Success Stories: February 19, 2025

Welcome Whispering Hills church of Christ, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma: We welcome the Whispering Hills church of Christ to the House to House/Heart to Heart School of Evangelism. They officially started to act upon their training only minutes after the training seminar concluded. On Monday night, the wife of one of the members was baptized. She had previously been baptized in a denominational church but did not know the Truth. It was so exciting to watch them embrace after she was saved. In addition, they had two more baptisms that night. Matt McBrayer serves this congregation in the pulpit under the oversight of three godly elders. They are poised for growth!

Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: Keith Ritchie (evangelist) reports, “The Glencoe congregation currently has five ongoing studies. There are several evangelistic events planned for 2025. We have almost completed the upstairs renovation, which will afford opportunities to have devotionals and set up more Bible studies. We are excited by our door knocking teams; they have brought us at least five new contacts. May God help us to sow, grow, and glow as we should. To God be the glory!”

Creekwood church of Christ, Mobile, Alabama: Tucker Presley (preacher) reports, “We haven’t had any restorations this year yet, but we are working to add the names of wayward brothers and sisters to our contact list. We have continued our training through our weekly sermons, and the members seem to absorb it well! We also created invitation cards, and members got them yesterday. Hopefully, that will create more contacts and prospects. We have another study scheduled with Viktoria (visitor) this Thursday. We weren’t able to finish the blue booklet last week, so we will likely finish it this week and then go on to the red booklet the following week, Lord willing. I will be shocked if she doesn’t decide to be baptized. David and I are also going to visit a Meals on Wheels recipient this week. She has been visiting for a long time. We studied with her once last year, but she stands strong in her beliefs. We will continue to study with her. I would love any suggestions about reaching someone who doesn’t see the necessity of baptism or stands firm in a conversion that does not follow God’s plan. Compassion cards are going out regularly now, and this is the third week for our first prospects, so we should be making visits next week.”

Central church of Christ, Saraland, Alabama: David Dixon (preacher) reports, “Central is hosting the thirtieth annual Spiritual Enrichment Series this week, and we have members from many of the local congregations in attendance daily. We are encouraging everyone to invite friends and neighbors, so we might use this event as an evangelism tool. On Sunday, our New Converts class had sixteen people. It could quickly swell even higher. The four baptisms we have had this year are leading to more contacts, which will inevitably lead to more baptisms. May God be glorified by our growth.”

West Huntsville church of Christ, Alabama: Paul Owen (evangelist) reports, “We are preparing to have Keno Shrum come for a Refresh. We continue to work the model and focus on developing contacts.”

Highland Park church of Christ, Muscle Shoals, Alabama: Andrew Myhan (deacon) reports, “So far this year, we have had one restoration. Last week another soul was immersed for the remission of sins. Her name is Teresa. She is a single mom who desires to lead her family to Heaven. She was a contact that we had from our Samaritan House. We were able to help her with some immediate needs, which allowed us to send cards and speak with her about her soul. She studied with one of our young couples using Back to the Bible, and we ask for prayers on her behalf.”

Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “We had a restoration on Sunday, plus lots of new faces every week. We have three studies going on now, and eight are currently on our contact card list. Also this Sunday, four people who hadn’t been to worship with us in several years visited; it was great to have them with us. To God be the glory.”

Petersville church of Christ, Florence, Alabama: Adam Richardson (preacher) reports, “Petersville had five restorations in 2024. The coordinators will meet soon to plan for new outreach opportunities, and our new movers took eight baskets to contacts last week. A new visitor has been coming to services regularly for the past few weeks. We sent 12 compassion cards this week.”

Winfield church of Christ, Alabama: Jerry Spann (deacon) reports, “Mr. Orville Bray was baptized tonight at Winfield church of Christ. Two of our members, Ben Huguely and Kenny Dodd, met Mr. Bray during one of our door knocking efforts. Mr. Bray has been coming for many months, and he is learning and growing his spiritual life by regularly attending, studying, and listening to Mark preach God’s Word. He has a background of multiple religious groups, but he has found God’s people here. Attached are some pictures.”

Malvern church of Christ, Arkansas (remote): David Burruss (preacher) reports, “In 2024, our congregation had five restorations, and now we are actively working with five others. This has been a key focus for us, so it is encouraging to see progress. Yesterday, we began our refresher training, which will continue for at least the next month as we aim to elevate our evangelism efforts. Our goal is to address gaps by implementing key strategies such as assigning coordinators to help distribute the workload, setting clear targets, holding regular meetings to review results and strategies, and, most importantly, actively working our prospect list. This includes sending compassion cards, making transitional visits, and ensuring consistent follow-up.”

