Success Stories: August 20, 2025

Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: Keith Ritchie (evangelist) reports, “Glencoe church of Christ is continuing to have good attendance each week, meeting our yearly goal. We are planning our next door-knocking trip in a new area in two weeks. In October, our door-knocking teams will become our transition teams. We are very excited about going out into a new area. We also had two restorations last week. Our youth and college groups continue to be active and, Lord willing, will become heavily involved in our evangelism efforts soon with what we have planned for them. We still have three ongoing studies, one of which is about to begin the third study. Ted and Angela Brooks went to some of the local schools for outreach efforts and represented the Lord’s church well. We have many more evangelistic outreach activities planned before the end of the year. Please pray that our outreach and evangelistic efforts yield much fruit.”

Fayette church of Christ, Alabama: Josh Taylor (deacon) reports, “We have good news to report again at Fayette. One of our college age, Laci Whitehead, was baptized into Christ this morning. Her mom and dad have been faithful members of the church for many years and Lance, her dad, serves as a deacon of the church. They have prayed for many years for this day to come. They have remained patient and let the word of God grow in her heart. We are grateful for Laci’s decision and the example she has become to all around her. To God be the glory!”

Central church of Christ, Saraland, Alabama: David Dixon (preacher) reports, “New converts lead to new converts! On Sunday, we had two baptisms. That brings our yearly total to 11, and our total since we entered the program to 23. These young ladies have been attending for a couple of months faithfully. They are both juniors in high school, and they were eager for the truth. One of them is the niece of one of our new converts, and she brought her friend. They didn’t get baptized out of pressure or to follow the other. They truly understood the significance of the decision they were making. It was marvelous to behold. Additionally, the aunt of one of the girls who was baptized Sunday (who is herself a new convert, remember) is the one who was just married Saturday. Her brother lives locally, and at the wedding, he approached me with questions he has been struggling with as he has been reading the Bible on his own. He is searching for the truth, and after our conversation, I believe he is just a Bible study away from obeying the Gospel! One conversion has now led to two more baptisms, and potentially more!”

Cedar Grove church of Christ, Andalusia, Alabama: Josh Holloway (preacher) reports, “Even though we are at PTP this week, we are still working on our evangelism model. We are sending 114 cards this week.  The August total will be 349 so far. We had a few visitors this past week. We were able to take down information on contact cards and put them on our prospect lists. We conducted two Bible studies this week. One on Wednesday morning before traveling, and another on Thursday via Zoom call with a man named Matt. My family was in Tennessee, but we had great news back in Alabama. We received news on Sunday that a young lady named Megan Odom had obeyed the Gospel. She was baptized into Christ during our morning service. She has been studying and is heading to the Air Force this week to serve her country. Please pray for her in multiple ways as she starts this journey.”

Hatton church of Christ, Town Creek, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “We are in the middle of several studies currently.  We also continue to have a lot of new visitors we are following up with.  One added opportunity that is new that has come up is with an alcoholic recovery program, they are going to allow us to come regularly and study with them.  We never know what doors might open.”

Creekwood church of Christ, Mobile, Alabama: Tucker Presley (preacher) reports, “The young man we baptized a few weeks ago has been coming to Creekwood with his family. He has other siblings who have been coming but haven’t been baptized. Hopefully, we can reach them as well. One Bible study continues on. We’re also planning to make visits to VBS visitors this week. A few members have agreed to help us out with this effort. Compassion cards continue to be sent out every week as well.”

Petersville church of Christ, Florence, Alabama: Adam Richardson (preacher) reports, “Petersville mailed our compassion cards last week and ordered 500 more to send out in the future. Our House-to-House, Heart-to-Heart efforts have recently reached the surrounding neighborhoods, and we have three new families coming to worship with us regularly. Our hope is to help them find their place and their passion for evangelism in the work here.”

Rison church of Christ, Arkansas: Keden Shrum (preacher) reports, “We had a great worship service on Sunday. A new family visited, and they commented on how much they enjoyed the service. Chandra and I took them for lunch and greatly enjoyed getting to know them a little better. They plan to return next week, and we have already discussed having them over for supper one night soon. We recently purchased visitation cards from House to House, and this family proves that those cards work! Care Team B met on Sunday evening to work on compassion cards, and the visiting family was included on the list.”

Mountain Home church of Christ, Arkansas: Joshua Adams (preacher) reports, “This past week, our visitation team finished some additions we added to the second round of compassion card visits, continuing to build connections and share God’s love. Three more people had in-home visits, bringing August’s visits up to fifteen. We have several ongoing Bible studies due to these visits, deepening relationships and discipleship. After last night’s service, 18 people stayed and wrote 110 compassion cards to be sent out this week. While it’s been a couple of weeks without a baptism, we’re very encouraged by how our new members are integrating into our church family!”

