s word. If we ask for Bible studies, people will respond accordingly. Praise God, who continues to bless us with the increase.”

East Main church of Christ, Tupelo, Mississippi: Barry Kennedy (preacher) reports, “The congregation continues to work with the program, and the level of enthusiasm is good. We were blessed with several visitors last Sunday. It is great to see the members stepping up and making visitors feel welcome while getting the information needed to reach out to them with cards.

“We are also gearing up for some fall events, starting with our annual Trunk or Treat on October 26th. We also have a Gospel Meeting with Brother Paul Sain for October 27-30th. In connection with the meeting and our evangelistic efforts, thirteen MSOP students will come and conduct a door-knocking campaign. We ask for prayers, hoping for honest and good hearts to be pricked with the Gospel! To God be the glory!”

Mt. Zion church of Christ, Brookhaven, Mississippi (remote): Dalton Todd (preacher) reports, “We recently had a baptism after using Back to the Bible. Our new brother’s name is Randy Laird. His wife, Ashley, is a Christian and has prayed for Randy to obey the Gospel. Randy has been a dependable visitor for a while, so he was a ‘hot contact.’

“After getting to know them better, my wife and I began the study when Randy expressed interest in being ‘officially acknowledged as a member at Mt. Zion.’ Randy came from a Baptist background, but he was open to what can be proven from the Bible. However, after the third study, he struggled with accepting he was lost. He began to understand he was lost, but I knew he needed more study. I used Does it Matter? That was all he needed. He was baptized into Christ on Saturday, October 5, around 7:00 p.m.”

Marshall church of Christ, Missouri (remote): Charles Reid (preacher) reports, “We went door knocking for about three hours last Saturday morning. On Sunday, I preached “How to Love God with All Your Heart.” I plan to share a viewing of ‘Let’s Talk About the Manner,’ Session 3, during the worship hour next Sunday.
“We will have a follow-up visit with a recent new convert and his wife at their house upcoming this midweek. I called a wayward brother last Tuesday morning. He said he would be coming back to church soon. He said his personal problems are almost worked out. We completed and passed out the new church directory and urged members to send greeting cards to new converts to encourage them. Also, they should send cards to visitors and others who need encouragement. We had a picnic at the park last Saturday. It is very encouraging to all, including one visitor.”

Samford church of Christ, Steele, Missouri: Kyle Imel (deacon) reports, “We had a successful weekend with Keno Shrum, who brought us four lessons to help us reboot and refocus on our evangelistic efforts. In the coming weeks, more work will be done to help us grow our efforts and the Kingdom.”

West End Blvd church of Christ, Cape Girardeau, Missouri: Jared Scaggs (preacher) reports, “It has been a good week. First, we would like to thank all who prayed for our Elder, Bill, who recently had surgery. He was able to come to services this last Sunday and is recovering well.

“On Friday night I visited a congregation in Sikeston, Missouri, where they were hosting Rob and are getting ready to enroll in the school. I was encouraged by Rob’s enthusiasm for helping congregations evangelize their communities. I spent a good deal of time this week watching videos in the curriculum and working on getting this training to our coordinators. We appreciate all prayers as we strive to grow with the model Jesus has given us.”

East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “During our worship service, an evangelistic message was delivered based on the principles of the Evangelism Model entitled ‘The Evangelism Seminar.’ After worship service, we then completed the ‘Post Evangelism Seminar Questionnaire.’ By God’s grace, Djery, who speaks Creole, and is learning English, was studying the BTTB booklets. Djery’s Bible studies were taught to him in a combination of Creole and English; he obeyed the Gospel of Christ on Thursday. To God be the glory! We and the angels of heaven are rejoicing!  We appreciate all prayers.”

New Concord church of Christ, Ohio: Terry Townsend (preacher) reports, “A follow-up visit was made last week with the woman who visited services last Sunday. She was back this Sunday, along with her husband! A new round of compassion cards have been signed and mailed this week for a total number of 117 cards. We have ten new contacts, with one repeat contact. Our transition teams have been given new assignments and are making those visits this week. Our new convert received his baptismal certificate and Bible this past Sunday morning.”

Streetsboro church of Christ, Ohio: Ralph Price (preacher) reports, “We are continuing with all aspects of the program. We scheduled a Bible study with one of our prospects yesterday. That study starts on Tuesday evening.”

Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (regional trainer) reports, “Last week we started mailing compassion cards to three more contacts. We have several excellent prospects, and we are trying to schedule studies with them. We are focusing on being intentional with contacts and reaching out to those who have fallen away, engaging in gospel conversations, and keeping up with our bookmarks.

“We have surpassed our 10 percent for the year, but our goal is six more this year, so we have a lot of work to do. On Sunday, I enjoyed spending the day with the Samford church of Christ in Steele, Missouri. We had four training sessions for their Reboot on Sunday. They are doing a great job in their rural area. I am looking forward to being in Sanford, North Carolina, in a few weeks to reignite that congregation of hard workers and great evangelizers!”

Cheyenne church of Christ, Oklahoma (remote): Nathan Brewer (member) reports, “We assessed current prospects and began searching for new ones. We also talked about helping a current prospect battling cancer buy some new clothes.”

York church of Christ, Pennsylvania: Mark Raschke (member) reports, “This Sunday, we had a visitation meeting with a handful of members willing to visit those who have been receiving compassion cards. This group comprises of six adults, two teenage sons, and another couple who could not attend the meeting. Honestly, it is discouraging and saddening that so few, including elders and deacons, are willing to participate. On the bright side, this group is almost 20 percent of our average weekly attendance. In any case, it was good to get back into the practice of meeting for visitations since it has been more than a year since we have visited our prospects. We chose to visit nine prospects; Fred and Pam took the bulk of these. We also decided to send additional rounds of compassion cards to “warm up” some prospects who have been on our list for a lengthy time without contact. We will aim to visit them in November.”

Union church of Christ, South Carolina (remote): Terry Hale (preacher) reports, “We had four visitors yesterday, one of whom started a study last week. The other three will be receiving cards. We also had nine faithful soldiers in the field, and three of those are studying Book 1 of Back to the Bible. I was in Book 3 with a prospect. She wants to be right with God. However, she has struggled with many false doctrines in the past and wants to study those areas. I think she will do what is right. She is older, but she now sees what God wants. The other studies are in Book 2. We are praying for many who are in God’s word and learning.”

Rivergate church of Christ, Madison, Tennessee: Doug Tooley (preacher) reports, “We had five visitors on Sunday. We are excited to have a Bible study started in Spanish. There are seven students.”

White Oak church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee (remote): John McGiffin (preacher) reports, “We continue to follow up with our contacts made two weeks ago.  Two members have agreed to help with visits this week. We continue to get ready for our Fall Festival.  We expect to have banners up this week. We will plan to do door hangers this weekend.

“I will meet with members individually to get the names of prodigals and potential contacts. We continue to stress evangelism in our sermons. A list of coordinators was printed in the bulletin. We plan to install coordinators soon.”

Hebron church of Christ, McMinnville, Tennessee: Derrick Stiles (preacher) reports, “This past week, we sent out another 60 compassion cards to souls in the community. We will begin reaching out to past recipients of compassion cards in the coming week. We are excited to see the responses of those who have received the cards. We appreciate all prayers for our congregation as we move forward with the program.”

Cookeville church of Christ, Tennessee: Jonathan Medley (deacon) reports, “We are still working on sending the compassion cards to our college-age visitors. One has already reached out to our college minister to find out the next time they have a devo. She has commented on how amazingly nice everyone has been to her. We are working through the online training and preparing to roll the program out to the congregation.”

Hillcrest church of Christ, Springfield, Tennessee: Tim Taylor (associate preacher) reports, “One of our members is studying with his wife, using Back to the Bible. We are praying that all these efforts bear fruit!”

Mountain Creek church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Michael Tomshack (elder) reports, “On Sunday evening, we held our quarterly members meeting to review our plans and progress, including the evangelism process. Gary Massey (Elder/Minister) is conducting a Bible study with a lady who began visiting a while back and was impressed by the friendliness of the congregation. As the study and her time with the congregation progressed, she started sharing with a friend in another state, saying the friend should find a church of Christ in her city. They located a congregation; the friend attended, but she was greeted only once when the congregation was told to greet the person next to them—nothing before or afterward. She will not return because she did not experience greetings and warmth as in our congregation.

