Success Stories: December 11, 2024

Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: Keith Ritchie (evangelist) reports, “The Glencoe congregation currently has one ongoing Bible study and two scheduled ones. We pray that prospecting will yield a fourth study soon. So far, Glencoe has had seven baptisms and seven restorations for the year. Robert and Bella Box have decided to identify with the Glencoe church. We have added 40 new members plus children in 2024. Last Sunday, Stacy Ferguson preached on evangelism. This was ‘Seeker Sunday’ at Glencoe, and we were blessed with an opportunity to contact our new movers to deliver new movers bags. In just a couple of weeks, we will present the congregation with the work plan for 2025. We are excited about what the future holds for Glencoe. To God be the glory!”

Central church of Christ, Saraland, Alabama: David Dixon (preacher) reports, “God continues to work providentially with us. Returning home from a weekend in Memphis, my wife and I stopped to worship at the church in Jackson, Alabama. We were surprised to see two dear old friends in the audience. We were glad to catch up with them and encourage one another in the faith. The Jackson congregation is about an hour north of us at Central in Saraland, but it is the closest congregation in that direction. Furthermore, the Jackson church is dwindling. Our two friends may be exactly what that congregation needs to develop into a strong church in that area. We would love to work with them to help the Lord’s church grow between Saraland and Jackson. Opportunities abound. We had a guest preacher this week while I was out of town. I have heard only good things about him, and getting away for a Sunday did me a world of good. The work presses forward. The holiday season affords new opportunities, and we are prepared to handle them. Let the name of the Lord be glorified in all that we do!”

West Huntsville church of Christ, Alabama: Paul Owen (associate preacher) reports, “I wanted to take a moment to share some insights regarding our evangelism initiative here at West Huntsville. As we know, the principle of crops being harvested later than they are sown is not just true in agriculture but also in our church’s mission. Over the past few months, we have witnessed this principle unfold in our evangelism efforts. The focus and dedication we adopted last March have laid the groundwork for a fruitful harvest. The hard work and prayers of many members of our congregation are now bearing fruit. It is inspiring to see how God has been at work, transforming our outreach into tangible results. Evangelism Is a God-Given Opportunity!”

Highland Park church of Christ, Muscle Shoals, Alabama: Andrew Myhan (deacon) reports, “One of the visitors went out to eat with some of our members. The visitors then invited those members to their house for a Christmas party that went really well. Another of our prospects that received cards has now made it to the third Back to the Bible book and should finish this week. We also helped her financially with a bill that needed to be paid. This week, we will also be training on ‘A Growing Church.’”

Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “Currently, we are working/studying with the cousin of a recent convert with a great likelihood of her conversion soon. One person who was converted during our One Mission effort recently passed from this life, and we are thankful for God’s grace for that person’s salvation. Two of the ones we sent cards to recently began worshipping with us regularly.  One erring member recently received cards and is attending more regularly. We are excited about the effort moving forward and working to finish this year strong.”

Fayette church of Christ, Alabama: Josh Taylor (deacon) reports, “Our food drive last month went really well; we made many contacts. We identified four Bible correspondence course individuals and three individuals ready for a Bible study. We will have our first Bible study this week. Year 2024 has been so successful; we had five restorations and five baptisms in this calendar year.”

Petersville church of Christ, Florence, Alabama: Adam Richardson (preacher) reports, “Petersville hosted our 3rd annual breakfast with Santa community event and received over 120 contact cards from attendants. These are being collected in a spreadsheet, and follow-up visits will be made. We had five families visit on Sunday morning, one looking for a church home. We sent cards to ten households. We also delivered 42 fruit baskets to the shut-in and widows/widowers of the congregation.”

Malvern church of Christ, Arkansas (remote): David Burruss (preacher) reports, “We continue to send compassion cards, and we will have three transitions later this week. We hosted our community supper tonight and fed around 70 people, which led to several hot contacts that we will add to our prospect list. On Sunday, a visitor who grew up in the Lord’s church but has not been faithful wants to get involved and study the Bible.”

Rison church of Christ, Arkansas: Keden Shrum (preacher) reports, “We continue with our compassion cards; Care Team B met last night to work on them. This week, we only have one prospect receiving cards.”