South Florida Avenue church of Christ, Lakeland, Florida: Steven Ford (preacher) reports, “We had a baptism. A 15-year-old young man who had been studying online with Brian Kenyon obeyed the Gospel. He initially heard about the church from a YouTube page by Chad Breaux. That led him to find a congregation nearby. Now we will focus on his family!”

Margaret Street church of Christ, Milton, Florida: Troy Spradlin (preacher) reports, “I am sending this report from Polishing the Pulpit this week. It’s been a wonderful blessing to be here. Another great blessing is that the church continues to work the Evangelism Model, even in our absence. I see that as a healthy sign of growth, and it’s great to see a congregation that’s becoming increasingly more outward-focused! For example, our pantry ministry continues to generate more and more contacts each month. This time, we had two of those contacts indicate that they were looking for a church home! Of course, they were immediately placed on our Prospects List, and our Compassion Card team started sending them cards. When I get back home, and the time comes to make the transition visit, it’s going to significantly increase the likelihood of getting them into a Bible study (unless they happen to visit before then)! Evangelism works when we all do our part. Our current 2025 Year-to-Date Accountability Board numbers are: 237 Total Contacts received; 65 Visitors; 168 Neighbors (Prospects whom we have loved and/or studied with); 68 Bible studies (total completed); 1788 Compassion Cards sent; 2 Restorations, and 16 Baptisms.”

Niceville church of Christ, Florida: Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “We just passed the two-year mark with HTHSOE.  We sent in our first report on July 31, 2023.  In two years, we have made strides, had our ups and downs, but seen real results. Our attendance is up. We have been in the 175 range as of late.  Baptisms are up.  New members are up.  We have prospects and a renewed hope in our church.  With the birth of two new babies, we are restarting our nursery.  Two of our recent converts messaged me while I was away at PTP, saying they are bringing a neighbor to church.  We still have a long way to go to reach where we should be. As the old saying goes, ‘It’s better to shoot for the stars and at least hit the moon.’  I am excited about what I have learned this week and have a renewed focus to improve and train more workers in the church.   Our card ministry took the week off, but will resume this week.  On Sunday, we had no new visitors. We added two prospects from the New Movers program to the Compassion Card list.  We have one ongoing study.”

Lafayette church of Christ, Georgia: Jesse Teague (deacon) reports, “Last night, Group 2 met to send compassion cards.  Always work to do in the Kingdom. We still have a few people on the cusp of a Bible study.   We will continue to nurture our relationship with these souls and pray that God will give the increase. Several members are at PTP this week– ever learning and recharging our spiritual batteries.  PTP is a great “keeper” event … and much good training for all aspects of spreading the Gospel.   God bless all the good people who work hard to put this together.”

Edgewood church of Christ, Columbus, Georgia: Mitchell Deering (deacon) reports, “We currently have two active Bible studies in progress. With 45 additional cards sent this week, our month-to-date total is now 210 cards. Our main focus remains to streamline the follow-up system, using a shared Google Doc so that everyone has accurate, up-to-date information on prospects. We are working to turn compassion card contacts into Bible studies, an area that we recognize as the greatest opportunity for growth.”

Cartersville church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Charles Harris (regional trainer) reports, “We are attending PTP, but have several Bible studies scheduled for when we return home. One of those scheduled studies will result in a baptism. We have eight prospects for the month of August.”

Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Larkin Cook (member) reports, “WCOC had 11 non-Christian residents and scheduled one Bible study at the Sunabella Assistant Living devotional on Sunday. The Prison Ministry Group is working with the Lakes Region church of Christ in Tilton, New Hampshire, on starting their Prison Ministry Program. The Compassion Cards Group sent 12 compassion cards. WCOC had eight non-Christian visitors for our Sunday morning worship.  We also had four Bible studies last week. “

Collinsville-Troy church of Christ, Illinois: Jason Wright (elder) reports, “The angels in Heaven are rejoicing, and so are we. Ron and Tena were baptized into Christ after studying the Bible along with the Back to the Bible series. On Friday, 20 of us met and went out into the community doing follow-up visits and delivering New Mover baskets. We went for ice cream. We had a great time working and fellowshipping as Christians. We continue to mail out compassion cards. Our New Christian’s class rolls along, and our evangelism training continues on Sundays.”