“We have a history of being friendly to guests. The evangelism process has formalized greetings as a critical component of our efforts. As the example above illustrates, a consistent process among the brotherhood is needed. Corporations and franchises stress a consistent process across all locations to strengthen their brand and develop client loyalty. Each congregation is independent and works according to the Biblical pattern. I feel referring people in other places to congregations participating in the School of Evangelism process increases the probability of spiritual growth and involvement in making disciples.”

West Fayetteville church of Christ, Tennessee: Steve Jefferson (elder) reports, “The West Fayetteville congregation is looking forward to our October 20 start date. Steve Miller, our evangelist, has been reviewing the lesson plans provided through the website and the WVBS thumb drive. We plan to meet with him this week on a schedule that will meet the congregation’s needs.”

Stoney Creek church of Christ, Elizabethton, Tennessee: Mike Blevins (elder) reports, “Our focus has been on hurricane relief. Mountain City, Roan Mountain, Erwin, and Elizabethton, in our immediate area, were all hard hit, especially Erwin and others in Unicoi County. We took meals to the upper end of Stoney Creek and served a community meal on Friday a week ago. Elizabethton is getting back to a state of ordinary. There is a central bridge that will have to be replaced, and until that happens, traffic will be difficult. . In many places, especially Unicoi and in North Carolina, they are still finding bodies, including whole families buried in their cars in the mud.

“I have hauled supplies to Mountain City, and I took a load of hay to Roan Mountain yesterday. The landfills have been overcome and have raised fees considerably to manage the flow. Iris Glen is a massive landfill projected to be used for two more years before the flood. They are saying another two months, and they will have to close it.

“An Elder from Mountain City and I have been studying with one of my best friends in Mountain City. The study is suspended because of their efforts to help the community. We are planning to study again on the first of next week. The encouraging thing about all this is the spirit and cooperation of the people here and the outpouring of support from churches around the country. We will be able to help people get back on their feet because of this good response.”

Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “We are still trying to work the plan. Chris and his family visited again on Sunday. We will try to take them out to eat soon and develop a relationship with them. Cody and Kozy are still working with Emily. She may be close. Jeff studied with Travis on Monday. They may have gone through Book 3 by the time this report is sent out. On Monday evening, the elders and ministers met to discuss our evangelism and restoration targets. We talked about strategies for each one. I had to reschedule my study with Ruby last week. We hope to have it soon.”

Natalia church of Christ, Texas: Jim Word (elder) reports, “We have a Bible study with Daylan this week. We have three prospects right now.”

Southwest church of Christ, Austin, Texas: Mark Spier (elder) reports, “We had five different groups of visitors that came on Sunday. Based on conversations, one couple seems to be the best candidate for a Bible study.”

Graceton church of Christ, Diana, Texas:  Johnny Willeford (elder) reports, “Our group B compassion card writers sent 77 cards to 11 families and individuals. Yesterday our group C met and will send 60 cards to nine new contacts. We had two families visit with us for the Sunday morning worship service.

“Our ladies met last night to start planning for our annual Thanksgiving luncheon, which we will hold on the first Sunday in November. We will invite people from our community and will have a guest speaker that day, a student from the Brown Trail School of Preaching that we have been supporting. I am looking forward to meeting him and his family.

“We have added an individual to our new movers’ group to help us deliver baskets. We have discovered that it takes several trips to the homes before we can contact the new prospects. We are in the process of collecting items to be taken to the hurricane victims. We are working with the North Jefferson church in Mt. Pleasant. Our hearts go out to all those in the hurricane-hit areas.”

Granbury Street church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas: Ryan Cowan (deacon) reports, “The fruits of our efforts for the National Brotherhood-Wide Door Knocking continue to grow. Donna, who was baptized this past week, attends services regularly and participates in our Foundations Class.  We earnestly write cards to those we contacted and plan to make in-person visits soon. One of our Elders, Clark Lehtinen, and his wife, Deborah, have been able to take a woman to lunch who has expressed an interest in Bible study.”

Wheeler church of Christ, Texas: Garrett English (preacher) reports, “Our compassion card writing had not stopped completely, but it was declining; however, we have more people involved lately. Now we need to work on the follow-up phase. We had one visitor to each assembly yesterday. One lived far away, but the other had visited before and was invited by an older member. We aim to follow up with her and ask her to study.”