Windsor church of Christ, Colorado: Lucas Stephens (member) reports, “Windsor church of Christ had 11 visitors this week. We had a family of three place membership. We also sent out 80 cards last week and will be sending 80 cards again this week. We are halfway through our study of the third Back to the Bible book and will be finishing it by the end of the year. We continue to have weekly planning and coordination meetings with our evangelism coordinator.”

Margaret Street church of Christ, Milton, Florida: Troy Spradlin (preacher) reports, “We received six more contacts from the congregation this week, bringing our current total to 26. We also began our first compassion card writing sessions this past Sunday! A good number of members came, both before and after services, to write 78 cards for eight souls on our ‘Love Our Neighbors List’ (Prospects). We also started a new Prospects list to coordinate with our Grief Care Ministry. We wrote 20 cards for the two souls on that list, bringing our overall total to 98 compassion cards. Everything went quite well. Regarding training and implementation, we have certainly learned a lot about how to keep improving the ministry. This past week, we had one study with Back to the Bible that completed half of Book 2. We also had one study with Believe the Bible.

The elders met again this week to make a few more decisions about implementing the Evangelism Model. We continued our ‘Congregational Coaching’ lessons about New Movers during the PM service. I also spent some time explaining timing and opportunity. We will have our first Visitor Welcoming Teams meeting this Sunday to organize and implement this part of the ministry.”

Niceville church of Christ, Florida: Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “We are excited because we had 14 baptisms in 2024! As we close this year, we have begun planning for next year. We established a bigger budget for our newly launched New Movers ministry. We scheduled a Gospel meeting for next year as well as several community events. Our elders are planning ways to focus on evangelism with every event. Overall, our budget and planning process are more focused on evangelism.  The elders encouraged the deacons to get more help for the effort. Last week, our card team did not meet because of the holiday. We had no evangelistic studies. We had two returning visitors, and I set up a study on Sunday. I am currently studying BTTB with a young Christian couple; I believe they can have significant influence as soul winners.”

Rabun County church of Christ, Georgia (remote): McKinley Pate (preacher) reports, “We continue to see visitors here in Rabun County. Two weeks ago, we started a study with a young couple who continue to come to services; the wife is very in tune with the Scriptures. We studied Book 2 of Back to the Bible with them before supper last Monday. Tonight (Monday), they came to our home for supper. After we ate, we studied Book 3 of Back to the Bible, and they both decided to put Christ on in baptism. We met them in September when we gave them free tickets to the local high school football game. In everything, we look for ways to open doors and evangelize. To God be the Glory! The other couple visiting (last name of Smith) participated during Bible class Sunday. After services, the husband said that he finished the book Muscle and a Shovel and gave a copy to his son, who lives about 45 minutes away. Mrs. Smith is planning to read the book this week. They also wanted to help us adopt a family for our holiday effort. They connected with members at the Buford church of Christ, which has made a huge difference in keeping the door open and attending services. We pray we can have them at the house next week for supper and a study. We continue to move forward and give God all the glory. It is amazing how a connection with congregation members over an hour away can help open doors to those in the community. It is a true testament to Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 3:6: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.”

Lafayette church of Christ, Georgia: Jesse Teague (deacon) reports, “We had a holiday meal this Sunday.  We invited folks to our worship assembly, and then we enjoyed a meal together. We had several visitors. Each new visitor (as always) gets a visitor’s gift box with tea, honey, and a “Lafayette church of Christ” coffee mug. Good strides were made. They heard a good Gospel message, enjoyed the meal, and began to feel comfortable with the good folks at Lafayette. We are on the cusp of several Bible studies. We think some are almost ready, but of course we can’t force a Bible study. When the person is ready and wants to study, we are ready to sit down with them. We encourage them a little at a time so they will see that having a study is the right thing to do. We know God will give the increase when hearts are ready.”

Oak Hill church of Christ, Rome, Georgia: Matt Wallin (deacon) reports, “At Oak Hill, we had eight baptisms in October and one so far in December. That means we needed a new converts class. However, most of our baptisms were from the college and young adult group. We wanted to keep them in the normal Sunday morning class that had helped to convert them; they were already forming deep relationships. So, we decided to combine our new converts class with our college and young adult group and build a combined foundations class. We also opened the class to the whole congregation, but especially to those who do not regularly attend Sunday morning classes. This week was our second Sunday, and we had over 50 in class. We continue to spend time together on Sundays, Monday nights, Tuesday mornings, Tuesday nights, Wednesday nights, and different times throughout the week. We have found that you cannot have Acts 2:47 results without Acts 2 time together.”