Rison church of Christ, Arkansas: Keden Shrum (preacher) reports, “Care Team B met on Sunday evening to send cards to three people: a new mover, a person who recently started dialysis, and a lady who recently lost her husband. We have been planning some community outreach events to begin in April, Lord willing.”

Windsor church of Christ, Colorado: Lucas Stephens (member) reports, “We are having great work in Windsor. We sent out compassion cards and visitor cards to our prospects this week. We are working on new movers and transition visits this week, and we are prayerful that those will bear fruit! Although we didn’t have any visitors this week, we did have guests of our members. We will continue to have our leadership evangelist meeting this week to plan the week’s activities.”

Niceville church of Christ, Florida: Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “This week we had three studies and  sent cards. On Sunday, we had 18 local visitors. Several of these are regular visitors now, and we are studying with them. We had two prospects scheduled for lunch, but they were ill and missed Sunday. We are actively following up with by having specific people work with these prospects. We had scheduled one study with two people, but it was postponed this week due to illness. This week, we had 10 students in our group study on Monday night. We are studying the book of Acts, a chapter per week. A new military visitor attended this study. Next week, two of our new Christians will join this study.”

Avalon church of Christ, Florida (remote): Preston Silcox (elder) reports, “This past week included one personal Bible study (led by one of our deacons) and two group studies (one that included two non-Christians and one with two new Christians). Since planting the Avalon congregation, we have frequently used group Bible studies to generate personal studies that have led to baptisms. We brainstorm topics that might interest friends, family, and members from the community. Then we choose the time and place for the study (often in homes, but sometimes at the building), so we can advertise and invite people to meet with us. This has become a part of our culture and continues to provide opportunities to meet others and share the Gospel with them.”

Margaret Street church of Christ, Milton, Florida: Troy Spradlin (preacher) reports, “This is one happy, happy preacher! There is now much evidence of a major culture shift happening at Margaret Street church of Christ! When we first introduced this ministry, the congregation seemed excited and eager to implement it. However, as we proceeded, we received some pushback from several members. Today, I am happy to report that more and more brethren are focusing on evangelism. First, our current Bible studies have jumped to six personal studies! Second, our pantry ministry has completely overhauled our approach. They have eliminated purchasing food from USDA (which prohibited any evangelistic contact) and are now purchasing food that allows us freedom to openly communicate with the contacts. This new method produced 15 new prospects! Thirdly, at our recent Elders, Deacons, and Preachers’ Meeting, every ministry report (14 total) focused on evangelism! In addition, all of our coordinators and ministry teams are becoming increasingly more efficient and enthusiastic! A great atmosphere is stirring among the brethren here! We now have 71 contacts, two new visitors, 22 current prospects, and 20 transition visits to complete (four are prodigal members). At the end of this week, we will have sent a total of 613 compassion cards. The seed is being planted and watered. We know God will provide the increase! To Him be the glory!”

Eatonton church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Roderick Coney (minister) reports, “Last week we had one Bible study cancellation. We had a singing get-together at the Mills’ house, and one prospect also attended. We received a new movers list, and we will prepare the baskets and deliver them soon.”

Bremen church of Christ, Georgia: Scott Broughton (member) reports, “On Sunday after the morning worship, one of our Brother’s Keeper groups had a fellowship lunch. We invited one of the visitors, Chris, who has been attending for about a month. Food, fellowship, and talking about the Bible were the perfect combination. We made plans to start a study with Chris.”

Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Matt Amos (preacher) reports, “The WCOC congregation attended the Sunabella of Towne Lake Assistant Living devotional on Sunday. They had six non- Christians in attendance. The New Converts class had seven attendees. The attendees were people from the congregation who want to help the new converts. The Compassion Cards group created seven cards this week. We had seven non-Christian visitors at our Sunday morning service.”

Lafayette church of Christ, Georgia: Jesse Teague (deacon) reports, “This weekend, our young folks travelled to Pigeon Forge for an annual youth weekend called “The Challenge” that is offered by the Pleasant Grove church of Christ in Trion, Georgia. This event involves bringing, teaching, and keeping. It is important to choose activities that will give our young people a spiritually strengthening weekend rather than just a ‘vacation.’ This particular event is just that — with sound preaching/teaching, modest dress code, caring chaperones, and even a little wholesome fun time as well. I’m looking forward to seeing the results from this event. It is typical to have many folks who repent, rededicate, and obey the Gospel. Even though some members were travelling to The Challenge, Group 2 still met on Sunday after worship to send compassion cards. Twelve folks signed cards. This week, we had three names from our previous new mover door-knocking that received ‘multi-sign’ cards. We hope our efforts will touch these lives for their souls. Tonight, our core team will meet to review our ongoing list of names. We will plan additional visits and contacts to bring them a step closer to the doors of Heaven. We have several pending studies . . . almost there, and always moving forward to the goal.”

