Success Stories: August 27, 2025

Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: Keith Ritchie (evangelist) reports, “Glencoe church of Christ had three restorations in two weeks. We have three ongoing Bible studies. We have a Sunday coming up where we will be knocking on doors in a different area to set up contacts and invite people to our upcoming lectureship. At our elders/deacons/preachers meeting, we discussed several upcoming evangelistic works. The meeting was a shot in the arm with shepherds who have foresight and zeal for saving the lost. We have several contacts and prospects. May God continue to help us grow.”

Fayette church of Christ, Alabama: Josh Taylor (deacon) reports, “We are working through our current contacts. We are thankful for our program. It has produced courage in our congregation. Our core group is starting to gain the courage to reach out to people and invite them to our services, viewing them as contacts/prospects. I would like to highlight our church secretary, who serves as our gatekeeper and helps provide many of our contacts. I was reviewing our current numbers over the last five weeks and noticed we are consistently staying over 200. We have worked diligently to ensure that our congregation is friendly, upbeat, and ready to share the Gospel. In large part, I credit God and our evangelism program. We are grateful for the opportunities God has provided us up to this point. Continue to pray for our program and that it would be even more successful than it already has been.”

Highland Park church of Christ, Muscle Shoals, Alabama: Andrew Myan (deacon) reports, “We are making some changes in leadership in the evangelism ministry. Please pray for this as we get new leaders and train more people to be part of our ministry. We have many follow-ups and will continue more Bible studies. We had several repeat visitors who had been studying and were able to take a new couple out to eat.”

Central church of Christ, Saraland, Alabama: David Dixon (preacher) reports, “Progress comes in different forms. My family hosted some of our new converts for lunch on Sunday. We also invited a couple who are weaker in the faith and need encouragement, and that is precisely what happened. More than once, a comment was made regarding how encouraging the fellowship was. We are using September as Evangelism Month at Central. Every week will be dedicated to evangelistic sermons, and we plan to participate in Door-Knocking Day on the 20th. If things hold to the pattern, we can expect results!”

Cedar Grove church of Christ, Andalusia, Alabama: Josh Holloway (preacher) reports, “We are back to work after PTP. We had one visitor on Sunday. She is a sister of one of the members. We have added her to the prospect list and will begin sending her cards. This week, we are sending out 159 cards, bringing the total for this month to 508. We had one Bible study this week so far, even though we have only been home for a few days. We are on the second study with a lady named Nena. She hosts a weekly Bible study and meal at our home. She is close. I believe it is only a matter of time before she obeys the Gospel. As we start scheduling evangelism for this week, we are on track to be pretty busy. We will attempt to make 20 to 30 visits, and we have several Bible studies scheduled. One on Monday (Nena), two studies on Wednesday (Randy and Matt), one on Thursday (Casheria), one on Friday (Shelia), one on Saturday (Micheal), and one on Sunday night after services (Rudi).”

Hatton church of Christ, Town Creek, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “We are looking to start adding some more things to our effort, like offering Bibles to initiate more conversations to lead to Bible studies. We have multiple studies currently underway and continue to attract an increasing number of first-time visitors. We also continue to have great participation in sending out cards and doing service projects.”

Creekwood church of Christ, Mobile, Alabama: Tucker Presley (preacher) reports, “Several visits were made to VBS families last week. Members helped us make these visits! It’s great to see others getting involved! None of the visits resulted in Bible studies, but we still have more to visit. At least those we’ve visited so far have an invitation back and know that we care. Compassion cards are also sent out each week. We have one study going right now.”

Petersville church of Christ, Florence, Alabama: Adam Richardson (preacher) reports, “We sent 38 compassion cards last week. We had five visitors at the Sunday morning worship service, and one prospect for Bible studies we are setting up this week. He is a member of the community who contacted us seeking spiritual guidance and appears to be a wonderful contact. The final Bible study with our couple is highly anticipated. The wife responded to the invitation after the sermon yesterday to say she has learned so much from the study and knows there is more she needs to do to give her life to God. We anticipate an open-hearted response to the call for baptism.”

Hartselle church of Christ, Alabama: Justin Smith (preacher) reports, “We have several Bible studies ongoing and hope to report on some baptisms next week. Our New Movers ministry is taking shape, and our plan is to start making deliveries next month. I am pleasantly surprised by how many have signed up for this ministry. Many within our church are stepping out of their comfort zone for the glory of God!”

Rison church of Christ, Arkansas: Keden Shrum (preacher) reports, “The Besaw family, who visited the week before, returned to worship with us again. We are continuing to send them cards. One of our elders began teaching a New Convert’s class on Sunday morning, and he said it went well. We currently have six people in that class. We pray for open doors as we continue our efforts to reach this community. To God be the glory!”

