Success Stories: November 27, 2024

Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: Keith Ritchie (evangelist) reports, “For November, we have had 51 visitors and sent out 302 compassion cards. Jennifer and Hunter (contacts from the fall festival) came to service this morning. This is the second week in a row they have attended. She said she would be interested in discussing the Bible after Thanksgiving week. We pray this will lead to BTTB. Glencoe is also excited to get started in 2025 on our evangelistic outreach plans. Our elders, David Marker and Brooks Boyd, are enthusiastic and active evangelical leaders who set an example for the church. To God be the glory!”

Broad Street church of Christ, Scottsboro, Alabama (remote):  Tyler Blizzard (HTHSOE graduate) reports, “My wife and I (Kelsey) did the study with her sister (Emily) and brother-in-law (Devin), and they were baptized last night. My wife, Kelsey, was my partner in the study. We did the first study a couple of weeks ago, and they really enjoyed how everything was just Bible, no opinion. We did the second study, and they were very clear on every part that they saw the truth and wanted to do what was needed to correct it by leaving the Baptist church. They had many questions we wrote down that they wanted to go into more detail about after we finished the booklets. I suggested we do the last study since we are coming into the holidays, and it may be hard to get back together. It may be hectic, so we went into the last book, and they felt very strongly they were saved already until we got into baptism, and they learned it was for the remission of sins. I was concerned going into it because he had just changed from Catholicism to Baptist about a year ago, and her family is very strongly Baptist, but when it got to the first close, I asked them if they wanted to do it right then, and they talked about it with us out of the room, and 2-3 minutes later they were ready so we skipped to the last page and finished it, and they were already talking about wanting to do the study with others before we even left the house.”

Central church of Christ, Saraland, Alabama: David Dixon (preacher) reports, “God continues to work providentially among us. We are sending out cards regularly. We are creating new contacts through many avenues, and we continue to pray for our work. We may not be seeing the numbers we did when the work began eight months ago, but the expectation of participation remains. We know evangelism is the centerpiece of all we do now; I cannot foresee that changing. Yesterday provided numerous new contacts. We had multiple visitors for our Thanksgiving meal, and with the Lord’s blessings, those will lead to Bible studies. We made changes in our new converts class yesterday, too. I participated in that class for the first time. Seeing the growth among those new Christians was thrilling, mainly because it was not preacher-dependent growth! Our nose is to the grindstone, and we pray God is glorified!”

West Huntsville church of Christ, Alabama: Paul Owen (associate preacher) reports, “We had two more baptisms, Devon and Emily Edelman, as a result of our compassion cards! Emily came to a lady’s retreat because of the compassion cards that were sent to her. During a mixer, she contacted one of our members and started studying with her husband. They were later baptized into Christ!”

Highland Park church of Christ, Muscle Shoals, Alabama: Andrew Myhan (deacon) reports, “We had one restoration last week, and we also had three more Bible studies. We expect results from these soon. We were able to help one of our most recent converts. Hopefully, soon, he will have a better job and will be able to get away from some of his hardships.”

Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “Currently, we are mailing cards to 12 people. We are working to get a Bible study with one of our contacts who is a cancer patient. We also hope to study with the family member of a recent convert. We continue to still go strong with great participation. Some of our strongest leads continue to be through home health nurses; we have found great results in finding people who truly want the Gospel through this part of our ministry.”

Petersville church of Christ, Florence, Alabama: Adam Richardson (preacher) reports, “Petersville had our second monthly coordinators meeting and congregational update. Doing this immediately before/after evening worship has been good thus far. We are moving forward with Breakfast with Santa community event. We sent 35 compassion cards. We also had seven visiting families Sunday morning, and we ordered supplies for new mover baskets and visitor bags.”

Malvern church of Christ, Arkansas (remote): David Burruss (preacher) reports, “We met Sunday to work on our prospects list and compassion cards. Recently, we have had a young man visit with us a few times, and his interest suggests that we may have a Bible with him soon. We are also preparing for our community supper that will take place on December 9, 2024.”

Rison church of Christ, Arkansas: Keden Shrum (preacher) reports, “Care Team B met Sunday evening to work on compassion cards. This week, one card recipient is a lady who will soon be having surgery. We hope this will help establish a relationship with her.”