Eatonton church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Roderick Coney (preacher) reports, “We continue, to train the congregation on Growing in Christ during Wednesday night Bible study class. We finished Lesson 3 with the prospect; we are waiting for a response to the Gospel. We plan to check with her to see if she wants to continue the study. We sent out compassion cards to two people. We have also set up the ministry for new movers.”

Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Matt Amos (preacher) reports, “The WCOC congregation attended the Sunabella of Towne Lake Assistant Living devotional on Sunday. Ten non-Christians attended. The Woodstock community conducted a Christmas Parade in front of the WCOC building. During the parade, we handed out 200 bags with informational literature, hot chocolate, and water for the participants. Approximately 30 members of the church attended and worked the parade. Eight Christians attended the converts class. This class helps those who were recently converted as well as Christians who want to relearn the basics. We had three non-Christian visitors at our Sunday morning service.”

Cartersville church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Charles Harris (regional trainer) reports, “We continue to gradually change the culture here at Cartersville into an evangelistic one. More responses are coming from our Compassion Card and New Movers efforts. A new convert has set up a Bible study with her boyfriend beginning this coming Wednesday. In our next Thursday evening Soul Winners Class, we will discuss how to teach BTTB 3 more effectively.”

Collinsville-Troy church of Christ, Illinois: Jason Wright (elder) reports, “We mailed out 193 compassion cards this week. That is almost 4,000 since July. We visited Ken’s house. His wife recently passed away about a year ago, and his cancer is in remission. We started sending him cards, and he saved them all. We visited him again and brought him a candle. He was so encouraged by our visits and cards that he wanted us to keep sending them. His daughters, who live close by, learned about what we were doing. We sent them invitations to our services. They visited us this past Sunday, and we gave them visitor’s bags. They talked about the love and generosity of the Lord’s church. They were very grateful. A couple of our ladies plan to take the daughters out for lunch this week. Our New Christians’ class is very well attended and going well. We currently have several Bible studies in progress. We handed out invitation cards again and contact cards for follow-up visits. This Saturday, we will be delivering Holiday baskets.”

Highland Village church of Christ, Bloomington, Indiana: Mark Stauffer (elder) reports, “We had 10 visitors in the first week of December; six were children. A new converts’ class will begin in January. We sent 87 cards last week. The initial excitement is running out; we are working with the congregation to transition to commitment.”

Lagrange church of Christ, Indiana (remote):  Mark Poe (elder) reports, “We have some visits to do this week since we finished the compassion cards for this round. We look forward to visiting those who have received cards, and we also started a new batch of cards.  Everyone is working hard and enjoying the work.”

Judah church of Christ, Bloomington, Indiana: Joe Moon (preacher) reports, “We have started the second book of Back to the Bible this week. We continue to train and hope to begin compassion cards soon.”

West Hammond church of Christ, Indiana: Robert Webster (preacher) reports, “We ask for prayers as we have experienced several funerals and holiday travels. We are committed to evangelism and will get things back on track soon.”

Beloit church of Christ, Kansas (remote): Dustin Dougherty (regional trainer) reports, “We had a considerably smaller attendance yesterday since quite a few are traveling. We are working on implementing our visitor gifts and exploring options for additional kids’ classes during the mid-week services. A new doctor and his family recently moved into town, and I was able to approach him this morning and ask if they had found a place to worship since they moved. He said they were looking, and I gave him an invitation card and told him we would be happy to have them. He seemed interested. To God be all honor and glory.”

Madisonville church of Christ, Kentucky: Don Killough (deacon) reports, “We have ten prospects on our congregational list. This Sunday, the congregation filled out 139 compassion cards. We have one Bible study in progress. We are preparing to begin our transition visits.”

