My family and I attended the evangelism seminar that was at University Church of Christ in Montgomery. (We are members at another congregation in town.) After attending the seminar and purchasing some materials, I began to study with my mother. She has had some exposure to the church (my grandmother became a Christian when my mother was a teenager) but has never really been interested in being a Christian.
I have studied with her in the past, but it has never been successful. After weeks and weeks of studying (we had to break each book up into smaller bits), mostly long distance, I am happy to say that my mother was baptized into Christ yesterday.
I am so thankful for the lessons you presented and the tools you gave us. They really helped us in teaching my mother the gospel. Words cannot express my gratitude! It was also a great experience for my five-year-old daughter to witness. We explained that grandma decided to be baptized because she wants to follow God. My daughter then rightly asked, “Who is going to follow God next?”
I pray that we will continue to have success in reaching more lost souls, but I wanted to share the good news and express our gratitude. I know it is probably hard doing so many seminars a year, but it is definitely helping to reach the lost, and I am thankful for you and your family! Thank you, Amber Willingham
Subligna Road church of Christ, Georgia: Tommy O’Kelly (preacher) reports, “We have had two baptisms, a husband and wife, and have had some enroll in Bible correspondence courses. Subligna sat up a booth at the Summerville Christmas parade and gave away hot chocolate and coffee along with cookies and evangelistic material. We hope and pray for a harvest from that. Even if just one person obeys the gospel, that will be one less soul Satan will not have.”
North Jefferson church of Christ, Mt. Pleasant, Texas: Kris Groda (preacher) reports, “We just had a large community benevolent drive. We had 150 contacts arrive and developed 25 of these into prospects. Please pray about it and stay tuned!”
Warner Robins church of Christ, Georgia: Daniel Stearsman (preacher) reports, “We continue to ask— what are the key elements to honoring Christ through a winning evangelistic strategy? Every bit of hospitality, every prayer for someone lost, every meal, every name that moves to the congregational contact list, every gift and new mover bag, every compassion card, every Bible study, and every effort to keep folks faithful are part of the strategy. We thank God for hearts primed to serve. And we thank God for our ladies this past week who assembled 20 visitation bags along with several new mover baskets. Bible studies are happening planting and watering going on. Like everywhere, we work through kinks and bumps here and there. It is to be expected. Our elders are determined not to pass up what is good and acceptable in search of human perfection or idealism.”
University church of Christ, Montgomery, Alabama: Faires Austin (elder) reports, “This has been an outstanding week for our Evangelism Outreach. Here are two wonderful stories.
1. We received a report tonight (Sunday) from Todd Brennemam, one of our elders, that his twelve-year-old nephew was baptized into Christ this afternoon. Todd’s mother-in-law and niece in Arkansas, have been watching our services for a while as we have been going through the Back to the Bible booklets from the pulpit. The last two Sunday morning lessons really made an impression on Isaac, Todd’s nephew. As a result, Isaac was baptized into Christ today.
2. We received word this week that a young lady had attended Rob Whitacre’s seminars here at the University Church of Christ in October. After attending the seminar, she began to study with her mother. She had studied with her mother in the past but was not successful. After several weeks of studying with her mother and using the Back to the Bible material, her mother was baptized into Christ earlier this month.
3. This morning, Sunday, December 12, Kevin Long and I updated the congregation on the progress of the Evangelism Program. After our presentation several members wanted to become more involved in different areas of our Evangelist Outreach.
4. We continue to be blessed with visitors every time our doors are open at the University Church of Christ. “Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:38).
Coldwater church of Christ, Kentucky: A special plea for help was sent out on Monday. Coldwater has become a distribution center for the local community that was devastated by the tornados. The churches phone number is 270-489-2219. You can reach them by email coldwatercoc@wk.net. They can contact Luke Puckett on Facebook, or his cell: (270) 227-3744. Their mailing address is: 8467 ST Route 121N Murray KY 42071.