Cartersville church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Charles Harris (regional trainer) reports, “The work continues here in Cartersville. This year we have had two baptisms and one restoration. Bible studies are ongoing. Our congregational participation has grown in the past few weeks. I believe the positive results from last year and this year contributed to the greater interest in the work. This week, I’ll be in Saraland, Alabama, speaking on a lectureship hosted by the Central church of Christ. Central is enrolled in the school and doing well. I have been asked to stay after the lectureship is over through Sunday so I can study with the church about evangelism.”

Honolulu church of Christ, Hawaii:  Tagiillima Escene (preacher) reports, “Aloha from the Honolulu congregation! We continue to be active with reaching our new movers. Ralph, one of our elders, has been leading the charge over this effort. We have several souls we are prospecting. We have three ongoing Bible studies. This past week, a sister responded to the invitation repenting of her sins, and seeking to recommit her life in service to Christ. Barry Grider did a great job with our marriage seminar. Strengthening the home is vital to our work of evangelism. We appreciate your prayers.”

Collinsville-Troy church of Christ, Illinois: Jason Wright (elder) reports, “It has been a slow week at Collinsville. We continue to deal with the flu bug and Jack Frost. We had three Bible studies. Two of the students have completed Book 3, and they admit that they are lost. We are going to continue the study and introduce the Jule Miller study. One of our elders and his wife started a study with a couple who has visited for several weeks. They admitted they wanted to know more about the Lord’s church. We invited them to our Young at Heart Dinner on Saturday; they came and really enjoyed the fellowship. That study will continue this week. We mailed out 135 compassion cards and delivered two new movers’ baskets. We will have our monthly coordinator’s meeting next week. On Sunday, we continued our training discussing door knocking and how to enjoy it rather than fear it. We had no visitors due to icy roads and cold temps. We push forward!”

LaGrange church of Christ, Indiana: Wayne Poe (elder) reports, “We have had one restoration for the year. Also, two others who were members at one time are now reaching out, and we are praying they will come back soon. Sunday was a good day; we had two visitors and sent out compassion cards. We are looking forward to the follow-up visits. We also had a baptism. Her name is Aliyah Villafuerte; she was baptized last Saturday.”

Judah church of Christ, Bloomington, Indiana:  Joe Moon (preacher) reports, “Good morning. We have not had any restorations, nor taken any pictures of things.  We are slow to implement some of the things, and yet, to start a new converts class. We have only been prospecting one person, and finished  three weeks of cards this week.”

Highland Village church of Christ, Bloomington, Indiana: Mark Stauffer (elder) reports, “We sent 50 compassion cards last week. We had two visitors for worship and made two visits; we have one ongoing Bible study. We have a quarterly prayer breakfast coming up on Saturday. Special invitations have been sent to our prospects. Members have been encouraged to personally invite those for whom they have been praying and to ask them for specific prayer requests. On Mission Monday, we reviewed the transition training card and contact information to prepare our transition specialists for their visits. We are working to increase our level of activity as we come out of flu season and the weather becomes less severe.”

Beloit church of Christ, Kansas (remote): Dustin Dougherty (regional trainer) reports, “We had a small group yesterday with 26. Several were out sick. We did have an evening service on Sunday. We will start with a once-a-month Sunday evening service. I am resuming my Growing in Christ study on Wednesday, weather permitting. The text-a-day Bible reading is going great. One reader told me that her 12-year-old son has started reading and answering the daily questions with her. We will restart that in June, for anyone who would like to do it again, and for any new readers that would like to join us. To God be the glory.”

Madisonville church of Christ, Kentucky:  Russell Kline (preacher) reports, “We had enough snow on Sunday that we canceled all of our services. The Compassion Cards work is still going on. The New Converts class is meeting every week.”
Central church of Christ, Paducah, Kentucky: Adam Faughn (preacher) reports, “This week, we took some time to explain how we will use our new evangelism board and how the congregation can help us to make it accurate. Attendance was lower yesterday due to snow and ice, but the work continues! We are very encouraged by our new converts’ class. We are changing it from an 8-week format to a 12- weeks length to help handle questions that have arisen. To God be the glory for all the good happening in Paducah!”