Jerseyville church of Christ, Illinois (remote): Jake Medford (preacher) reports, “Last week we welcomed two new families who visited after being invited by members. They were added to our card list and returned again this week! This week, we also rejoiced as two individuals placed membership, and a long-time visitor, after completing Believe the Bible and Does It Matter? was baptized into Christ. Right now, four others are being prospected, and one is seriously considering baptism. We’ve been sending out many cards, and the level of excitement and encouragement within the congregation is higher than it’s been in a long time!”

Lincolnway church of Christ, Columbia City, Indiana: Drew Reece (preacher) reports, “We are sending our first week of compassion cards this week and praying for good soil! We have a couple Bible studies going on as well.”

Judah church of Christ, Bloomington, Indiana: Joe Moon (preacher) reports, “We are continuing to work on prospects who have been sent cards and have been visited at least one time.  We did not send any cards this week, but we will be sending some to a new prospect soon.  Things continue to go well, and we continue to have almost everyone involved.”

Beloit church of Christ, Kansas (remote): Dustin Dougherty (regional trainer) reports, “Good morning brother, PTP Sevierville sounds like it has already been a great week.  I left some WVBS cards at the doctor’s office in Kansas City while my niece was having her surgery. I am moving forward with the college Bible study, praying that it will be a good method of evangelism and outreach for the students here.  I have faith that it’s all going to work out.”

Columbus church of Christ, Kansas (remote): Matt Fowler (member) reports, “Columbus church of Christ, we have been continuing our training, and we started on our bookmarks this week. Over the weekend, I completed study #2 of Back to the Bible with Dan Ulrich. I am a football coach, and Dan is a coach at a rival school who recently lost his son tragically. He was very receptive to the teaching. He was amazed to learn about how the worship of the church in the New Testament was different from the denominational church he attends. We have study #3 setup for Labor Day Weekend. He lives more than an hour away, but lives near the Lola congregation. I have been in contact with brother Delbert Shields, who preaches there, and he is going to come and be with me for the 3rd study. Praying that he sees the truth and obeys the Gospel.  Please be praying for this study. We have a freshman girl in our congregation who has a classmate who has agreed to start a study with her. Please be praying for that one as well. It’s very encouraging to see her evangelistic heart, and the love she has for her friend. As a great testament to how helpful children can be in evangelism, I have a story. Two of our youngest children in our congregation collected a contact on Wednesday night after the service. They were playing outside and noticed a lady who lives next to the church building was outside with her dog. Both of the children rushed over to play with the dog and meet her. We came over, talked to her a bit, and gathered some information as we conversed. Those two kids made a compassion card and set it on her porch along with an invitation to visit. We saw her after the service on Sunday, and she said she had the card hanging on her mirror. It’s amazing how well kids can till the soil.”

Central church of Christ, Paducah, Kentucky: Adam Faughn (preacher) reports, “This week, we were blessed to have two Bible studies. Sam finished Book 1 and started Book 2. It was clear that his eyes are beginning to open to certain truths, and we are very prayerful — considering his background and some of the things he says — that the remainder of Book 2 will open his eyes even more. We also studied with Scott, who visited our services last Wednesday evening. He has some mental difficulties, so this study was spent trying to evaluate how best to go forward with him. He is very kind and felt loved at services, so we hope to encourage him in what will be a challenging study. We continue to be grateful to have guests each week, and we look for opportunities to reach each one. This week, two of our elders, as well as myself, are at PTP Sevierville, and we are thrilled to learn more to help us when we return home!”

Chalmette church of Christ, New Orleans, Louisiana: Scott Russell (member) reports, “As far as this past week, we sent out cards to three different prospects and have one new Bible Study set to begin this week. We also have a second study that Mark is scheduling to begin soon.”

Gonzales church of Christ, Louisiana: Patrick Adkins (deacon) reports, “The AM sermon was on things I can do for my family every day. The PM sermon was titled Israel’s deliverer still delivers. We had a meeting on mentoring our new converts and on delivering spaghetti baskets.  We delivered seven and made seven contacts.  From Zillow, we realized 5 of 12 were not new movers. We signed 11 cards and are at 58 for August and over 300 for the summer. And we had our 5th baptism in the past 2+ weeks and are at 13 of the goal of 15 for 2025.”

La Plata church of Christ, Maryland (remote): Eric Sykes (regional trainer) reports, “You know, you never know what’ll happen when you mix Christian kindness with the providence of God. We’ve been placing our HTH/HTH newsletters on the bakery counter of one of the brothers from a sister congregation. And he called me and said one of his customers was at the bakery and wanted to talk about the latest article, ‘Is Baptism for the Remission of Sins?’  I told the young man we were on our way to PTP. In the meantime, I sent him a link to the video ‘Why Are There So Many Churches?’.  He texted me and said he’d like to sit down and study when we return. This is the second person to reach out to us about the newsletters in the bakery. We’ve already baptized the first one…God is good…and my brother’s cakes are good too. My granddaughter completed lesson 3 of Back to the Bible with her childhood friend on Thursday night. She wanted her family to be there when she gets baptized. We drove out on Friday morning at 6 am. So, we’ll baptize her when we get back. Please keep us lifted up in prayer as we continue to strive to share the Gospel with our community.”