Mountain Home church of Christ, Arkansas: Joshua Adams (preacher) reports, “This past week we celebrated three baptisms! The first was someone who had attended in the past, though had never made the decision to be baptized. As time went on, her attendance dwindled. However, due to some redoubling of efforts of a dear sister, we welcomed Cheryl Anne Beverley to the household of God on Wednesday. Then, on Saturday afternoon, we welcomed two new brothers, CJ Free and Otis Trubey, as well. Both boys are teens who have been actively involved in our youth group. CJ is the son of our members, Chris and Stephanie; however, Otis is the boyfriend of their daughter, Shelby. Both boys had been studying with Chris and decided that they needed to put Christ on in baptism. While not members themselves, Otis’ mother and father were present. We hope to encourage them to start a study soon. Weeks like this past one are a great reminder to continue working the “contacts” you have within your local congregation. While Cheryl Anne wasn’t a member yet, she was someone who was searching. And with CJ and Otis, you would hope that all of your children decide to put on Christ; however, that doesn’t happen automatically or without effort. Our compassion card writing is still going strong, with 16 people staying after evening service to write 60 cards. We’re reaching a lull in our contacts, but we’re getting ready to add new movers and ask the congregation for more, so I’m not worried that we’ll be able to add more soon.”

Margaret Street church of Christ, Milton, Florida: Troy Spradlin (preacher) reports, “Last week, I reported that we had sent compassion cards to some of our pantry contacts who had indicated that they were looking for a church home. Two of those contacts came to visit us during worship yesterday! One expressed his gratitude for the love poured out to them and wanted to thank each card writer in person. A BTTB Bible study has been set up with him. Another contact suffered a house fire recently and is asking for help. Many of our members have stepped up to assist with benevolence, which will help establish a good relationship and hopefully lead to a Bible study. Our current 2025 Year-to-Date Accountability Board numbers are: 238 Total Contacts received; 65 Visitors; 168 Neighbors (Prospects whom we have loved and/or studied with); 68 Bible studies (total completed); 1,821 Compassion Cards sent; 2 Restorations, and 16 Baptisms.”

Niceville church of Christ, Florida: Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “This week has shown me why churches need to be a part of the HTHSOE. This effort has helped us build momentum. While I was away at PTP, I was corresponding with one of our members who is studying with a friend she brought to church. I didn’t even know this study was going on. On Sunday, we saw our new converts delivering us three new prospects. We had four recent converts bring us prospects to our Sunday worship. Sunday evening, Daniel Shelby brought a young airman to visit our worship. One of our men set up a study. The study will reinforce Daniel since he will be participating with his friend, learning the path of being a soul winner. Our two Hispanic sisters, Edel and Jamari, have been talking to a friend who lives in their apartment complex. Alma visited our Sunday night worship with her friends. I am going to have them set up a study, and we will go back through the Visualized Bible Study Spanish edition. Sunday morning, Jose returned to worship with us. He is a friend of Eveliss, who was baptized in 2024. He was excited to return, and we had already learned that the compassion cards had made a big impression on him. I set up a lunch meeting with him for next week, which I believe will lead to a study. As a bonus, we saw the evidence of how the compassion card ministry can help you get new members. I had lunch with Scott and Jackie, who have visited us for several months. They are both Christians. Scott was a former elder. He told us they were so impressed by the friendliness of the church and that the compassion cards were a big reason. Although they are Christians, a young family who lives near them had done a welcome visit and brought a gift some time back. They are going to be a big help to our church. The second bonus evidence came tonight, in perusing Facebook, someone asked for a church recommendation. The person obviously had a church of Christ background because they asked for non-instrumental worship and a male preacher, along with a teen ministry. Our most recent converts gave a heartfelt recommendation of the church to this lady. We also had a recommendation from a parent of a teen who attends our church. Even though these parents don’t attend our church, they still love the church for what it does for their children. If your church needs this kind of momentum and outward focus, then please follow the plan and watch God bless you. Today we had a total of six visitors. We had one study this week. One study was set up. We had a meeting with some of our leaders on Sunday afternoon.”

Edgewood church of Christ, Columbus, Georgia: Mitchell Deering (deacon) reports, “We currently have four active Bible studies underway. With 157 additional cards sent this week, our total for August is now 367 cards. Our Gospel Meeting is taking place this week, providing additional opportunities to invite, engage, and encourage both visitors and prospects. This week our main focus is on reaching out to our unfaithful members, making use of the new study guides that recently came in. This effort will help us reconnect, encourage restoration, and invite them back into active fellowship.”