Poole church of Christ, Kentucky: Andrew Wynne (preacher) reports, “Hey brother. Hope y’all are doing well. Lord willing, our next Wednesday night Bible class we will start teaching Back to the Bible. We’re also going to use the last Sunday of each month beginning in March to write cards for the wayward, encouragement, etc… had a couple started attending recently due to the new movers bags. Please keep praying for us. I think things are going really well here and we’ve got some genuine worker bees.”

Aberdeen church of Christ, Maryland: Will Brown (preacher) reports, “After three Bible studies, this young man chose to obey the Gospel. He came to services about a month ago, just looking for a church. He has a good, honest heart. We are working together to teach all the new Christians in a class where they can feel comfortable asking questions. In the meantime, we are  also working with all them to see where they are in their Christian walk. We have two more Bible studies with people who asked to learn more about the Bible. We appreciate all prayers for our efforts.”

Beltway church of Christ, Maryland: LeAndre Johnson (preacher) reports, “We sent 12 encouragement cards this past week. We are still getting things set up as we are in the early stages of training. We have one Back to the Bible study ongoing in Lesson one. We will send 24 compassion cards this week and conduct the second book of Back to the Bible.  So far this year, we have had three baptisms.”

La Plata church of Christ, Maryland (remote): Eric Sykes (regional trainer) reports, “We wrote compassion cards and had three visitors this week. All three were members of the body. We had to cancel our advanced teacher class due to inclement weather. We had four people in our new converts classes online. Five brothers attended the young men’s training class.  Twenty people attended the ‘Video of the Week’ training class. We currently have three open Bible studies. One person is starting Lesson 2 of BTTB. We are going to study Does it Matter?with a young couple who has finished BTTB Book 3.  The best close is never close!”

Fordland church of Christ, Missouri: Josh Romo (preacher) reports, “We have been studying with Tessa Boettcher the last several weeks. She is a former coworker of Ashley. We have been talking about baptism over the last month or so, and tonight she finally made the decision to put on Christ! This is our second baptism for this year.”

Samford church of Christ, Steele, Missouri: Kyle Imel (deacon) reports, “We are sending three prospects compassion cards. One has cancer, and two lost their mother. We were going to follow up on previously mailed cards this weekend, but we had bad weather and more expected tomorrow. So we will visit these at the first opportunity. I know most of the people which helps.”

East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “We had four visitors this week. After worship service, we watched the video ‘Prospects: Never Go Empty Handed.’ Our metrics thus far for February are twelve visitors and twelve prospects. We currently have seven Bible studies ongoing. We appreciate all prayers.”

Cary church of Christ, North Carolina: Larry Fife (preacher) reports, “We have been steadily working our plan, welcoming several visitors, and continuing our efforts with compassion cards. Additionally, we have made several new contacts, and I recently began a Bible study with a young man who reached out online, searching for a church that preaches only the Bible. We are praying for his heart to be receptive.

On Sunday, a member responded, and we were grateful to rejoice with her. Soon, we will be delivering new mover baskets, and we are preparing for our Friends and Family Day on the last Sunday of March; we anticipate many visitors. We are truly thankful for all the blessings God has provided.”

New Concord church of Christ, Ohio: Terry Townsend (preacher) reports, “Three Bible studies continue this week (two on Book 3 of Back to the Bible and the other on Book 2). One of our recent visitors to one of our Sunday services was back this week with his three young sons and wife. As he was leaving, he agreed to drop by my office this week to visit (we have already followed up with an in-home visit, but were unable to catch him at home due to his work schedule). He seems quite interested and has some questions we hope to answer. Our New Mover teams have been out making their visits and deliveries. They received their new list a couple of days ago and will soon be making these visits. Our newest convert received her Bible and baptismal certificate on Sunday, and she began attending our new converts class as well. She was so excited and even said, ‘It is wonderful to be warmly welcomed into God’s family.”

Sullivan Village church of Christ, Lawton, Oklahoma: Steven Hill (preacher) reports, “Here at Sullivan Village, we practice love and hospitality. We love souls and seek to make the most of the opportunities as they are presented to us. Each one of the members has different people in their lives to whom they talk and have influence. Through training and continual reminders, we have found that more and more prospects are able to be cultivated and reached with the Gospel. Often it begins with a simple invite to church when someone is going through a difficult time, or letting them know you are praying for them and sending them cards. Then once they come and visit, they too experience the love and warmth of the family of God. This is when we can welcome them, get to know them, and follow up with them. So many of our new converts have resulted from this very process. The key is to keep putting it into the members’ minds and be persistent and patient while praying for the efforts. God will give us the increase if we give the effort. Stay strong church.”