Central church of Christ, Paducah, Kentucky: Adam Faughn (preacher) reports, “We continue to have some return guests whom we seek to prospect. One is showing great interest in worship but not in a Bible study yet; we continue to pray for that. We also had one Bible study last week that went well, and another is scheduled for this week. We pray for that study to progress. Because of the prospect’s background, we are using the Visualized Bible Study. If she does not become a Christian from these, we will continue with Back to the Bible. As always, cards and guest bags continue weekly. Seeing so many striving to encourage and win the lost is great!”

Aberdeen church of Christ, Maryland: Will Brown (preacher) reports, “We have had an excellent year of evangelism and are working toward doing more this upcoming year. We have two Bible studies in progress. We are working to be more connected as a church while we strive to continue to grow through evangelism and as being a church family. We appreciate all prayers for our efforts to maintain our evangelism focus as a congregation. To God be the glory.”

La Plata church of Christ, Maryland (remote): Eric Sykes (regional trainer) reports, “We are still working on implementing the Evangelism Model here at the La Plata church. Training continues with adjustments as needed. This week, we wrote 46 compassion cards and visited with three families. Two of these were new movers. We dropped off gift baskets and invited them to church. Getting folks to stick to Bible study appointments during the holidays has been tough, but we will keep working and let God work on their hearts. One of our new converts, who has been studying Growing in Christ with Sandy, called me yesterday. A classmate had asked her for more information about baptism. She (the new convert) is in her first year of college at George Mason University. With the holiday season and the end of the semester, I had to do some gymnastics to arrange our schedules and squeeze in a Bible study or two before the Christmas break. We had five folks in our new converts training classes last week. We just started a young men’s training class about accountability for future leaders. Five members attended the advanced teacher training class. We are finishing Lesson 2 of BTTB, and we hope to start on Lesson 3. In our video of the week training class, we will study “Eight Frequently Asked Questions about Baptism.” We have five names on our prospects list. We just ordered our first batch of invitation cards. We plan to assign a coordinator and start training the congregation on how to use them properly.”

East Main church of Christ, Tupelo, Mississippi: Barry Kennedy (preacher) reports, “We are still sending compassion cards each week and having our monthly giveaways as we try to make new contacts. We also have opportunities to respond to inquiries from ‘The Gospel of Christ’ television program. We are praying for good soil to come from these efforts as well. Holiday activities make for some new opportunities. Each year we get names from the local schools as well as Pinevale Children’s Home for Christmas gifts. The members are always stepping up to make the holidays a little more special for some children in need. It also adds another opportunity for the community to see a glimpse of the Lord’s church spreading love. As always, to God be the glory!”

Shady Acres church of Christ, Sikeston, Missouri: Keith Olbricht (preacher) reports, “I suppose that Shady Acres is like everyone else right now as we try to juggle a slew of additional activities brought by the holidays. We are continuing our training and encouraging.  We are currently sending compassion cards to five individuals and families. We had our second baptism since beginning our work with the School of Evangelism in October. This young man was already in our congregation, but his conversion was a result of his family studying Back to the Bible together in their home, and it was my privilege to assist his dad in baptizing him. We rejoice with Kennon and long for more.”

East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “After worship service, we watched the HTHSOE YouTube video, ‘Tips for Evangelism 23: First Words to a New Convert’. The visitor that we had from Florida is scheduled to start a Bible study this week. We also had three third-time visitors who said they would return next week and one long-time visitor. Our metrics thus far for December are six visitors, ten prospects, four visits, and nine Bible studies. We appreciate all prayers.”

New Concord church of Christ, Ohio: Terry Townsend (preacher) reports, “We sent 21 compassion cards to the 21 visitors who joined us in our annual Community Thanksgiving fellowship. Follow-up visits will be made in the next two weeks. One of our dear sisters began a Thursday evening prayer and Scripture reading for mothers this past week. Several from the community, as well as the congregation, are participating in that. It is a time for mothers to come together and pray for their children and study the Scriptures relative to child rearing/parenting. It is also a great opportunity to get non-members in our building to meet some of the sisters here and to develop relationships that we hope will result in future Bible studies and conversions. One of our elders and his wife have been working with our young adults, and they hosted a get-together at their house last weekend. Several attended, including a couple of ‘first-timers.’ We have had an uptick in our numbers the last two Sundays. Our non-member visitors (about 10 in all) are continuing to come. While we have been a little discouraged over their non-committals to personal Bible studies, we are simultaneously encouraged by their interest in assembling. I have spent a significant amount of time during my preaching the last couple of weeks laying out as plain as I can the distinctiveness of the church and what is required to become a citizen of God’s Kingdom, hoping that it might spark some deeper examination on their part.”