Cartersville church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Charles Harris (regional trainer) reports, “PTP was encouraging to attend, but I’m glad to be back home trying to lead citizens of Cartersville to Jesus. Two Bible studies this week will cover BTTB 3. I have been studying with a brother in Christ who wants to be more effective in evangelizing. He’s in the process of setting up a couple of Bible studies. Our mentors are making a difference with our new converts. I will be meeting with some members, training them on how to make follow-up visits. This week, several visits will be made for the purpose of getting Bible studies.”

Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Larkin Cook (member) reports, “WCOC had eight non-Christian residents at the Sunabella Assistant Living devotional on Sunday. The Prison Ministry Group is reconvening its Bible Study program at one of the Youth Detention Centers. The New Movers Door Knocking Campaign visited five doors this weekend. WCOC had six non-Christian visitors for our Sunday morning worship. We also had three Bible studies last week. We were blessed to have one baptism.”

Collinsville-Troy church of Christ, Illinois: Jason Wright (elder) reports, “We mailed 237 compassion cards this week. We gave out one visitor bag. We also made eight follow-up visits and delivered 14 New Movers baskets. We continue to conduct personal Bible studies. Thank you, Lord, for the cooler weather!”

Lincolnway church of Christ, Columbia City, Indiana: Drew Reece (preacher) reports, “We took a break from the curriculum this week because I was at PTP and one of our members, Jeremy Patrick, preached! However, we did continue with our compassion cards and bookmarks. We have already received positive feedback from one of the people on our prospect list, and he was so happy with all the cards he had gotten! Hopefully, we can continue and get a Bible study!”

Judah church of Christ, Bloomington, Indiana: Joe Moon (preacher) reports, “We sent cards this week, and had a visit with a prospect. That prospect agreed to begin a study, so we will start that next week.”

Beloit church of Christ, Kansas (remote): Dustin Dougherty (regional trainer) reports, “I was back in Ransom, KS, yesterday morning for worship. I taught the adult class and presented the morning lesson for them. There were 13 in attendance, and Beloit had a morning attendance of 27. I have been continuing the daily text reading with all of my readers, and we are almost ready to finish up the book of Acts. I’ve been sending a daily video to the man, Bob, whom I baptized in Branson at PTP. I’ve started using the same videos from the 40 Days in the Wilderness video series by WVBS to try to reach out to several of our prodigals. I pray that the videos will help encourage them to come back to the fold. We have the supplies for several New Movers baskets that we will take to new people in the area very soon. We are also preparing to implement a college Bible study for students at the local technical college in the coming weeks. To God be the glory.”

Columbus church of Christ, Kansas: Matt Fowler (member) reports, “We have sent 39 compassion cards out this month. We have a small group who are really working hard to reach out to those going through trials that may make them receptive to the Gospel. We wrote cards for 2 more prospects on Sunday and will be sending them out this week. Some of our ladies worked to put together visitor baskets. We have extended invitations to several people to visit, but we have yet to have any visitors this month. Hopefully, some will take us up on the offer soon. We have one Bible study currently going on and another that is set to start soon. I am scheduled to do study #3 of Back to the Bible with Dan next Saturday. He lives near the Iola congregation, and their preacher brother Delbert Shields is going to be coming to the study to try and help me close and encourage Dan to become a member of the Lord’s church in Iola. Please be praying for our efforts.”

Central church of Christ, Paducah, Kentucky: Adam Faughn (preacher) reports, “Two of our elders, one of our deacons, and I all attended Polishing the Pulpit in Sevierville. It was a good time to sharpen our swords, and now we look forward to putting our learning into practice. We were blessed on Sunday with a couple of return guests, and we are looking for open doors to transition these guests to Bible studies. A couple of other studies should resume this week, and we are praying for studies with Sam and Scott. May God bless the efforts here in Paducah!”

Chalmette church of Christ, Louisiana: Scott Russell (member) reports, “Chalmette has had a bunch of visitors this past month, of which 8-10 (approximately) people have come more than once, and one fella (Nathan) is coming regularly! I believe we currently have two Bible studies occurring. We also have mailed out several more cards during the week.”

Gonzales church of Christ, Louisiana: Patrick Adkins (deacon) reports, “The AM Sermon was titled, ‘Living by the Lamp.’ The PM sermon was titled, ‘Why Are You Sad?’ We asked for wayward members for our next round of cards. We reported on the positive experience we had delivering new movers spaghetti baskets. We signed 22 cards and are at 73 for the week. We have six ongoing studies.”

Beltway church of Christ, Camp Springs, Maryland: LeAndre Johnson (preacher) reports, “We are two Sundays past our 12 weeks of pre-planned sermons. We are continuing to do our T3 classes on Wednesday night, training our Lead teachers. We have one Bible study in progress. They will be starting lesson 2 this afternoon.”