Union church of Christ, South Carolina (remote): Terry Hale (preacher) reports, “We are starting a new study this week. We are still trying to reach the other two contacts, hoping they will become studies also. Many good studies continued last week in all three BTTB books; many good reports show that learning God’s word is taking place. We have two prospects who see what it takes to obey God’s word; they have important decisions to make. We are praying diligently as they continue to study. Our training class this week was very productive as we demonstrated how to present material from Back to the Bible.Our new convert class is going great! Our newest sister has been very active. She asked if she could go with one of our teachers on a Bible study, and she enjoyed going and learning while being there. We request prayers for a very important training class taking place on Thursday. Last year we had two restorations. We haven’t seen any yet this year. We pray we will have many very soon.”

Stewarts Creek church of Christ, Smyrna, Tennessee: Jon McCord (member) reports, “We are in the planning phase right now. Our preacher, Greg, is studying the website and preparing to begin the training. We plan to have an elders/deacons/preacher meeting to begin organizing. We appreciate prayers as we begin the program.”

Birdwell Chapel church of Christ, Cottontown, Tennessee: Kerry England (elder) reports, “We are preparing for the congregational training on Sunday. We have passed out the surveys to the congregation this past Sunday as we start the organizational aspects. We are excited and hopeful to begin reaching the lost in our community.”

Blackman church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee (remote): Brian McCord (elder) reports, “We finalized placing elders yesterday. We met all day yesterday when not in services to plan our slant toward evangelism. We identified many of the coordinators. We also signed cards. We will send out around 30 cards this week to five or so initial prospects.”

McEwen church of Christ, Tennessee: Jonathan Jones (preacher) reports, “This week, we began sending out cards to our first six prospects. Yesterday, I preached through the first half of BTTB Book 1, and every member got a Teacher’s Edition of the study to take notes so that they can be trained in the material. We now have a Compassion Card Coordinator who is managing things well, and a few new contact cards were turned in yesterday. We look forward to making the visits to the folks we have been writing to. Last week, I mentioned a study with a man on hospice. We were unable to continue because he is deteriorating quickly.”

Cookeville church of Christ, Tennessee: Jonathan Medley (deacon) reports, “We have added two new prospects this week. One is a coworker of a member who is going through cancer treatments. The lady’s son-in-law is a Baptist minister, so this may be a tough conversion, but we are prayerful that the seed will fall on good soil. The other is the teenage granddaughter of one of our members who visited services. We want her to come back and get involved with our youth group and study with us. This past week, World Bible School also reached out to the congregation, stating that a teenage girl they had been studying with online lived in our area and wanted to be baptized. I have talked with the girl’s grandmother (with whom she lives). Based on our conversations with the grandmother, it doesn’t sound like the girl understands the concepts yet, but we are trying to organize a study with her this week. We hope to study with the grandparents at the same time.”

New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fulks (elder) reports, “We had two visitors this past week. We sent out 28 compassion cards. We made three visits and continue to work with two new converts in our congregational class.”

Ocoee Street church of Christ, Copperhill, Tennessee: R.E. Vann (elder) reports, “This week, the shepherds will be working through visits for three of our wayward members to whom we have sent cards. We also added a family of three and two additional unfaithful members to our prospect list. We are praying for restorations.”

Rivergate church of Christ, Madison, Tennessee: Doug Tooley (preacher) reports, “We had six visitors on Sunday. Two are in a Bible study. Three visits were made last week. We had a baptism last week. Tyrell Douglas was baptized on Tuesday evening.”

White Oak church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee (remote): John McGiffin (preacher) reports, “We delivered two more new mover baskets. We are having good conversations but no great interest yet. We talked about moving contacts to the prospect stage. We have several participating in prospecting three individuals. Some have taken visitors to lunch. Some are sending cards. We continue to pray for our contacts. We are going to get instructions about texting Bible readings to the congregation in the near future. Austin is sending sample texts for us to copy. We visit two people every week and call two prodigals every week.”

Hillcrest church of Christ, Springfield, Tennessee: Tim Taylor (associate preacher) reports, “Two weeks ago, we had one restoration. Compassion Card Group 2 set a new record-high last Wednesday, writing more than 50 cards prior to Bible study.”