Schertz church of Christ, Buda-Kyle, Texas: Ronnie Scherffius (preacher) reports, “Our primary source of contacts at this time is our visitors. Thus, we are placing a special focus on greeters. We are continuing with the cards as best we can. We received a new contact yesterday who holds promise. I will personally reach out to this man today. Additionally, we will send cards to him.”

Fruitvale church of Christ, Texas: Carl McCann (preacher) reports, “This past week, we had the opportunity to mow Jennifer Christopher’s yard. She is a lady coming to the coping class on Tuesday nights. So far, we have 12 in attendance at the coping class. We are in Lesson 3 of Back to the Bible with Karen Vrooman, who has also been attending Coping. We continue to do follow-up work and work on the model. Jesse led a door-knocking campaign at the Hill Crest church of Christ in Coleman, Texas, where they made 33 contacts.

“Raoul went to the Monterrey School of Preaching in Monterrey, Mexico, and taught the students how to use an organized Bible study. They had one baptism after teaching the students and congregation how to use Back to the Bible. The students were excited about learning how to use the study and are currently using them on contacts they already know.”

West Side church of Christ, Salem, Virginia: Jeff Durham (elder) reports, “Our New Converts class is an encouragement to our newest members. It gives them opportunities to learn more of the church’s fundamentals and their responsibilities as new creatures in Christ. They also can ask questions and learn from other students at a similar spiritual maturity level. Our Sunday evening lesson included encouragement and challenges to transition the prospects to Bible studies from those we have contacted via our card-writing efforts. We wrote and mailed about 120 cards in the last two sessions.”

Peninsula church of Christ, Hampton, Virginia: Ben Phillips (preacher) reports, “Yesterday was a good day at Peninsula. We gathered our follow-up team for the first time, provided reminders and resources, and sent everyone out with names and addresses to begin follow-up. We request prayers for open doors and open hearts!

“I also scheduled our third study with a young man visiting since AMC. We will begin Book 3 together this Saturday. He is close to obeying the Gospel, so prayers for the study are appreciated. Unfortunately, two studies seem to have fizzled out, while a third study has proven difficult to keep going due to family demands. We will continue to pray and work for open doors, but we realize not everyone will see the studies through to obedience.”

Williamsburg church of Christ, Virginia: Jim Bishop (elder) reports, “This week the Williamsburg church of Christ began Back to the Bible, Lesson 3. We are emphasizing the importance of intentional contacts by those on our pew visitation team; this week, Team 2 prepared 35 cards to be sent out. We have been blessed with four repeat visitors. This week, we introduced a new item to report our status and baptism goal. This idea was borrowed from another congregation. The old contribution and attendance board encouraged a lot of communication when it showed our baptism goal, baptisms this year, compassion cards written for the week, Bible studies, local visitors, and prospects. The more we talk about our successes, the more we all have evangelism on their minds. May God bless all the congregations working to spread the Gospel.”

Eight Mile Rock church of Christ, Bahamas (remote): Tavaro Levar (preacher) reports, “We are back home, and my wife has started a new Bible study with a young lady. The first study with her has been good so far. The church has finished about 70 percent of the course. We are looking forward to getting more members in Bible studies in the coming weeks.”

Marlon Retana (regional trainer) reports, “Greetings from Austin, TX, after a blessed 10 days in our beloved Panama. We traveled home to visit our son and my in-laws, but even on “vacation mode,” Christians are always on duty! The work of the Spanish Bible School continues, and during our time away, we received numerous emails, messages, and calls asking for resources and guidance for Spanish-speaking communities. Some inquiries were about leadership training, others about evangelism, and some sought answers to Biblical questions.

“While in Panama, we reconnected with some brethren from the congregation we were blessed to plant five years ago. Among them was our beloved brother Lucas, who celebrated his 102nd birthday! Lucas is a constant source of joy to everyone he meets. His unwavering faith and gratitude to God are evident in every conversation. He affectionately calls everyone “hermanito” (little brother)—not because he is the oldest among us, but because of his deep love for every soul.

“As we now prepare to travel to Brownsville, TX, where I will be speaking at a lectureship, we are thankful to God for the continued opportunities to serve Him. We are also finalizing the details for our course on I Timothy and creating more resources to help the Spanish-speaking world know the truth of God’s saving message. Thank you for your prayers and support. If you’d like to learn more about our work, don’t hesitate to contact me or visit spanishbibleschool.org. To God be all the glory!”