Aberdeen church of Christ, Maryland: Will Brown (preacher) reports, “God is doing mighty things. This month we had 19 visitors in two months. They have been a combination of new to the area and members who invited them. We have five ongoing Bible studies, and our compassion card number is under report at 12. The three visitors represent just this past Sunday. We have been helping with a Back-to-School drive in which we are allowed to hand out Bibles to anyone who asks. Please continue to pray for our efforts. To God be glory.”

La Plata church of Christ, Maryland (remote): Eric Sykes (regional trainer) reports, “We had an amazing week at Polishing the Pulpit. We have been ‘Renewed…Refreshed…and Recharged.’ We wrote 28 compassion cards on Sunday. We’re currently working to complete the Bible study process with three prospects that we were studying Lesson 3 of Back to the Bible with before we left for PTP. Please keep us lifted up in prayer, as we continue to strive to evangelize our community.”

Jackson church of Christ, Missouri: David Selvig (elder) reports, “I am excited to get started with the BTTB so the congregation can see how simple this Bible study is. Pray that the training goes well so others can see what an effective way to lead others to the cross this is.”

Aberdeen church of Christ, Mississippi: Jonathan Hagar (preacher) reports, “I preached on ‘Keepers’ this past Sunday, teaching the congregation about mentoring the babes in Christ. We highlighted the fallen away in our bookmarks yesterday morning. Several people raised their hands. We got a lot of contacts this past Sunday by asking about the unfaithful on the list. We had one visitor this past week. We got his contact information, gave him a visitor packet, and will be sending him several invitation cards. Sunday night, we talked about the ‘Prodigals’ and how to reach out to the unfaithful. We went through the new ‘Second Thoughts’ Bible study with the church to help prepare them. This week, we have two Bible studies set up. Please pray that they both go well. One is starting lesson one, and the other is starting lesson three.”

Iuka church of Christ, Mississippi: Sam Glover (preacher) reports, “New mover’s baskets have been assembled and are being sent out this week, seven total based on last week’s meeting. Four sets of cards have or will be sent out in addition to at-home visits and the like. We had a returning visitor this Sunday, and our members were quick to interact and welcome him. We have a Gospel Meeting on the horizon, and I’d ask your prayers as we get ready for that effort.”

Concord church of Christ, New Hampshire (remote): Shane Belanger (member) reports, “In the last week, we continued our study with a man from the Mormon denomination. We were able to get about halfway through lesson #2 of Back to the Bible. We are looking forward to continuing this study with him in the weeks to come. Our training has consisted of reading and discussing each verse from the Back to the Bible lessons #1 and #2, with a focus on how we as individuals would present this to a potential prospect. We have also been active in filling out the greeting cards and sending them to past visitors.
We continue to pray for those on our lists of prospects. God bless!”

East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “Sunday we had three visitors. After worship service, we watched and discussed the video ‘Tips for Evangelism: Increasing Involvement’. Our metrics for August are as follows: 6 baptisms, 11 visitors, 19 prospects, 7 Bible studies, and 2 in a new convert study. We appreciate all prayers. Thank you in advance for your continuous and effective encouragement.”

Carthage church of Christ, North Carolina (remote): Randy Chambers (preacher) reports, “We are still in the trenches and serving the Lord. We have had two baptisms this year. We continue to use Back to the Bible. We are still encouraging the saints to seek and teach the lost. I appreciate you, brother, and the work that you and your family are doing in the Kingdom.”

Mountain Island church of Christ, Charlotte, North Carolina: Clyde Gilbert (elder) reports, “We’ve had several folks volunteer for various roles in our evangelism efforts. We are continuing to work on developing contacts, and this past Sunday, after morning worship, the congregation watched an RTL video about developing contacts. One Bible study was concluded, and we’re praying for obedience to the Gospel. One other study with a teen has been ongoing. We’re working on plans for follow-up with new movers.”

East Sparta church of Christ, Magnolia, Ohio: Andrew Masterson (preacher) reports, “We had an event at the building Saturday, where over 400 people were at the building. Six of those came to Sunday services, while several others talked about visiting in the coming weeks. We have one Bible study going on and six attending the New Convert’s class. We have sent 50 compassion cards over the past two weeks. We have training sessions set up for the next few Sunday evenings for different groups.”

New Concord church of Christ, Ohio: Terry Townsend (preacher) reports, “We received one new contact and compassion cards will soon be sent to that individual. New Mover teams have made their deliveries and are awaiting the new list! We did have a returning visitor this week. She is a lady from the community. She has yet to give us any information other than her name. I did speak to her as she was leaving (she was a bit surprised I remembered her name) and told her thanks for coming, and we are always here if she needed something. We did receive word from a family from out of town has bought a house and will be placing membership with us soon. They have worshipped with us many times and have family that attends here. We continue to work with a lady at the nursing home. Progress with her is slow, but it is progress!”

Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (regional trainer) reports, “This week we worked on delegating roles within the evangelism model. We have assigned new coordinators as a few families have moved away. On Sunday evening, members gathered to write compassion cards for several people. This week, Jamie and I will visit people whose cards have been mailed. We are also gearing up for the National Door Knocking Day in late Sept and our Fall Gospel Meeting in early October. Matt Wallin will be our guest speaker, and we plan to use the event as an opportunity to generate contacts. As we head well into the second half of the year, I’ve had the opportunity to bring Continued Education training to many congregations, with many more scheduled into next year. If it has been more than six months since your congregation attended the House to House School of Evangelism seminar, please reach out to me at keno@housetohouse.com, and we will add you to the schedule. HTHSOE is here for your congregation every step of the way, and we want to provide you with support and training to help you succeed in your efforts.

Owasso church of Christ, Oklahoma: David Combs (elder) reports, “Following Dan’s morning sermon a couple came forward asking for prayers for strength. After services, team 4 met in the annex with 15 card writers and wrote 105 cards to be mailed this week. I believe our recent success can be attributed to door-knocking and distributing invitation cards. Our last three converts came to us through invite cards. Our Accountability Board Stats Year to Date are: Visitors-34, Prospects-74, Visits made-43, Cards Sent-2,305, Bible Studies-13, Baptisms-9. Our baptism goal is 18.”

York church of Christ, Pennsylvania: Mark Rashke (deacon) reports, “Fred had returned refreshed from PTP, and preached a fine lesson from 2 Timothy that included admonitions about personal evangelism for all members of the congregation. We did not have any visitors in the morning, but one young man was present in the evening, who has been a repeat visitor. Fred confirmed a study with him this week. We will be sending out cards of encouragement to our recent converts.”

Union church of Christ, South Carolina (remote): Kent Thompson (member) reports, “We have cards sent out to three families right now, and praying we’ll get into those homes by next week. We did have two in the New Convert’s class, and it is going to get better.”

Philadelphia church of Christ, Lebanon, Tennessee (remote): Alex DeGraves (associate preacher) reports, “We still have our two studies that are slowly progressing. We are hoping they can begin soon. On a better note, we wrote cards yesterday and believe that we will have more soon! One of our studies went through the first book, but the prospect has delayed the study further each week. As for the other, he is resistant to further studies, but we are being cautious about it. We also have four new movers in the area. Prayers for our efforts, that we could reach them soon.”

Sycamore church of Christ, Ashland City, Tennessee: Jackson Erwin (preacher) reports, “We have 40 prospects and have sent out almost 600 compassion cards. Our new movers are also receiving baskets throughout their neighborhoods, so we are praying for their success. Thanks for all you do!”

East Ridge church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Charles Cochran (preacher) reports, “Thank you for the encouraging meeting at PTP. It was a great fellowship. I appreciate all you continue to do to bless the Lord’s work. We had a baptism recently named Chris Howard. He has been attending for the past several months.”

Stewarts Creek church of Christ, Smyrna, Tennessee: Caleb Wisterman (member) reports, “We received our new movers information this week and have already put together the 20 New Mover baskets that we plan to deliver this month. We discussed this new process with the congregation, and a few people have already begun delivering this week. We gave a quick update to our members this Sunday evening on our current progress and urged the congregation to bring us more contacts that we can start sending compassion cards to. We have one Bible study currently in progress, which started a couple of months ago. However, they’ve requested to restart their studies, so please pray for those participating.”

Cookeville church of Christ, Tennessee: Joshua Kennedy (preacher) reports, “We have three sets of compassion cards going out. We have several new possible study opportunities (not official yet, but hopefully getting there). We also have around six sets of new mover baskets going out this week. We are working on getting several door-knocking teams set up, and from what I hear, the studies we have are going well.”

Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “We had several visitors to our services. We had a woman who brought her grandchildren last Wednesday evening. They needed clothing for school, so Charlene (my wife) and Heather Keith took them to Walmart the next day to load them up. We will be following up with them to further develop that relationship. Another contact we made was through social media. Delores, the wife of one of our elders, saw a post where a lady was asking for some help with transportation. She reached out to her and asked if she and her husband could help. In the course of the conversation, she asked her if she would be willing to come to our services. The lady said they haven’t been going anywhere and that she didn’t have appropriate clothes. Delores was able to get herself some nice clothes from her own closet, and she and her husband, Andy, took the clothes to her. Delores also asked if she would be willing to study, and she said yes. They will be setting that up in the next few days. The Bible study Jeff is having with Cody and Alexis is still going well.”