Cheyenne church of Christ, Oklahoma (remote): Nathan Brewer (member) reports, “We are sending compassion cards to another person, so we will send out 15 cards over the next week. Our auditorium remodel is inches toward completion. A Stage 3 cancer sufferer has said he would like to study, but fatigue and busyness have kept him (and his reluctant wife) from nailing down a time. I spent time yesterday discussing Luke 15:1 and those who seem to be unreachable. Lastly, we are mailing cards to a man whose sister is concerned about the cards angering her brother, who is reportedly an inactive church member. We assured her the cards would be positive and would not all arrive in one day.”

Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (regional trainer) reports, “We continue to write compassion cards and update our contacts. Robert has been working with Phillip and has scheduled a Bible study this week. I continue to work with Ethan. I feel like he is moving closer to deciding to be baptized. His parents attend denominations, and he grew up in a denomination, so it is a work in progress for a 20-year-old. I want to remind RTL readers that when we do these studies with people from the denominational world, do not be discouraged if they don’t respond immediately. Remember, we ask them to change everything they have ever known and to accept a new way of thinking. One goes against what they and their families have believed to be true. If their response does not happen immediately, we should continue to pray and keep them engaged in studies. Many times, they will make the right choice after they have had time to digest all of this new information. To God be the glory! You are all in my prayers!”

Union church of Christ, South Carolina (remote): Terry Hale (preacher) reports, “We had a busy day with three good visits and two Bible studies. We had one study in Back to the Bible, Book 1, and the other in Back to the Bible,Book 3. Our other study in Book 3 has been postponed. We had an excellent study last Saturday in Book 1.  We meet on Thursdays for evangelism training.”

Cookeville church of Christ, Tennessee: Jonathan Medley (deacon) reports, “This past Sunday night, we introduced the contact bookmarks. We are calling them our “Neighbor Cards” after Luke 10 and the Good Samaritan. We have already laid out the contact cards and the compassion cards, so this should get the ball rolling on prospects being added to the list more frequently. After the lesson, a member told us about two people she knew who might be good prospects. They were exactly who we need to contact, so they will be added this coming week. Our youth group made fruit baskets this past Saturday for the widows and widowers. They also made them for those on our Prospect List. We delivered one to a lady who has been receiving our cards for a month. She lost her husband of 40 years in September. She was very thankful. She said she usually attends a local Baptist church, but she wants to visit us sometime.”

Ocoee Street church of Christ, Tennessee: RE Vann (elder) reports, “We extended our training on bookmarks. Casey Bearden from the Margaret Street congregation preached a lesson on, ‘Who Is My Neighbor.’ Since contacts are keystones for success, we felt the need to repeat this step of the Evangelism Model. We continue working through the curriculum. To God be the glory.”

Rivergate church of Christ, Madison, Tennessee: Doug Tooley (preacher) reports, “One of our past visitors came to our lady’s brunch on Saturday morning. We made four visits last week. We had four visitors on Sunday morning and one visitor on Sunday night. The Sunday night visitor was taken out to eat. We had one restoration on Sunday morning.”

White Oak church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee (remote): John McGiffin (preacher) reports, “A family of four placed membership with our congregation. They have been visiting for several weeks. We employed the visitor model. We had lunch the first time they visited. We hosted them for dinner in our home and have followed up with other activities. A second visitor has returned for the second week in a row. Again, we instituted the model. After lunch and a great conversation the first week, he returned. He stated it was the first “church” that made him feel comfortable and welcome. He asked if he could come to Wednesday night’s Bible study. Of course, we said he was welcome. He said his experience has been different in the past, and ‘EVERYONE IS SO NICE!’ I was sick and had to reschedule our Bible study. We still have open communication with the family, and I am hopeful we will do that soon.  We had a fellowship meal after morning services, and a third visitor returned a second time. I am scheduled to go bowling with a special needs member this week and attend a concert by one of the new high school choir members. We are exploring a new thought; we might put yard signs in our members’ yards to encourage people to ask us about the church. We are not sure yet about the design. Also, we plan to distribute new mover baskets again soon.”