Jackson church of Christ, Missouri: David Selvig (elder) reports, “We are continuing through the materials.  The Contact Cards have been received well so far. We are sending 130 cards out this week.  We had a guest speaker already planned for this past week, so we will be back to preaching the HTH lesson with the Back to The Bible lessons coming up in 2 weeks!”

Aberdeen church of Christ, Mississippi: Jonathan Hagar (preacher) reports, “This past Sunday I preached on New Converts, ‘What New Christians Need.’ We introduced the New Converts class from this sermon. We are calling it ‘First Principles’ class (Heb. 5:12). We wanted all the babes in Christ to come to the class, not just the new converts. We had three visitors this past Sunday. We gave them a visitor packet and were able to take one out to eat. The door-knocking team went out this past Saturday and got a new contact. They said it was a promising one. This week was the first time we sent people out to contact those who have been receiving our compassion cards. Of the five we visited this week, we got two to come to worship this Sunday, and we set up a Bible study with them. We had our Fall/Winter Events Planning Session this past Sunday afternoon. We had more people show up than ever before. We discussed new events for the church and how we could leverage them to expand our network. We assigned people to go around the events and get information from visitors.”

Iuka church of Christ, Mississippi: Sam Glover (preacher) reports, “Rob, thank you for reaching out. I’m grateful to hear about PTP and the fruit being borne from it. I’m also grateful to know that lectures are so readily available. The work here has been slow but intentional. We had our monthly evangelism meeting last night, and I was pleased to see urgency and intentionality amongst those present, especially because we have seven new movers, all of whom are already assigned a team to greet them and follow up. Visitor numbers have stalled here and there, but our ladies have gone above and beyond especially a sweet older lady named Linda. Two ladies have already started laying the groundwork to start a Bible study with her, and I expect that to yield fruit in due time. One of our members is a workhorse when it comes to connecting and following up with visitors, whether he does it himself or ensures it gets done, and he’s seen four over the past month, including cards sent to them. Our biggest challenge is still distinguishing ourselves in a heavily churched small town, but God is good, and results will come. Our next major push is to develop an effective strategy for canvassing the outskirts of town and the county area, particularly in preparation for a Gospel Meeting in September. We covet your prayers and are praying for you.”

East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “While the Gonzalez family went on vacation, Jermaine Commack was taught the Gospel. What he heard sparked a realization and led to a change of perspective, prompting him to re-evaluate prior teachings that had distanced him from the religious faith. After carefully examining the Word of God and discerning its message apart from human understanding, he chose to commit his life to Christ through baptism, for the remission of his sins, Tuesday, 08-12-2025. To God be the glory! Jackie King had been attending worship services and various functions for a few months.  Crystal Gonzalez and Geraldine Jenkins were connecting with her and having studies with her off and on. She committed her life to Christ, being baptized for the remission of her sins, Sunday, 08-17-2025. The angels in Heaven rejoice as two more precious souls have been added to the body of Christ. Praise God! We appreciate all prayers.”

Alkire Road church of Christ, Grove City, Ohio: Tony Dunnagan (member) reports, “Good morning,
things are going well with our efforts. This past Sunday, we had nine visitors.  Including residual prospects from AMC, we have over 40, and we are working through them. We have three Bible studies ongoing since AMC, and we have had eight baptisms. God is good!”

New Concord church of Christ, Ohio: Terry Townsend (preacher) reports, “We have had several new first-time visitors at our Sunday services the last two weeks (5 in all). Each of them did receive a welcome gift. Cards were sent to them as well. Our New Mover teams have been out delivering new mover baskets and making contacts (how many they were able to make while I was away, I cannot report at this time). I hope to resume my Bible study this week with a lady we recently met at one of our local nursing homes. Her mind is as sharp as a tack. She suffered a stroke a few years ago that has left her in a wheelchair.”

Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (regional trainer) reports, “Last winter Jamie and I went through Lesson 1 of Back to the Bible with Dakota and his girlfriend Alyssa. He seemed to receive it well, but had a lot going on and, as a result, never sat back down for Lesson 2. Approximately six months passed before I heard from him again. I had reached out a few times but received no response. Then, a few weeks ago, Dakota reached out to me and asked to continue the study. So we met and recapped Lesson 1 and then moved into Lesson 2. Alyssa did not join us for Lesson 2 due to her work schedule. I learned in Lesson 1 that they were living together out of wedlock. I knew I would have to deal with that when we got to Lesson 3. When we finished Lesson 2, we scheduled Lesson 3 for the following week. This time, Alyssa came with him. I didn’t want to proceed to Lesson 3 without first bringing her up to speed on Lesson 2. So we spent time going back through it and then went to Lesson 3. As we got to salvation, Dakota knew what he needed to do, but he also recognized that they needed to change their situation when we talked about repentance. He was nervous to discuss this with Alyssa. I explained that I was not expecting them to make a split-second decision. I offered some solutions and suggested we pause the study until the issue could be resolved. They left, and I told Jamie we should wait for just a few moments. We prayed for them, and I had a strong feeling they would be back. About 5 minutes later, Dakota called me. He was sitting on the side of the road just a few blocks away. He said he could not force himself to drive any further, knowing where he would spend eternity if he were to die in an accident. He talked to Alyssa, and they made the decision to separate for a few weeks and then have me marry them when I return from PTP. They returned to the church building, and I baptized Dakota into Christ. Alyssa is very supportive of his decision, but is not quite ready herself. More study is needed. Sunday morning, both were present for the worship service. Please keep them in your prayers for growth, and that Alyssa will reach the same decision as Dakota. She is very close, but with a Mormon upbringing, she just needs a little more study.”

Owasso church of Christ, Oklahoma: David Combs (elder) reports, “We had an awesome Friday, Adam and Breanna were baptized into Christ following their study of Back to the Bible. Then they became Mr. & Mrs. Paxton following their baptism. Tim Bowman, our Youth and Family minister, studied with them, baptized them, and married them. You will notice in the picture he is wearing a towel during the ceremony just because he was soaking wet. Not knowing that Breanna was deathly afraid of water, he was up to his neck in water, and his waders were full just to accomplish the task, but what a great outcome! We have only been at this evangelism effort since April, and you can see our Accountability Board stays: Visitors: 34, Prospects: 67, Visits made: 43, Cards sent: 2,200, Bible Studies: 13, Baptisms: 9, and Baptism Goal: 18. We are already at our halfway point.”

Cheyenne church of Christ, Oklahoma: Nathan Brewer (preacher) reports, “We mailed compassion cards last week to an out-of-duty member and to a man in town who did some work on the preacher’s house next to the building. A member told the congregation that when he gets back from visiting his son out of town, he has someone who wants to do the Back to the Bible study.”

York church of Christ, Pennsylvania: Mark Rashke (deacon) reports, “Our Samson movie showing went well on Saturday. We had 28 in attendance, seven of whom were guests. On Sunday morning, we had one visitor, who we greeted with a visitor bag. Since Fred and Pam are at Polishing the Pulpit in Sevierville, Jay preached the morning sermon, and Mark preached the evening sermon.”

Union church of Christ, South Carolina (remote): Kent Thompson (member) reports, “Good morning, we had two in the New Convert class Sunday, we have three we are sending cards to right now, we had one stop the study last Friday as they counted the cost.”

Stewarts Creek church of Christ, Smyrna, Tennessee: Caleb Wisterman (member) reports, “We are continuing to send compassion cards to 12 of our contacts. Two of the 12 have now received visits from our Visitation team. We have five to six more that are just about ready to be added to our Visit list. We are planning to do a more in-depth visit training with the group we have designated for visits. We are also looking at expanding this group by reviewing our current roster and identifying people who we feel would fit this role. We are in the early stages of planning a community event for the fall as well. We discussed in our weekly meeting that we need to continue to probe our members for more potential prospects, as we are getting to the point where current prospects will no longer require compassion cards.”

Cookeville church of Christ, Tennessee: Joshua Kennedy (preacher) reports, “Hey brother, we still have four studies this week that are active, and we are sending out compassion cards to three folks as well. We finished up our latest batch of new movers’ baskets. Hope all is well with y’all!”

Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “Sometimes it seems like things are at a standstill when it comes to evangelism, but then we find out that people are working behind the scenes to bring people to Jesus. That has been the case at Covington recently. We have several people who have been visiting regularly recently. One is Noah, a young man who is connected with one of our young adult couples. I believe a study will happen very soon with him. Another visitor is Gary. He is an older gentleman who first visited at the invitation of one of our older members, Leroy. They met at the local gym and struck up a conversation one day. I believe there is an opportunity for a study with him as well. Jeff Phillips, our youth minister, has been studying with Cody and his girlfriend, Alexis. They studied book one of BTTB last week and book two on Monday. It is going very well so far. We ask for prayers that God will provide the increase as we plant and water the seed of the Kingdom.”