Free Will church of Christ, Gainesboro, Tennessee (remote): Andrew Scott (preacher) reports, “We continue to send out compassion cards. One of our contacts, who is the grandson of one of our members, has taken an interest in the questions and answers I do monthly. He is going to send in a list of questions and attend the services when I preach that lesson. What an opportunity! I hope to meet with him after services and begin Back to the Bible. This will take place in September.”

West Sparta church of Christ, Tennessee: Justin Turney (deacon) reports, “We preached John 4 yesterday and are beginning our month of prayer for everyone’s bookmark list. We have had about three visitors over the past two weeks, so we’re hoping to set up our compassion cards within the next week. We currently have two Bible studies scheduled.”

New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fulks (elder) reports, “We had 13 visitors from our community Sunday. Our Compassion Card team composed 33 cards to be mailed throughout the week. We continue to make visits and work with our new converts.”

Grundy Street church of Christ, Tullahoma, Tennessee: John Summers (preacher) reports, “We continue to have strong involvement from many of our members in preparing our building, but there’s not much to report in terms of statistical progress. Regarding the work on the building, we had another workday this past Saturday with solid participation. We 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), including building preparations, inviting as many as possible, and preparing to receive visitors. We have one more workday scheduled for this month (this coming Saturday), but some of our members are even working at the building throughout the week to get things ready. We believe that our Friends and Family Day will be a launch point for identifying a significant number of contacts. 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.”

Arlington church of Christ, Tennessee: Brandon Tibbits (preacher) reports, “We had to reschedule our Mission Monday to next week due to scheduling conflicts. We just finished the morning portion of the curriculum, and we have two more in the evening due to getting off a little bit. We have had visitors most Sundays so I’m seeing success in that regard, and we continuing to try to get Bible studies and spread the Gospel.”

Chapel Hill church of Christ, Tennessee: Matt Jones (deacon) reports, “We are working with several prospects. I have another Bible study tomorrow night. He has been eager to learn and grow. I am praying that in the near future, he will be ready to obey the Gospel and make the commitment to follow Christ fully. All other areas are working hard to support our efforts to reach the lost!”

Mountain Creek church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Michael Tomshack (elder) reports, “With the return of children to school, this season has brought new individuals into our immediate vicinity from other cities. We have a few who come from churches of Christ in other cities, whom we greet and collect visitor card information and strive to introduce them to our congregation. When we discover that any adult family member is not a Christian, we inquire if they would be interested in studying more one-on-one. When we encounter them again, our greeters develop methods of recalling their names so that we provide a more personalized reception to all guests, which should demonstrate our desire to learn their names and develop a personal relationship. One characteristic of our congregation currently is a scarcity of only one or two children in each grade range, from first through twelfth grade. However, our two-year-old and younger children’s classes are overflowing. When we have visitors from the community or new residents from other churches of Christ attend, that scarcity is one of the reasons why we do not have a second visit. God will provide the increase.”

McEwen church of Christ, Tennessee: John Jones (preacher) reports, “We have two families with strange work schedules during the week that has been difficult to schedule Bible studies with, so we are using the Sunday morning Bible class hour to study with them. The studies are going well, and we have just made it to book 2.”

Collierville church of Christ, Tennessee: Justin Evergarden (evangelist) reports, ““As you know, PTP went very well, especially with the wonderful news of the baptism of Megan’s grandmother, Audrey. While at PTP this past week, we were blessed to meet many faithful Christians and to strengthen our knowledge of God’s Word. We are sending cards to four individuals this week. Three are visitors and one is Tommy’s dad with cancer. This is the last week for one of the visitors to receive cards.”

Soddy church of Christ, Tennessee: Joe Mallory (preacher) reports, “The congregational effort of sending compassion cards has been such a blessing in many ways. Our members are seeing the fruit of these evangelistic efforts in the responses of the recipients. One recipient wrote, ‘I have to tell you, the cards I have been receiving from your church have been great. Every day, I check the mailbox, and there’s always a card inside that makes me feel loved. I got one from your grandmother, your mom, and I think your dad. Hopefully, soon I will come to visit your church. Please tell them thank you so much.’ Our involvement is also increasing, and we have many who have stepped into new roles, strengthening new talents. Yesterday, our newly assembled Care Team 4 met for the first time and wrote 70 compassion cards. We are continuing to follow up with many with whom we have reached out. We are praying for these efforts to result in Bible studies.”

Hillcrest church of Christ, Springfield, Tennessee: Tim Taylor (evangelist) reports, “Wade and Laura and their three children have been visiting with us for the past few weeks. They have decided to place their membership with the Hillcrest family. We are excited to have them worshiping and working with us!”