Windsor church of Christ, Colorado:  Lucas Stephens (member) reports, “Windsor has seven prospects, and we sent 70 cards out throughout the week. We are continuing our study and are halfway through the blue book. We don’t have any Bible studies yet, but we have not started our transition visits yet.”

Margaret Street church of Christ, Milton, Florida: Troy Spradlin (preacher) reports, “This past Sunday, the elders met again to discuss further implementation of the Evangelism Model with a few adjustments to fit our congregation better. We also received nine contacts to move into our “Neighbors List” (Prospects)! We will send compassion cards next week, once our card-writing teams are set up. We had a back-to-the-bench study with a person who completed Book 1 and is excited about starting Book 2! Five studies had to be rescheduled. We are happy to report that we now have coordinators for Bringers, Teachers, and Keepers. Each will begin working through the online curriculum and setting up more work areas. We also organized our New Converts class with a rotation of teachers that will begin December 1. The third lesson on John 4 was preached, and we continued our training during the evening service on compassion cards.”

Niceville church of Christ, Florida: Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “We are very thankful for this week. Years of prayers were answered when John Higgins, a dear friend of many in our congregation and a husband of one of our members, obeyed the Gospel. His wife, Lois, also wanted to make her calling and election sure, but at the same time, she had some questions and wanted to come to peace with the answers to those questions. These two precious souls have been married for over 60 years. On Sunday night after worship, Stephanie and Jessica Mertz were baptized into Christ. They are friends of one of our young men who graduated from high school last year. That is a total of four precious souls this week. We also sent out 25 compassion cards and had two Bible studies.”

Ocoee Street church of Christ, Georgia: RE Vann (elder) reports, “Our Post Seminar Survey results revealed positive responses, and our evangelism table is under construction. The Evangelism Model and Training Cards were introduced on Sunday evening. We had five visitors this week, and two wayward members attended the evening service. Our one ongoing Bible study was postponed due to a scheduling conflict with the upcoming holiday.”

Bremen church of Christ, Georgia: Scott Broughton (member) reports, “We finished our new converts class this past Sunday. We started the class in the middle of the quarter and continued through a full quarter, so there were about 20 class sessions. We needed extra time to cover the necessary information. Bob Staples did a great job explaining doctrines from the Bible. After our morning worship, we had a fellowship meal with some class participants.”

Eatonton church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Roderick Coney (preacher) reports, “We mailed compassion cards for two people. We have received good feedback from the recipients and are looking forward to making the transitional visits.”

Lafayette church of Christ, Georgia: Jesse Teague (elder) reports, “The holidays are busy times for everyone, but they also give us the opportunity to be busy with evangelism. This week, we had a sister restored in fellowship with us. These things happen when evangelism is a part of every activity of the church! We had a fall ‘shindig’ at a member’s house last month. An erring sister showed up with some of her faithful family members. She enjoyed the time and fellowship and started attending worship again. Everyone encouraged her and let her know we love and care for her. Wednesday night, she repented, and now we have our sister back.”

Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Matt Amos (preacher) reports, “Seven volunteers of the new movers group knocked on doors. They delivered four baskets to individuals at home and left six door hangers at homes where no one answered. The WCOC congregation attended the Sunday Sunabella of Towne Lake Assistant Living devotional. They had eight non-Christians in attendance. The Compassion Cards Group created and sent 30 cards. Six Christians attended the new converts class. This class offers help for the recently converted Christians as well as other Christians who want to relearn the basics. WCOC had six non-Christian visitors at our Sunday morning service.”

Cartersville church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Charles Harris (regional trainer) reports, “We had another baptism last Thursday. A member had encouraged Bailey to attend services, and when we began to reach out to her, she agreed to study Back to the Bible. Other studies are ongoing.”