Free Will church of Christ, Gainesboro, Tennessee: Andrew Scott (preacher) reports, “Three more sets of compassion cards are going out this week!  Our army of soul winners continues to give! We had more visitors this morning. PTP was one of the best experiences ever. I am giving a report of everything to the congregation tonight and tying the lesson to evangelism. God bless you all.”

West Sparta church of Christ, Tennessee: Justin Turney (deacon) reports, “We handed out the bookmarks to the congregation this past Sunday to begin making our contact list. Also, I believe one of our members already has a Bible study set up! Many more to come!”

West Fayetteville church of Christ, Tennessee: Steve Jefferson (elder) reports, “Good morning from the West Fayetteville congregation. We had a great day, even though we had about 15 members away at PTP. We were blessed to have 22 visitors on Sunday morning, with some returning for our evening service. We are working on adding the addresses of non-members to our contact list. Also, there were 45 compassion cards sent to three contacts.”

New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fulks (elder) reports, “We had five visitors this past week, and we wrote 25 compassion cards. We made four visits and had two in our New Converts class.”

Grundy Street church of Christ, Tullahoma, Tennessee: John Summers (preacher) reports, “As noted previously, we’re taking a break for most of the month of August from the SOE curriculum and will resume at the beginning of September (although we do continue to take the time each week to pray for those on our Neighbor Cards list). We’re in a place where a lot of preparation work is being done and there’s solid involvement from many folks in the congregation, but not much to report in terms of statistical progress.  But the work we are doing is laying the foundation for those reportable results to come later.  To that end, we had another workday this past Saturday with solid participation and continued (among several other things) with the work preparing the room to be our Care Card (Compassion Card) room.  We continue to focus on preparing for our Summer 2025 Friends and Family Day (August 31st)–the building, inviting as many as we can, preparing to receive visitors, etc.  We have additional workdays scheduled for each Saturday for the remainder of the month, as noted previously.  We believe that it will be a launch point for identifying a significant number of contacts. As also noted last week, visitors will be our first category we really drive hard on with our care cards and follow-ups when we resume with the curriculum in September, and we expect to be organized fully for our care cards (compassion cards) and working our active outreach (prospect) list by that point.”

Blackman church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Brian McCord reports, “We have sent around 30 cards in the past week. We are arranging visits. Many of us are at PTP this week and will get back into the work upon returning next week.”
Arlington church of Christ, Tennessee: Brandon Tibbits (preacher) reports, “While at PTP, we had seven of our contacts visit the Sunday I was gone to hear their family members preach. After I return on Monday, we’ll have Mission Monday, during which we’ll make four more visits. Things are going well, and I know God will give the increase!”
Chapel Hill church of Christ, Tennessee: Matt Jones (deacon) reports, “Our coordinator’s team met this past Thursday and provided status updates for everyone’s area. Everyone is continuing to work at reaching the lost. We do still have several ongoing Bible studies and continue to pray for those to be fruitful.”

Mountain Creek church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Michael Tomshack (elder) reports, “Our compassion card writing efforts have been quite inconsistent this month. The end of summer vacations and travel before school begins have significantly impacted the number of card signers. Despite this, we remain committed to sending cards, which is our primary objective when prospecting contacts.”

Ocoee Street church of Christ, Copper Hill, Tennessee: R.E. Vann (elder) reports, “Greetings from Sevierville. Seven of our members are having a spiritual feast this week at PTP. We are looking forward to our HTHSOE refresher with brother Keno in just two weeks. We continue praying for you all.”

McEwen church of Christ, Tennessee: John Jones (preacher) reports, “Three Bible studies continue. New visitors and new prospects this week. Our member who recently taught her sister who was baptized is now teaching her brother. Please pray for that!”