Chapel Hill church of Christ, Tennessee: Matt Jones (deacon) reports, “Overall, things are progressing well. Our card writing teams are going strong each week. New mover baskets have been delivered recently. We still have a good flow of new visitors joining us and being greeted well. We visited some prospects who had recently visited, but they decided not to commit to a Bible study. We pray that other prospects we will visit soon will commit to a study.”

Rome church of Christ, Lebanon, Tennessee (remote): David Oxley (elder) reports, “We will meet this week for our advanced class. We are currently working on five prospects and continuing one Bible study.  Two of our prospects visited with us for a second visit on Sunday Morning, and they are interested in a Bible study.”

West Fayetteville church of Christ, Tennessee: Steve Jefferson (elder) reports, “Things are going well with our evangelism efforts. This week we are reaching out to our community with 13 new movers baskets. We plan to distribute all of them by the weekend. Brother Van Massey is currently teaching our new convert/first principles class. He has eight students. We are thankful for all who are in this class. As of today, we have been blessed to have had one restoration in 2025. We believe this was due to Biblical teaching in our classrooms and from the pulpit.”

Hillsboro church of Christ, Tennessee: Roy Carroll (elder) reports, “We have five prospects; two of them visited last Sunday. We expect a study to begin soon. This was the Hispanic family we met while knocking doors. Keep this family, Caprino and Crystol Ciseros, in your prayers.”

Mountain Creek church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Michael Tomshack (elder) reports, “We are currently implementing a rotation of leaders in several of the School of Evangelism areas to provide our members with a respite and enable others to assume leadership roles. We believe that rotation, similar to our practice with our teachers, fosters a sense of balance and encourages broader participation. We foster a more inclusive and dynamic environment by allowing members to experience leadership without the perception of a lifelong commitment.”

McKenzie church of Christ, Tennessee:  Randy McAdams (elder) reports, “Things are moving along here in McKenzie. Our numbers on our worship day are holding up very well, considering that the Flu, RSV, SARS 19, and Strep Throat are running rampant in our area. This coming Sunday will complete our fourth mail out for the month of February. We already have a list of contacts being built for the month of March. I compiled a list of all the mail outs we have completed since May 2023, and the total, as of the end of February, is 198. We can always wish for greater numbers, but we are thankful for this number of hearts that have been reached by our church. We want to put up a bulletin board above our Evangelism table where we will post the thank you cards we receive from those who appreciate the cards of love received. Our group leaders have been amazing, and the members of each group have been steadfast in the mailings. We are grateful for their desire to touch the lives of people hurting, challenged, and with needs of encouragement.”

Colleyville church of Christ, Texas: John Garza (regional trainer) reports, “As we continue to work to implement different aspects of the program, things continue to go well. We have many Bible studies taking place. We have a couple of new prospects to receive cards, and we hope to engage with some this week. The congregation continues to be excited about the work.”

Howe church of Christ, Texas: Aaron Alsbrook (preacher) reports, “Yesterday we started our Gospel Meeting with David Lipe. Brother Lipe has been challenging us to be more like Jesus and more evangelistic. The meeting has complemented the work we are doing with the School of Evangelism. On Sunday, we will pick up with Book 2 of Back to the Bible and continue to train greeters.”

Roanoke church of Christ, Texas: Caleb Rutherford (preacher) reports, “I started a walkthrough of Book 3 on Sunday morning during the worship hour. There was a good crowd, and everyone seemed locked in and engaged. Group 2 met Sunday evening to write cards to 10 prospects. We have sent well over 650 cards total, since starting the Compassion Card program about six weeks ago. A few have reached out, thanking us for the cards. They have been especially thankful and impressed with all of the kids’ cards. They make a big impact! Our elders are still in the process of talking to our unfaithful contacts. Our Transition Visit team will make the first round of visits this upcoming week. We have three Bible studies currently taking place. We have another Bible study that took place with a visitor, but she has now gone back to Oklahoma where she lives. We hope she can continue the study with someone in her area. There is also another new study scheduled for Thursday. We appreciate all prayers for these studies.”

Hondo church of Christ, Texas (remote): Andrew Patterson (preacher) reports, “One more week of Back to the Bible training! All is going well on that front. We had a visitor last night, and Craig helped explain what was happening during the service. Craig then took him to supper, and they discussed the visitor’s spiritual experiences and the Bible over barbecue.”