Collinsville-Troy church of Christ, Illinois: Jason Wright (elder) reports, “We had a great week in the Lord’s work. Last Monday, we studied Book 3 with Terry. He realized he needed to be baptized into Christ, so he became a Christian that same night. Terry had visited our congregation many times with his sisters, who are long-time members. Today, he is a member! We mailed 83 compassion cards. We conducted several follow-up visits from card mailings. We had multiple great responses to our visits. This is just a reminder that friendly people are everywhere. We handed out more new mover’s baskets. One lady had decorated the outside of her bathroom door from top to bottom with cards. We talked with several who are very thankful for the encouragement the cards bring. We are slowly making connections. We had visited Ms. Brenda’s house eight times. When should one stop visiting—after seven times?  This time, we had a candle in hand, and she answered the door. She is impressed with our church’s friendliness, and the cards remind her to visit our worship service. She seemed very interested in our women’s Bible study class on Wednesdays. We hope our accountability board will go up this week. We currently have ten ongoing studies, and we are looking for more. Remember the parables of Luke 15 that Jesus used to teach the value of one soul? Every soul that repents causes a celebration in Heaven. We want to keep the rejoicing going!”

Highland Village church of Christ, Bloomington, Indiana: Mark Stauffer (elder) reports, “We have had an incredible week! We visited a young couple who had visited us at Highland Village, and we then sent compassion cards. We studied Back to the Bible, Book 1, during that first visit on Tuesday. On Thursday, we covered Book 2. We finished the study on Saturday, and then baptized them both. We have met our goal of three baptisms for this year! The Lord has blessed us richly. We are still sending cards and making visits. The reception we receive after sending cards has been better than expected. Compassion cards open doors.”

LaGrange church of Christ, Indiana: Wayne Poe (elder) reports, “Things are going well. Our attendance has increased over the last month from an average of about 85 to over 100. We are finishing the second round of compassion cards and looking forward to visiting those who received the cards. We appreciate all prayers for the studies that are going on and, hopefully, more studies to come.”

Judah church of Christ, Bloomington, Indiana: Joe Moon (preacher) reports, “We just started going through Back to the Bible this week. I have a Bible study that is on pause due to illness. We are working to move some of our contacts to prospects.”

Beloit church of Christ, Kansas (remote): Dustin Dougherty (regional trainer) reports, “Yesterday at services, we had five visitors who were all from the family of one of our members. They were in town celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday with their family. This Tuesday, we are having what we call ‘Praise and Pie’ for any of our members or guests who want to come; we enjoy many varieties of pies that members bring and enjoy time singing hymns and reading Scripture. Last year was a great success, and everyone enjoyed it, so this is our second annual ‘Praise and Pie event. Preparations are being made to wrap up this year and start 2025 off by getting busy with evangelism as a congregation. Many evangelism plans are taking shape, and they should be ready to roll out shortly after the first year. To God be all glory and honor.”
Madisonville church of Christ, Kentucky: Don Killough (deacon) reports, “We have had a great month at the Madisonville church of Christ getting started with HTHSOE, but this last week was the best. A few days after their wedding, a young couple participated in a Bible study and then later both were baptized. We also began the compassion card program with nine people on the prospect list. The enthusiasm of the members writing the cards was uplifting.”

Central church of Christ, Paducah, Kentucky: Adam Faughn (preacher) reports, “We went from a slow week to a great one! Last Thursday, two of our teenagers hosted a Bible study with one of their friends. It went well, and another study is scheduled for this week. Additionally, we had several guests on Sunday. Stephen is a return guest, and he finally agreed to share a meal with one of our families. We are praying that this turns into a Bible study soon. Another guest, Austin, came to us due to card-writing efforts by the Coldwater church of Christ; she is a friend of one of their members but lives in Paducah. She also agreed to a meal and has already agreed to a Bible study, which we hope to start next week. A third guest who was baptized in jail but questions his baptism has also agreed to a study and wants to begin after Thanksgiving. Doors are opening, and we are praying for wisdom as we do our best to encourage each of these!”

La Plata church of Christ, Maryland (remote): Eric Sykes (regional trainer) reports, “We had two visitors this week. We offered to take them out for a meal. Although they declined, they took a raincheck.  We sent out 15 compassion cards. We have eight prospects. Several months ago, we completed Back to the Bible with a couple, but they were not baptized. Today they called and said they would like to go over the study again—and they will bring the husband’s sister to the study with them! So, we will soon have three open Bible studies. Five people are attending our new converts class, and five more are in our advanced teacher training class. We are conducting mock training sessions with Lesson 2 of BTTB.  Thirteen members attended our video of the week training session on ‘The Bible and Science: Is the Bible from God?’ We are preparing to order invitation cards and train the congregation on their use. We appreciate all prayers as we strive to implement the congregational evangelism model here at the La Plata church of Christ.”