Collierville church of Christ, Tennessee: Justin Evergarden (evangelist) reports, “This week we have been at Sevierville, Tennessee, for the polishing, the pulpit event. We have been running our booth in Japan. Gospel project in an attempt to raise funds for our future move there. After much preparation for renting a cabin, we were able to convince Megan’s grandmother to come with us and visit PTP for just a day. While she was there, she attended the session, ‘Why Are There So Many Churches?’ She came out with many questions. She also attended my presentation on getting the Gospel into Japan. During the presentation, I was asked several questions, and the way I answered them created more questions for her grandmother. Later that night, we were able to get her into the Back to the Bible series and study. When we got midway through the third book, she looked at me and said she did not want to get dunked in water. So we continued the study later when we got to the section speaking about God not promising us another day. We finally asked her the question, ‘When?’. She responded with a heavy heart. I need to tonight, so we buckled up into the car, contacted all of our brothers and sisters, and found a member who owns a cabin up here in Sevierville, with a small pool in their basement. At 11 PM on Saturday night, she was baptized and became part of the family of Christ. As she walked out of the water, she was greeted with beautiful singing from all of her new family surrounding her. When we got back to the cabin, she thanked me for all that I had taught her, but  I told her to thank God. She is looking forward to the new study guides that I will be sending her, and we will continue to have Bible studies to strengthen her belief in the Bible. Coming from a Lutheran background, she had been sprinkled as a baby and was always told that was enough. Sadly, her husband passed before he was able to obey the Gospel. And while this weighed heavily on her heart, she knew that she must stop the cycle that had been continuing in her family. She is now determined to reach out to her daughter and the rest of her family to try to teach them. Please keep Audrey Lehmkuhl in your prayers. She has a very long journey to go. You never know how much good it can come out of a simple, kind gesture for us. It was offering her a wanted trip out to Gatlinburg, to see the black bears, and from that has stemmed a new follower and sister in Christ.”

Soddy church of Christ, Tennessee: Joe Mallory (preacher) reports, “So thankful for the doors of opportunity made possible by the Lord! We have been able to meet and study with some wonderful prospects and friends this past week. Yesterday, we had five visitors come and be with us. Our new ‘Care Team 3’ met to meet congregational needs, as well as write 50 compassion cards. Some of us have been fortunate enough to attend PTP this week. We continue to have gratitude for the teaching and training that the school of evangelism has given to so many.”

Hillcrest church of Christ, Springfield, Tennessee: Tim Taylor (evangelist) reports, “We had one first-time visitor, two newer visitors (2-5 weeks), and 14 frequent visitors. We also had two pass-through visitors, visiting family or friends, with a total of 19 visitors. There were two Welcome bags given away and one contact card completed.”

Birdwell Chapel church of Christ, Cottontown, Tennessee: Kerry England (elder) reports, “Saturday night there was a youth devotional and activity. We had a young lady visit who said she would be back next time. A young family visited on Sunday evening. They were greeted and welcomed by two families with young children. We received our new mover contacts this week. We have gift buckets ready to be delivered to them. Compassion Card team 2 met and sent out cards before the services last night. There is a Bible study scheduled later this week.”

Rivergate church of Christ, Madison, Tennessee: Doug Tooley (preacher) reports, “We had four visitors on Wednesday night. We had five visitors on Sunday morning and three on Sunday night. Unfortunately, they passed on lunch. We had a couple recommit to the church and were placed in membership. We have one that is really close to obeying the Gospel. Just found out this evening that our youth minister has a Bible study set up with one of those couples that visited on Sunday.”

White Oak church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee (remote): John McGiffin (preacher) reports, “We have been following up with our Bible Lands Museum visit with calls, cards, emails, and Bible correspondence courses.   We have two that seem like good prospects.   We had four 26-year-olds visit last Sunday.  We are hosting them for a game night this Saturday. We are trying to pull them from an apostate church.   We are experimenting with neighborhood apps and groups on social media.  The most recent post we sent out,  ‘If you want to meet new friends, contact me for a free dinner and Bible study’.   We immediately got responses.  Our first Bible study is this coming Monday.  We will keep you posted, but so far, there are over a dozen who expressed interest but are not yet able to schedule a date.   Pray for this effort.   This is reverse door knocking.  Find something that brings the lost to you.”

Eisenhower church of Christ, Odessa, Texas: Allen Weakland (elder) reports, “With another upon us, we would like to inform you that the work here at Eisenhower continues.  After returning from PTP in Branson, I was informed that two of our contacts were opening up to a personal study. One of our deacons is engaged in a study, using the Believe the Bible series that helps individuals to learn of God, God’s Word, & Christ.  This coming week, they will focus on the authority of the Bible.  Please pray for soft hearts.  The second prospect is a young man who changed jobs so he could start attending services. Please pray for Tim as we progress toward setting up a Bible study with him. On another note, we are in the final month of our Summer Series on Wednesday evenings. Our theme surrounds the various blessings found in Christ. Our speaker, Richard Oldman, from The Lee Street congregation in Midland, Texas, presented a lesson of hope in Christ. Johnny Gonzales responds to the Lord’s invitation and puts the Lord on in baptism.  May we rejoice with the angels in Heaven. May God continue to provide contacts that lead to souls being saved.”

Crosby church of Christ, Texas (remote): Jon Wheeler (elder) reports, “I just finished teaching Back to the Bible in Sunday Morning Bible class.  We want more people to see how they, too, can be Bible teachers to prospects.  We have a young couple doing the BTTB series. The wife is a member, but the husband is not. He wants to be baptized before their baby is born in October.  There is another study ongoing in Does It Matter? with a young man. It is going well!  We are excited about these studies. We had a man who moved here from Venezuela visit on Sunday morning. He is a member of the church but wants his wife and three children taught the Bible. He said he will return for Wednesday evening services.”