Birdwell Chapel church of Christ, Cottontown, Tennessee: Kerry England (elder) reports, “Sunday morning, we had a young couple new to the community visit. After the services, they had lunch with three of our couples at a local restaurant. Team three mailed out compassion cards before services on Sunday evening. We are printing invitation cards for a BBQ and activity night coming up in September. They will be sent to our recent visitors and families that attended the backpack drive last month. Sunday night, we had a lesson on using Back to the Bible in anticipation of beginning more Bible studies. There is a Bible study scheduled for Tuesday night.”

Rivergate church of Christ, Madison, Tennessee: Doug Tooley (preacher) reports, “We had three visitors on Wednesday night, five on Sunday morning, and two on Sunday night. We had a restoration on Sunday morning. Also, a guy I have been studying with is really close. He was baptized in a denomination and is struggling with that. I believe he knows what he needs to do.”

White Oak church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee (remote): John McGiffin (preacher) reports, “We have tried many things to reach out to the community. All of them have produced contacts. Some have produced a few prospects. None have transitioned into Bible studies. In a small, older congregation, resources are limited. People are not physically able to help in many ways. Most are on limited incomes. Their circle of influence is shrinking, and so is the number of contacts. We know we can’t do a shotgun approach by throwing everything out there and seeing what sticks to the wall. We can, however, keep soliciting ideas and use trial and error to focus on what works for our congregation. I have heard the concept of reverse door knocking. That is to have something that brings people to your door instead of knocking on theirs. We have struggled with how… until now. Last week, my wife asked if she could post something on the app Next-door. Her posting was emailed to the group as the most popular posting in the last few days. Because of the response, she cross-posted on neighborhood Facebook groups. It read: In our house, we have dinner, dinner and games, and dinner and Bible study. We are available Monday-Saturday. Just let me know when. So far, EVERYONE who has responded has asked for a Bible study. No one wanted just dinner or game night. NO one has posted any negative comments. Tonight is our first dinner and Bible study. Tomorrow is our second. In two days time, we received 15 likes, eight comments, and two scheduled Bible studies. All from the community Facebook posts. Since the posts move down in the postings, we will need to repost them every 2 weeks or once a month to refresh the content. Three others seem like they are willing to set up a Bible study.”

Natalia church of Christ, Texas: Jim Word (elder) reports, “I’m going to be having study three with Brendan this Wednesday and have another study pending with Casey. Please pray for these two studies.”

Southwest church of Christ, Austin, Texas: Bryce Mayfield (evangelist) reports, “My family and many other members at Southwest were able to attend Polishing the Pulpit. It was refreshing and motivating! As we have all made it home, our focus turns to the evangelism work that is in front of us. We had eight visitors yesterday, and we are forming trained teams to greet, give a gift, a bag, and get the contact information of our visitors. I believe we can secure studies with three of these visitors soon; the others will require significantly more prospecting. We continue to strive to “plug the holes in our boat” as we ensure our evangelism program is running smoothly. Thank you so much for your counsel and encouragement while we were in Tennessee. We hope and pray your work may continue to be blessed by God!”

Granbury Street church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas: Ryan Cowan (deacon) reports, “Polishing the Pulpit provided a good opportunity for us to gain some perspective regarding our evangelism efforts at Granbury Street. John Garza offered some good advice on how to be more effective at catching people at home during our compassion card follow-up visits. We will also be looking at the potential of Keno Shrum coming to Cleburne in the future to give us further encouragement. Our next big effort is our ‘Mini AMC.’ (September 26-28). Plans have been made, and we are anxious to reconnect with our friends and neighbors.”

Bridgewater church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (deacon) reports, “Louvon and I will continue our study with Catherine Wednesday evening. Bianca has attended our service off and on for a few months. We have set up a study with her beginning Saturday. We had a visitor on Sunday, and she is willing to study. Jim will begin this study soon. Jim will also continue to reach out to some of our Spanish friends who are attending. One of our card teams met on Sunday evening.”

Roanoke church of Christ, Texas: Caleb Rutherford (preacher) reports, “Joey and I both returned from PTP this past week. It was great to be refreshed, renewed, and recharged. We are ready to continue our work with the church at Roanoke. We have several transition visits that are ready to be made. Stephen (transition visits coordinator) and I plan to sit down with our transition visit team to assign visits and re-familiarize ourselves with what we need to do in order to be successful. Compassion cards remain a large portion of what we are doing. Five prospects were written to on Sunday night by Group 4. We also plan to begin the New Mover’s program in the next few weeks. I know firsthand the success that can be had from doing this, so I’m looking forward to getting this going. We also have a booth at the Roanoke community event that will take place in October. We are currently brainstorming ideas to figure out how to be most successful in this. Our goal will be contacts!”