Aberdeen church of Christ, Maryland: Will Brown (preacher) reports, “The youth in the enclosed picture has an honest heart. A member studied with him. He became interested in a Bible study after he noticed the radical change in the life and behavior of a new Christian. The Bible speaks for itself, and it is God who gives the increase. Our congregation has welcomed ten new souls who were saved this year. All were brought to the Lord by imperfect people willing to share the Gospel and be authentic with others. In the upcoming weeks, we will conduct two more Bible studies. We ask for prayers for the Lord’s church in Aberdeen, Maryland, and for successful studies. To God be the glory.”

East Main church of Christ, Tupelo, Mississippi: Barry Kennedy (preacher) reports, “We are sending compassion cards to contacts made through door knocking. We also had an article in the local paper about Ginny’s House (a benevolent program for clothes, household items, etc.), which made for a great giveaway day last Saturday. We asked each family to fill out a contact card for follow-up cards and maybe visits shortly. To God be the glory!”

Shady Acres church of Christ, Sikeston, Missouri: Keith Olbricht (preacher) reports, “We are about halfway through the preaching/teaching recommendation list. We are currently prospecting two individuals and one family. I also have a stack of contact cards that have been turned in. We are working on the model and ask for prayers as we are in the beginning stages.”

Marshall church of Christ, Missouri (remote): Charles Reid (preacher) reports, “On Wednesday, I have scheduled a lunch meeting with one of our new visitors at noon at McDonald’s in Marshall, which is an hour and a half from my house. Afterward, I hope to visit an older member of our congregation who recently had a stroke. His name is Ron Alexander, and he will be 90 years old in December. He is a good evangelist; he was door-knocking the week before his stroke. He was part of this congregation when it began to use the House to House/Heart to Heart over ten years ago. Marshall church of Christ was a top user of HTHHTH for those years. Ron began our prison ministry about ten years ago. We ask for prayers for his recover. Last week, my wife, Diana, and I mailed 27 cards, bulletins, and other correspondence to prisoners, nursing homes, and community members who have answered HTH questions. Last Thursday, Henry, Diana, and I had a follow-up study with a new Christian and his wife. They did not understand the covenants, so we used WBS Covenant #1. My wife and I gave away winter coats and clothing Tuesday evening and Sunday after worship. We also visited a nursing home Sunday before last. Diana got surplus food today to give out to needy people in the community this week.”

Samford church of Christ, Steele, Missouri: Kyle Imel (deacon) reports, “We added one individual to our contact list. She posted on Facebook that she was looking for a church for her and her three boys. We sent cards to her and her boys this week. We are visiting contacts from previous mailings as well.”

East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “At worship service, we had one first-time visitor. We took her to lunch. She said she would be coming to worship service every Sunday. We are praying and confident that she will begin studying with BTTB soon. We also have one long-time visitor. After worship service, we watched the HTHSOE YouTube video, ‘Introduction: Reaching the Lost Report.’ For the brother’s Bible study that afternoon, we provided the ‘Introduction-Leading Evangelism’ training sheet to use with the corresponding video and the discussion of the lesson. Our metrics thus far for this month are as follows: 81 compassion cards sent, 17 visitors, 13 prospects, 26 visits, and seven Bible studies. We appreciate all prayers.”

New Concord church of Christ, Ohio: Terry Townsend (preacher) reports, “We had our annual ‘Community Thanksgiving Meal’ on Saturday, November 23. We had several visitors from the community come (about 40 in all). We will add them to our contact list and send compassion cards to them. One of the ladies who visited (the mother of one of our newer members) really opened up and agreed to a Bible study this week. Several of our recent assembly visitors came as well and enjoyed the fellowship! One new Bible study begins this week, and two more will continue! We had one new visitor at services this Sunday. He was from out of town and passing through but was very impressed with the congregation. It seemed to be his first visit to a church of Christ, from what I could gather. We gave him a welcome gift, and we will send a one-time group compassion card this week. We are closing in on our 10 percent goal (although I prefer 20 percent) relative to numeric growth and baptisms. So far, nine souls have obeyed the Gospel since January. All are adults who just this year started attending the church of Christ for the first time. Out of the nine, eight have remained faithful. One of the ones we baptized early this year is now attending a denomination with his wife; we never could get her to study with us. Out of the eight that remain, seven are taking the new converts class and are studying all the time. All eight seem to fit right in, and all are involved.”