New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fultz (elder) reports, “We had four visitors on Sunday, and our members submitted six contacts. We sent out 35 compassion cards. We made five visits this past week and had two in our new convert class.”

Hillcrest church of Christ, Springfield, Tennessee: Tim Taylor (associate preacher) reports, “Gunnar, the grandson of one of our HTHSOE coordinators, was baptized into Christ yesterday! We are thankful for his decision and prayerful that his example will lead others to follow him! We currently have five prospects and 14 new movers this month. We will deliver baskets this month.”

Mountain Creek church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Michael Tomshack (elder) reports, “We continue our Bible studies with four individuals. Each person’s life experiences, and biblical background, present a pause when confronted with Book 3 of Back to the Bible. This is part of an individual learning the full truth experience: the seed is planted, we continue to water and provide Biblical nourishment, and we pray that their hearts will be fully open to the power of God’s Word. On December 15, we will host a ‘Bring a Friend to Worship’ day, followed by a fellowship meal. The focus of our friend contacts is our prospect card list.”

East Main church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Brad Rowley (elder) reports, “To God give the glory! East Main Evangelism efforts for the month of November were great. We rejoice in the baptism of Micah Nicholson by Cole Walker. Micah has been studying with Rachel Garza and Cole Walker. We also rejoice in the baptism of Joe Keaton by Jon Mitchell. Joe studied with elders Jay Pugh and Brad Rowley. We had 13 contact cards and 102 compassion cards written. We also delivered 13 new mover baskets, had four new Bible studies, continued 26 ongoing Bible studies, and made four follow-up visits. We are in the second month of utilizing CHMtgs to document and communicate our evangelism efforts. CHMtgs makes us much more efficient, and most importantly, those involved in the ministry can look up the history of each prospect.  This is especially important because it prepares us for each follow-up visit. Year to date, we have 151 contact cards, 1,711 compassion cards, 94 new Bible studies, 176 ongoing Bible studies, and 28 baptisms.”

West Fayetteville church of Christ, Tennessee: Steve Miller (preacher) reports, “On Sunday, our card group number three met after morning services and wrote 144 cards for those on our prospect list. The morning sermon was Back to the Bible Book 2, which covers worship and the church’s name. We had a returning visitor Sunday who is showing great interest. Our new mover basket group delivered 13 baskets this past week. Our First Principle’s class continues twice weekly.”

Blackman church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee (remote): Brian McCord (member) reports, “We will watch the last video this upcoming Sunday and will be ready for our leadership meeting.”

Chapel Hill church of Christ, Tennessee: Matt Jones (deacon) reports, “We started our week on a great note. A lady who has recently started visiting our services obeyed the Gospel this past Sunday morning. We first contacted her through our new mover basket program, and later she joined us at our Wednesday night community table. She was surrounded by so many in the congregation after her baptism. Seeing the fruit from so many different areas of effort is encouraging. We have several other Bible studies that we continue to pursue as well. To God be the glory!”

Rome church of Christ, Lebanon, Tennessee (remote): David Oxley (elder) reports, “We continued our study of Back to the Bible on Sunday morning, beginning with Book 2. We will meet this week on Tuesday for our advanced class. We are currently working on three prospects.”

Eisenhower church of Christ, Odessa, Texas: Allen Weakland (elder) reports, “As the holiday season is in full swing, the Eisenhower congregation continues its mission of Christ’s instruction to make disciples.  We presently have two prospects, Brittany and Ryann. They have been attending with us for a while now and have expressed a desire to know more about the Lord’s church.”

Buda-Kyle church of Christ, Texas: Ronnie Scherffius (preacher) reports, “Buda-Kyle is pressing forward, albeit slowly. Our present focus continues to be compassion cards/visitors. We are especially looking forward to the new year; we intend to double our efforts in Local Evangelism.”

Southwest church of Christ, Austin, Texas: Mark Speir (elder) reports, “We are actively trying to continue to find the visitors’ needs and concerns. We are trying to keep a healthy card-writing activity each week. We sent 230 cards in November, with 34 for visitors.”