Colleyville church of Christ, Texas: John Garza (regional trainer) reports, “After the last study with Aaron, he knows what he needs to do, but he wants some time to process everything. Aaron and Grant will plan to meet with him again and talk through some of the things he is concerned about. We have the following prospects. John and Cheri Wamsley: Cheri is making progress in the rehab center, just slowly. She had a setback recently, which has made things harder. She expressed her gratitude for the congregation’s prayers and the thoughtfulness we’ve shown her. Luis Ortiz: John and Luis are communicating back and forth each week. However, Luis has to go tomorrow morning to Lynchburg, VA, and will be coming back on Friday. Then, he will go to Columbus the following Monday night for four/five days. Luis is hoping to have Saturday or Monday morning available to share a meal with John. Since it is the end of the MLB season, it is just a busy time of the year. 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 have involved another family who was helpful in our VBS and who teaches at the school in town. They are going to deliver the follow-up Bibles to those who visited. My family attended the annual ‘Meet the Mustangs’ school event to expand our network. One kid who visited our VBS this year said he loved being at our church, so I aim to talk with his family about studying soon. I was also told yesterday that others in our community are continually helped by our compassion cards being sent.”

Northern Oaks church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas: Mel Hutzler (elder) reports, “This week we reaped the benefits of having a trained group of greeters. We worked together to make sure all guests were greeted. We still have some fine-tuning, but what a difference it makes when we are all working towards the same goal. This week, Walter and Lora Teague successfully engaged two visitors in a Bible study, demonstrating that follow-up work is more effective when shared meals and personal connections are made. We visited a hospital with a contact we have been writing to, and Kori Wilson created a banner that the children signed. I delivered the banner and was welcomed by the whole family. I will also be revisiting this week and asking them the three follow-up questions. Tyler Montgomery has begun to use our marquee sign to evangelize. World Video Bible School has the following marquee signs we will be alternating every two weeks: – SearchingForTruth.org, WhereAfterDeath.org, BeingSaved.org, VideoBibleStudy.org, and ChurchOfYourChoice.org. Also, Matthew Montgomery has been selecting one training video a week to send in our weekly congregational emails. This week, we have four Bible studies going on. We have five in the new convert studies.”

Crosby church of Christ, Texas (remote): Jon Wheeler (elder) reports, “We had one sister restored on Sunday morning who had been absent from services for some time. The young man we are studying with came with his wife and four other family members. Then Sunday night, another young man who has been studying Does It Matter was baptized. We are so thankful for these responses for the Lord!”

Howe church of Christ, Texas: Aaron Alsbrook (preacher) reports, “In September, we will begin our first New Convert’s class for the coming quarter. It is our prayer and plan to continue teaching our new converts, making more contacts, generating more prospects, and conducting more Bible studies. To God be the glory for His plan being carried out.”

Abingdon church of Christ, Virginia: Freddie Klein (evangelist) reports, “Our accountability board is changing – we had another restoration this Sunday! That brings our total up to 3 this year. Also, one of our compassion card recipients came to services this Sunday and brought her father. They were greeted and given a visitor’s bag. We will be making our transition visits soon for the month of August, and we continue to reach out to our school supply giveaway contacts.”

Williamsburg church of Christ, Virginia: Jim Bishop (elder) reports, “We continued preparing compassion cards. Our prayers are for those working to save the lost. God works in many ways and answers prayers. HE provides opportunities for people to find a way to move away, separate themselves, from sin. This morning, at the end of the worship service, a young man came into the building seeking help with his spiritual life. He said that as he sat in his apartment this morning, he thought deeply about his life and how his drinking and other vices were taking over his life. Uniquely enough, we had a guest speaker for Bible study and the afternoon worship service. His name is Jonathan Fears. Brother Fears has been preaching for twenty years. He is also an author of “RUNNING FROM THE DEVIL,” which is a book and ministry that uses the Bible to help anyone dealing with addiction-related issues. The young man met with Brother Fears and our evangelist, Archie Green, who also has extensive experience in addiction and recovery. Archie will meet with him again soon. Thank you, God, for bringing this young man to us.”

West Side church of Christ, Salem, Virginia: Jeff Durham (elder) reports, “We had guest speakers yesterday who both presented lessons that focused on evangelism. One made observations of the value God places on each person’s soul (Luke 15). God hasn’t given up on these lost individuals, so neither should we. The other shared their approach to evangelism in foreign missions. It’s no different there as the goal is to have conversations with as many people as we can, taking the opportunity to inject spiritual topics or invite them to join us to study God’s word together: either one-on-one or in a group class or worship setting. Keeping our eyes open and making opportunities to share the Gospel is the key.”