Sullivan Village church of Christ, Lawton, Oklahoma: Steven Hill (preacher) reports, “Sullivan Village now has four new converts, two younger and two older, and we are focusing on making them strong in the truth. The elders teach our new converts class, so they choose the curriculum and get to know the new converts firsthand! God has really blessed us, and we are thankful!”

Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (regional trainer) reports, “Sunday, Houston and I went through Lesson 3 of Back to the Bible with Ethan. When we got to the first closing, he acknowledged that salvation without baptism was impossible. However, he was not ready. We proceeded through the study, and he still was hesitant to answer the call. While visiting, he said he knows that he needs to be baptized, but he wants to visit with his parents first. They are members of a denomination. Since Ethan is only 20, I understand his seeking approval from his parents. We will continue working with him to move him toward the right decision. I offered that if his parents have questions about what we studied with him, I would be happy to go through the study with them.”

York church of Christ, Pennsylvania: Mark Raschke (member) reports, “During announcements this week, I discussed how our evangelism efforts have tailed off a bit as we transitioned out of the old building and into the new building, but now that we are settled into our new home we need to renew our efforts. I reviewed the use of the Bookmarks and handed them out to a number of interested members after services. I reviewed the use of Contact Cards and asked members to supply the names of those they know are ready to receive cards or otherwise be contacted by the congregation. I reviewed how visitation after sending compassion cards is not a Bible Study but rather a follow-up to see our prospects’ impression of the church of Christ. I reminded the congregation of our visitation meeting after morning services next week while we were preparing for the monthly fellowship meal. This week, we also sent cards to a recent visitor who lived in the area and received our House to House mailing.”

Union church of Christ, South Carolina (remote): Terry Hale (preacher) reports, “We request prayers for our current studies. Two are in Book 3 of BTTB; seven are in Book 1. We continue our training, and we are mailing three or four cards a day to three contacts. We hope to have studies with them soon.”

Hebron church of Christ, McMinnville, Tennessee: Derrick Stiles (preacher) reports, “Great week at Hebron! We were able to hold another Bible study at our home this week and are hopeful for good results very soon. We are continuing to send out compassion cards, and we are beginning to follow up with those who previously received cards. We appreciate all support and prayers!”

Hillsboro church of Christ, Tennessee: Shelby Moorman (preacher) reports, “We made three good contacts during the week and expected them at services yesterday, but we were disappointed. We will follow up this week. We know evangelism is a marathon, and we are in it to the end.”

Cookeville church of Christ, Tennessee: Jonathan Medley (deacon) reports, “We are making progress as we launch the program. Our Accountability Board is now up, and a couple has agreed to coordinate the compassion card program. One of our three prospects was restored to the church. She had been out of church for a while.  She visited and said she was looking for a church home. She started receiving compassion cards and was very thankful for them.  She repented yesterday for being out of church for so long, and she placed membership. She said she has been overwhelmed by the love our congregation has shown her.”

Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “It has been a wonderful week at Covington! We had several visitors at our services this week, but the week’s highlights were the two new brothers in Christ we have gained. I have been studying with Jeremy Leonard for the past three weeks. Jeremy came to us because his family was in financial need and asked us to buy some groceries for them. We agreed to do so, and they agreed to study the Bible with us. The first study was with Jeremy, his mom, and his niece. His mom and niece were not really interested, but Jeremy was very interested. We continued to study over the next couple of weeks. He has no religious background and no biblical knowledge. He soaked up the information like a sponge and decided to be baptized into Christ on Wednesday. Then on Saturday, Kenny McCullough was baptized into Christ for the remission of his sins. Kenny is a neighbor of one of our members, Beau Phillips. He has been visiting off and on for about a year. Our youth minister, Jeff Phillips, studied with him. Jeff said he is a fantastic student and is very knowledgeable. We will begin a new round of the new converts’ class. We hope to continue their growth and reach out to more contacts.”