Roanoke church of Christ, Texas: Caleb Rutherford (preacher) reports, “Group 3 wrote to five prospects yesterday. It’s a great encouragement that even while I am gone (my family and I are at PTP), I know the congregation will continue its evangelistic works. The study that was scheduled for Friday has been postponed and is being rescheduled. That study is ready for Book 3. We have transition visits being scheduled, and we will be following up with our door-knocking contacts in the next week.”

Colleyville church of Christ, Texas: John Garza (regional trainer) reports, “Bible studies: Our meeting last week with Marissa and Ladarius Herndon got rescheduled again, but we are hoping to meet tomorrow to continue our study. Josh Hill: He met with Aaron again last weekend for a study, and they also had another study on Sunday in between services. They have finished Back to the Bible, but Josh wants some time to process everything he has learned. Right now, Aaron is giving him some space and time to think but will reach out again.   Prospects: John & Cheri Wamsley. Please continue to pray for Cheri. She is still making progress at the rehab center, but it is going slowly. Luis Ortiz: John is planning to meet with him once they get back from PTP. Let’s pray that there will be an opportunity to study the Bible with him. Please continue to keep all these souls in your prayers, as well as any others we may be able to reach out to!”

Wheeler church of Christ, Texas: Garrett English (preacher) reports, “I invited a couple to last week’s baptism because I knew it would be a way to find an opportunity to ask them about their own baptism. They attend regularly on Sunday mornings, but I am not sure of their spiritual status. I intended to ask yesterday, but they were not there. School starts this week, and we plan to get every 6th grader in the county a Bible once I get the count for all of them.”

Northern Oaks church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas: Mel Hutzler (elder) reports, “Our card-writing system is working smoothly after making some tweaks and recommendations. We are cranking out more cards and using our card-writing teams more efficiently. This past week, Eleven people were trained on ‘How to Greet a Visitor.’ We are hopeful that we will be getting more contacts this way. Since doing our Bookmark training, we have had three members provide contact information. We have three people to follow up with this week. We are still working to build relationships with a wayward brother, and we shared a meal with him. We will soon have a loving conversation with him about the consequences of his continued failure to reconcile with God. We have three ongoing Bible studies. We have five in new convert studies. We have six key contacts we aim to connect with this week, and we will request a study from them. Hopefully, soon we will be offering training on ‘How to do Follow-up Work.’ We appreciate the congregation so much for all the wonderful work they do in God’s Kingdom.”

Bridgewater church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (deacon) reports, “We sent packets to 71 new movers last evening. We have a big group come before our evening service. Praying God will send some folks our way. We still have visitors coming each week.”

Howe church of Christ, Texas: Aaron Alsbrook (preacher) reports, “Everything in Howe is still moving forward. We are writing a series of cards to send to our backpack families. We will then make visits to those families in a few weeks. This week, I am with our deacon over missions and our dear brother Toby Soechting in Ghana, West Africa, teaching at a school of preaching seminar. Toby has been teaching and encouraging these brethren for 25 years to stand firm in the faith. It has been a wonderful trip so far, with our week just beginning.”

Abingdon church of Christ, Virginia: Freddie Klein (evangelist) reports, “This week we divided up the transition visits and reviewed the success of the New Movers program. The accountability boards have now been hung in the auditorium and filled out—it is exciting to see the visible progress this effort is producing. On Sunday, one of our elders preached on our need for evangelism and made special reference to the boards as a tool to encourage us in the work. We also completed our final week of compassion cards for August.”

Williamsburg church of Christ, Virginia: Jim Bishop (elder) reports, “This week we continued with our mid-week viewing of the HTH evangelism tips. This helps us keep evangelism at the forefront of everyone’s mind. Compassion cards were signed by Group #3, and we have one Bible study in process. We pray for all those teaching those who are lost. May God bless them by adding to His church.”

West Side church of Christ, Salem, Virginia: Jeff Durham (elder) reports, “One of our deacons presented a message about the significance of light, both physically and more importantly, spiritually.  He emphasized the need we all have to reflect the True Light of Jesus in our lives as part of how we attract others to Him.  Our afternoon session, handing out follow-up visits to card recipients, was encouraging.  One member shared her most recent visit yielded the opportunity we pray for: setting up a Bible study.  Our associate minister uses a phrase we love: “plant, water, God”.  Let’s all keep doing our part as we know He will do His!”