Southside church of Christ, Lubbock, Texas (remote): Joshua Hubbard (associate minister) reports, “We have had a good week. We have watched the second to last seminar video, and we plan to watch the final one this week. We have placed some of our new programs on hold, due to some of the leadership being sick or out of town. We are now ready to get back to action, with our visitor’s program and compassion cards are almost ready to begin. Many of the members here are excited to get to work; people constantly ask questions about non-Christians they know and how they can work toward a study. Hopefully this upcoming week we will begin moving forward!”

Fruitvale church of Christ, Texas: Carl McCann (elder) reports, “We continue to have steady visitors. Some weeks we have more than others. One encouraging prospect is Mike. His wife, Sherri, was coming by herself for several months. Then she suffered a stroke. Mike began bringing her. Since then, he comes by himself. We continue to try to get them into a study. They can be found each Sunday taking evangelism material and other Bible study tracts. The weekly Bible study at Azalea Trails Nursing Home is going well. We have new participants each week. The coordinator for events has been sitting in; her name is Angela. She said, ‘We have never had a weekly Bible study like this offered here that was so well organized.’ She continued to say, ‘I’ve never done one like this.’ The Ferris family is working on the contacts made from their weekly community Bible study.”

Midtown church of Christ, Victoria, Texas: Cody McCoy (preacher) reports, “More compassion cards are going out! The teams are getting into a groove, and the members are providing the opportunities. They are seeing contacts exist everywhere. I went to visit a member of the hospital and made two contacts with his family. One of our young adults’ mother is starting a study with James and Emily tonight! We pray for good soil. After being wayward many years, an adult son was restored yesterday because the parents continued their love and encouragement for him. We have had visitors every week and continue cultivating relationships with them. Our evangelism efforts are also extended to those who used to attend and are no longer faithful. Many members are reaching out, and there have been a few families coming around again. We pray they will be restored and served by us.”

Wheeler church of Christ, Texas: Garrett English (preacher) reports, “I was asked twice yesterday at worship about baptism by two young men of our congregation. I talked with their parents and gave them Back to the Bible Lesson 1 to study with their sons this week. We are making weekly efforts to reach out to those who attended the love supper, either by card or personal check-in.”

Bridgewater church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (deacon) reports, “Last week, I reported on the conversion of Encencia Romero on Sunday. She has been attending our services. She speaks mostly Spanish but has been in our English worship services. She has also been in the Spanish class on Wednesday evenings. This class is taught by Jim Avalos, one of our elders who is Spanish. As joyous as her conversion was, it was even more so on Wednesday evening when her husband, Gilbert, and daughter Jada also were immersed into Christ. They were formally Mormons, but they saw the truth of God‘s message. Our church family grew and an entire family is now united in their faith with the Lord Jesus Christ. Saturday, Jim and I had our third Bible study with John, who lives close to our building. He has been coming to our Sunday morning Bible class and worship service. After studying God‘s plan of salvation, he was immersed for the remission of his sins. On Sunday, he was present and his wife was with him. We pray that she will be willing to study with us soon. On Monday afternoon, Wayne and I studied with Dana Steadman. She learned the importance of the church and its pattern of worship. We will have our third study with her next Monday. One of our members, Chad Breaux, does some preaching and teaching via the Internet. He recently had two converts, one in Africa and one in Argentina. God is using us in many ways, and God blesses us so much. Our China convert David will meet on Thursday of this week to try and obtain a visa so that he might be able to attend the Brown Trail School of Preaching. Please pray that it is God‘s will for David to be able to attend this school. Also on Sunday evening, our new movers met.”

Eisenhower church of Christ, Odessa, Texas: Allen Weakland (elder) reports, “When we looked back at the work that the Eisenhower congregation has engaged, we give credit to our Creator. This past year was filled with numerous Bible studies that resulted in six baptisms, one restoration, and a number of contacts due to our VBS and Fall Festival. We started out this past year with a Creation Seminar that was presented to the community with brother Jeff Miller; this seemed to set the stage for the entire year. As this year unfolds, God has already blessed us with Sebastian obeying the Gospel, and that event led to our present studies with Melissa and Ceasar. These studies are progressing, and both seem very serious about their spiritual state. We pray that these two wonderful souls will obey the Gospel very soon. Beloved, the church’s purpose is to bring Christ’s good news to the lost. May we return to our God-given mission; when we do, God always gives the increase. May we praise Him for He is worthy of such praise.”