Rivergate church of Christ, Madison, Tennessee: Doug Tooley (preacher) reports, “We had three visitors on Sunday. One was a man who had previously been helped with some benevolence. One of our visitors from last Sunday came to the ladies’ monthly Bible study on Thursday night at the Tooley’s. She has four kids, and we are very prayerful about this situation. Two visits were made last week. We are working to stick to the program several months into it. We recently revived efforts to remind people of the importance of their lists and compassion cards.”

White Oak church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee (remote): John McGiffin (preacher) reports, “This past week we confirmed our two recipients for Thanksgiving meals. Starting Tuesday, we will schedule a weekly Bible study with one of the families. We also plan to visit four new movers next week. Expectations are high, and more people are joining to support the efforts. We hosted one family last Saturday for a BBQ, followed by watching football. They came back for the fourth week in a row to services. They will place membership if we can connect them with at least one more family. Attendance is increasing slowly. I called one prodigal about two weeks ago and had a great conversation. He was in attendance this past Sunday as well. We continue to work on the model.”

New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fultz (elder) reports, “We had five visitors on Sunday. Our Compassion Card team prepared 35 cards. We made two transition visits. Our new converts class has two in attendance.”

Hillcrest church of Christ, Springfield, Tennessee: Tim Taylor (associate preacher) reports, “One of our members is using Back to the Bible to try and convert his wife. Additionally, Johnny and I are beginning a study tomorrow morning with a young man who visited. We are praying for good results from these studies. We had five first-time visitors and five returning visitors.”

Mountain Creek church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Michael Tomshack (elder) reports, “Currently, we are conducting four Bible studies, with a new one commencing on Friday. Gary Massey, Elder and Minister, will commence Lesson 2 of Back to the Bible this evening with three individuals referred by two of our members, Deborah Hodge and Deena Hixson. Last Saturday, Sydney McClure, the wife of our Youth Minister, Houston McClure, and I completed Lesson 2 of Back to the Bible. We have scheduled Lesson 3 for this coming Saturday with the young lady who expressed a desire for truth several weeks ago. Ali Hagemann, a member, has assisted her in her study. Our Young Adult Class has extended a warm welcome to her, encouraging her to delve deeper into God’s Word. On Sunday, our compassion card team met to compose cards that will be distributed throughout the week. May all our endeavors be dedicated to the glory of God, and we fervently pray that these souls will be brought to His Kingdom.”

West Fayetteville church of Christ, Tennessee: Steve Jefferson (elder) reports, “Good morning from the West Fayetteville congregation. We are always thankful for visitors, and yesterday was no exception. One of our deacons invited a lady who has been away from the Lord’s church for many years. She is dealing with serious health concerns. Everyone welcomed her and requested to be on our prayer list. We also added her to our contact list. We now have five prospects who are receiving compassion cards. Yesterday evening, after our worship service, the New Movers team assembled 13 welcome baskets to be distributed later this week. We appreciate all prayers for these efforts.”

Blackman church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee (remote): Brian McCord (member) reports, “We watched the fourth lesson today, but I had already watched the first five myself, and I had attended quite a few of Rob’s sessions at PTP this year. I mentioned that my wife and I were not waiting to start Bible studies until we finished the videos. This week, we had an opportunity to go ahead and start the studies with a couple who have been visiting. After service, they came to me this morning and said, ‘After today’s sermon, we are starting to feel like we may not be saved.’ We had our second study scheduled for Wednesday, but they were concerned. So, we took them to lunch and then returned to the building to study Lessons 2 and 3. It took the rest of the day until our evening worship. They made the decision on the first invitation in the study asking, ‘When can we be baptized?’ I baptized them into Christ following our evening worship. Then I took them out for a celebratory meal. Two new souls were added to the Kingdom tonight! Their names are Edward Freiboth and Ashley Lammers.”

Chapel Hill church of Christ, Tennessee: Matt Jones (deacon) reports, “We have continued to have a steady stream of new visitors to add to our contact list. All visitors have commented to me about how friendly and welcoming the congregation has been. Our new mover group met yesterday to assemble more baskets to be delivered in the near future. We had a delay in one of our Bible studies, but it allowed us to serve her during a medical surgery. We hope the last of the three Back to the Bible study can be completed soon. For this study, two sisters in Christ are conducting the study while two brothers are watching the kids!! We all are pitching in to reach the lost however we can.”