Roanoke church of Christ, Texas: Caleb Rutherford (preacher) reports, “We rolled out the bookmarks yesterday, starting in a three-week phase, as recommended, I preached in the morning on the first part of John 4: ‘Jesus: The Politically Incorrect Evangelist.’ Joey preached in the evening, delivering another training session on the Evangelism Table. Due to the holidays, schedules, and folks being out of town, we plan to continue training but wait until the beginning of the year to start fully with the compassion cards and roll everything else out. In the meantime, we will continue the training sessions to be ready to go, come the first of the year.”

Colleyville church of Christ, Texas: John Garza (regional trainer) reports, “Many great things are going on at this time for the Colleyville congregation. Because of a recent baptism, we have been able to set up studies with a couple of Larry’s co-workers; he will be a silent partner. We are also working on setting up Bible studies with his mother and grandmother. My wife and I are also studying with a young couple, and we are starting Book 2 of BTTB this week. Next, a couple who has received our cards worshipped with us Sunday. They were from another congregation but had fallen away. They loved our congregation and went out to eat with Chris (Colleyville evangelist) and Lauralee. Chris asked them for a Bible study, and they agreed. In total, we have four Bible studies and seven prospects that we hope to transition into Bible studies. Many exceptional works are going on, and we love that the congregation is all a part of this work because God is saving souls in Colleyville, and more will be added to the church as we work together for Him.”

Howe church of Christ, Texas: Aaron Alsbrook (preacher) reports, “We continue meeting and preparing for our official launch in 2025. We are teaching the importance of evangelism on Sunday mornings. We want to keep the fire stoked from our seminar.”

Granbury Street church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas: Ryan Cowan (deacon) reports, “Bible studies continue even through the holiday season! Cheryl McIntosh continues her study with Maria, who is beginning to share what she is learning with her own family! Deborah Lehtinen will begin Book 3 with Patricia soon. Clark continues to prospect his neighbor, Tim. I was able to have a nice visit with Larry. I first met Larry last summer during our mini-AMC.  Larry’s yard was mowed by two of our members. Larry enjoys our visits. I hope to move our relationship towards a Bible study soon.”

Bridgewater church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (deacon) reports, “Eight people, led by our preacher Wade Webster and one of our elders, Jim Avolos, will be going to Mexico December 13-20 to teach and evangelize. Our compassion card Team 1 will be meeting Sunday evening after services to address compassion cards to the names that we have. The new movers will meet before Sunday evening services to address packets to those who have moved into our area. We appreciate all prayers for our efforts.”

West Side church of Christ, Salem, Virginia: Jeff Durham (elder) reports, “Our Youth Group has been an encouragement and inspiration to our Congregational Evangelism efforts. They continue to invite friends to classes, worship, and their activities. Several Bible studies have been conducted. We are prayerful that two young souls will be convicted to obey the Gospel. Our teens proactively asked our family and youth minister to develop a Bible reading program so that they could increase their understanding of the Scriptures and be better prepared to share the truths in God’s Word. We are thankful for their example of commitment to carrying out the Great Commission!”

Culpeper church of Christ, Virginia (remote): Dave Calvert (elder) reports, “We are near the end of showing the School of Evangelism videos to our congregation during our Sunday morning Bible class hour. A request has been sent out to all of our members, male and female, young and old, concerning our evangelism efforts. This first request focuses on the contact step. Descriptions of each of the nine different contact areas were included to help with their understanding of what is required. Many members have already expressed their desire to help. Most are willing to help wherever there is a need. Some have selected specific areas that they feel most comfortable with. We have received feedback from several members that they are sending cards, leaving tracts, visiting sick and delinquent members, leaving calling cards, inviting people, taking food, and performing service projects.”

Williamsburg church of Christ, Virginia: Jim Bishop (elder) reports, “This week, two families visited us. Both families had just moved to the area. One of the families visited a couple of weeks ago, and they brought their daughter who just graduated from college. She attended the young adult Bible study group. We also had a sister who brought her neighbor. The new convert class grows stronger weekly, thanks to elder Robert Beasley and his wife Eula! This is our 15th week. Brother Archie R. Green, our preacher, reviews vital parts of the model each week to keep it fresh in all of our minds. The coordinators met this week to discuss our progress in each area, specific needs, and available resources.”