Granbury Street church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas: Ryan Cowan (deacon) reports, “We routinely pray for the lost at Granbury Street, but sometimes a surprise opportunity ‘pops’ up for a study. This is what happened with my wife, Kerista. Over a year ago, we had mailed compassion cards to a neighbor, Elaine, due to her health issues.  Elaine appreciated the cards, and our relationship strengthened with the couple, but a study did not ensue.  Last week, Elaine sent Kerista a message seeking help writing an Old Testament storybook for 4th- 6th graders. Elaine requested Kerista’s input. Kerista decided to use this opportunity to ask Elaine if she would like to study some foundational concepts from the Bible, and a door to study Book 1 was opened! Kerista and Elaine have made plans to meet in person. We appreciate all prayers for this study!”

Crosby church of Christ, Texas: Jon Wheeler (elder) reports, “Yesterday we had one baptism, and one person came forward requesting prayers to be more fruitful in the Lord’s work. Another gentleman recently moved into our area and has indicated he wants to be a worker in the church. A family of five also placed their membership with us. Three Sundays each month, a different group invites visitors to stay after service for a meal. Due to the number of individuals moving into our area who do not speak English well, we are training members to meet with those in that sector to practice their English by reading the Bible. We hope to get prospects from this program.”

Abingdon church of Christ, Virginia: Freddie Klein (evangelist) reports, “On Sunday, I preached on Jesus as the politically incorrect evangelist. Afterward, I spoke about the bookmarks and reminded the members to be praying for those on their bookmarks. I encouraged them to look over their list of names and find one who was sick. With this name, they would make a contact card so we could begin to send cards. At our evening service, I preached on Mark 4 and the growing seed. I completed the contacts and prospects step using some of my personal experience from Michigan. I ended the lesson with an emphasis on the visitation aspect of this program as a transition to the Bible study. We are gearing up to do great things with the help of our Lord!”

West Side church of Christ, Salem, Virginia: Jeff Durham (elder) reports, “A person who grew up attending an area congregation close to West Side saw our messages in the weekly HTHSOE email. She reached out, asking if we would add her uncle to our Compassion Cards list. He was recently diagnosed with late-stage cancer. We will begin sending cards and will follow-up, hoping to have an opportunity to share the Gospel with him.”

Culpeper church of Christ, Virginia (remote): Dave Calvert (elder) reports, “We have a lot to report this week. We had another very uplifting week at the Culpeper church of Christ. I have received feedback from several of our members who are reaching out to people in various ways to help share the good news about Jesus and the church. This past Saturday, our church hosted a marriage enrichment seminar. There were 20 couples represented, plus the presenting couple, Wayne and Tami Roberts. The Roberts seminar is entitled ‘His Shoes Her Shoes.’ They used Biblical principles and their own personal humorous experiences to help energize the marriages of our youngest to our oldest couples. One of our deacons has been working and studying with a young man for some time. He has visited a number of times over the past months. On Sunday, he obeyed the Gospel and was baptized. Hallelujah, praise Jehovah! It was an uplifting experience for all present. We got our feet wet with our compassion card ministry after our evening service. Some food was provided, and several families helped write notes in a total of 58 cards. Everyone that participated seemed to enjoy it and understand how this can be an essential part of our evangelism efforts. Many contributed good ideas that will help organize this effort going forward.”

Williamsburg church of Christ, Virginia: Jim Bishop (elder) reports, “The Lord blessed Williamsburg church of Christ this week by adding another to His church. Janie Briceno was baptized on Saturday afternoon and is the third soul added to the Lord’s church in Williamsburg, Virginia, this year. This is the 11th baptism since the HTH congregational evangelism training in July 2024. This week was our monthly door knocking effort. Fifty-two doors were knocked, three contacts were made, and 10 food bags were distributed. We have three Bible studies in progress and have prepared compassion cards to send. A key component of keeping new converts is helping them to grow. Our new converts class is using Bobby Bates’ book Growing in Christ, and a younger brother in Christ is teaching the class assisted by an elder.”

Eight Mile Rock, church of Christ, The Bahamas (remote): Tavaro Hanna (preacher) reports, “Our Bible studies are going strong. One member is on Book 3 of the Back to the Bible study, and it is going well. My wife completed the Back to the Bible study with a young lady, but her mom convinced her she needs to ‘live life’ before becoming a Christian. Please pray that this young lady chooses God over any ungodly advice. My wife is continuing the study; she is trying to show her the value of God over self. One of my Bible studies is about to learn he is not actually a New Testament Christian as he purports to be. Please pray for him that he accepts the hard truth in our upcoming study.”