Rome church of Christ, Lebanon, Tennessee (remote): David Oxley reports, “We continued our study of the Back to the Bible on Sunday morning. We are currently working on four prospects.”

Southwest church of Christ, Austin, Texas: Mark Speir (elder) reports, “We had two local visitors and a lot of our regular visitors whom we are still prospecting for Bible studies.”

Colleyville church of Christ, Texas: John Garza (regional trainer) reports, “In one day, we wrote 96 cards to many people. We have multiple Bible studies taking place, and we have two more to schedule this week!”

Howe church of Christ, Texas: Aaron Alsbrook (preacher) reports, “The elders told the congregation we are going to start January 5. I have signed in and read some of the first lessons on the website. We passed out the Post Seminar survey to the members and will look at the result as soon as we formulate our path forward.”

Granbury Street church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas: Ryan Cowan (deacon) reports, “Deborah Lehtinen continues her study with Patricia. My study with Leo is on hold right now at Leo’s request. Clark Lehtinen continues to foster a positive relationship with a neighbor in order to open a door for a study. Cheryl McIntosh is involved in a study as well.”

Wheeler church of Christ, Texas: Garrett English (preacher) reports, “Our meal last Wednesday had a few visitors, and we will follow up with them. We also have visits scheduled for the next few weeks, following our sending cards. An elder’s wife and children will go with my family to learn how to visit.”

Bridgewater church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (deacon) reports, “At Bridgewater, we had a family from the community worship with us this past Sunday. Andre and Jim are both involved in studies at this time. One of our card teams will meet on Sunday evening to address cards to our visitors and others. Last Sunday, we appointed another elder and deacon to leadership positions. A mission trip to Mexico has been planned for December 13-20, 2024.”

Northern Oaks church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas: Mel Hutzler (elder) reports, “Micheal Armstrong from the HOW Foundation was baptized tonight (Friday). We appreciate his desire to put Christ on in baptism, and we are thankful for Anthony, who studied with him. We request continued prayers for the men at the HOW as they encourage one another and study God’s Word. We have several Bible studies; hopefully, we will have more baptisms to report in the future.”

West Side church of Christ, Salem, Virginia: Jeff Durham (elder) reports, “In the past, we have assembled on the Tuesday night before Thanksgiving for a singing and prayer service. This year, several men will be leading prayers with specific topics. One of these prayers will be about our congregational evangelism efforts and our members’ desire to be engaged in every way possible. We will also ask God to bless our efforts to seek and find those in our community with open hearts and minds receptive to the Gospel. We continue to have strong support during our Sunday evening compassion card writing sessions.”

Culpeper church of Christ, Virginia (remote): Dave Calvert (elder) reports, “The congregation continues the path of gaining the overview of the upcoming program through the School of Evangelism. Interest and enthusiasm for the program continue to grow, with many questions being asked. Our congregation continues to reach out where opportunity presents. We cleaned the home of one shut-in and offered help to a family whose mother/wife had surgery. Seven cards of support were sent out; two meals were provided/delivered to those in need, three were invited to church services, and info on the local congregation was given to three individuals. We continue to reassure the congregation that slowly and steadily, we will embrace this program.”

Williamsburg church of Christ, Virginia: Jim Bishop (elder) reports, “We have been blessed this week at Williamsburg church of Christ.  On Monday, November 18, God blessed us with adding another soul to His church. This baptism represents the tenth baptism for the year. Notably, we had two baptisms before the last week in July. We began HTH Congregational Training that weekend, and God added eight to His church in four months. To God be the Glory. This week, 35 compassion cards were prepared, visits will follow. New converts are crucial to spreading the Gospel. They are eager to share their newfound life. One of our recent new coverts invited four people who attended worship and Wednesday night Bible study.”

Peninsula church of Christ, Hampton, Virginia: Ben Phillips (preacher) reports, “This past week saw us continuing our follow-up with contacts. Some need extra prospecting, some are not interested, and some have been hard to reach. But we are doing the work and looking for those few who desire to know Jesus. This past Sunday, we were blessed with a visitor from the community, and we will follow up with him. Brethren outside the area have also contacted us with two contacts here in Hampton. We are praying for these contacts and look forward to prospecting these two souls. God continues to bless us with opportunities, and we continue the work of planting and sowing.”