Eastmain church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Brad Rowley (elder) reports, “East Main started our new visitor program this last Sunday. Our new movers program continues, and we are currently distributing November baskets. We have received our compassion card racks and hope to have them set up in the lobby soon. We continue to train volunteers and establish coordinators within the remaining programs (see chart below). We have set up a shared Excel file for a congregation contact list. We have two administrators, Wayne Lankford and Jon Mitchell, who will review, update, and decide the next step of action for each prospect. We are in process of distributing supplies to each of Bible study volunteer. Our Back to the Bible evangelism class continues to meet each Sunday afternoon. We completed lesson two last Sunday. We have four Bible studies in process; please pray for open hearts to obey the gospel. Mark Isenberg and Jeremy Jones will start a new Bible study this week that resulted from a benevolent request. We are thankful we have two more folks, Megan Braswell and Annette Murphy, who have decided to place membership at East Main.
Riverbend church of Christ, Georgia: Austin Fowler (member) reports, “A few weeks ago, Aden a teenager, was baptized, and his mother has been visiting with us at Riverbend. Today was the first Sunday that she has been able to visit due to her work schedule being a nurse. My grandparents invited her to eat lunch with us at their house. She said she would love to but had a few things she needed to get done. She said she would take a rain check! She enjoyed the service and plans on coming back. Lord willing, we will continue to build that relationship with her and get in a Bible study soon!”
Jacksonville church of Christ, Alabama: Keith Ritchie (preacher) reports, “I studied with Daphne this past week; she is so close. Also, I am going to continue to keep the door open with John Michael. We spoke on the phone, and Lord willing will meet at the coffee shop for more studies.” Rob Whitacre (member) reports, “On Sunday, Geneva (new convert) brought her neighbor to worship. Her name is Margie. Margie helps watch her children while she is working. Margie is interested in the Bible. We invited her to dinner this week. We are going to prospect her into a Bible study. Stay tuned! I continue to work with Mary Prater. She is a very difficult study. Please pray that the Word will take hold in her heart. R. J. (college minister) continues to study with Chloe.”
Peninsula church of Christ, Hampton, Virginia: Ben Phillips reports, “The compassion card work has brought forth fruit in encouraging some members to return who had not been regularly attending. It has also sown good will with several individuals we are trying to reach. I have also received three contact cards in the last two weeks from the congregation. One individual is for cards and two desire correspondence courses. We also have multiple studies still ongoing in the congregation. Some of these have been more challenging, but we are praying for hearts that will obey.
It is also the time of year where we start to make transitions. This past Sunday I concluded preaching through our theme for 2021, “Go: From Hampton to The World.” We reminded the saints of the evangelistic works we have ongoing, offered thanks for all the work the brethren have done, and encouraged everyone to continue to bear fruit to God’s glory. I also announced and introduced our congregation’s theme for 2022, “Go on to Maturity.” Our desire is to encourage the congregation to continue to grow in good works, knowledge, and grace of Christ. If God wills, we plan to continue to build in the next year on everything we have started this year.”
Deerfoot church of Christ, Birmingham, Alabama: Richard Harp (preacher) reports, “Jonah Neal was baptized at midnight! It is the greatest reason to lose sleep I can think of. A few of us were able to be there to witness such an incredible beginning. He recently went through the Back to the Bible study with our youth minister, JJ, and when he decided there was no waiting! God be praised! Pictured are the three who obeyed the gospel, and the left is a family who placed membership. The background is our foyer.”
Siwell Roach church of Christ, Mississippi: Derek Broome (associate preacher) reports, “This week we are gearing up for our monthly door knocking. We have numerous new mover baskets to hand out, and we are looking forward to these opportunities. We have some good Bible studies going on right now. Two of those studies are going well. Continuing to pray for more opportunities. In the next couple of weeks, we will be doing another outreach to our contacts from the past six months. Continuing to pray for open doors.”
Northern Oaks church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas: Mel Hutzler (preacher/elder) reports, “James Ross Otti was baptized recently using the Back to the Bible booklets. We are thrilled about his decision to put on Christ in baptism. We currently have both our evangelism groups up and running and have a few members in Bible Studies. We continue to work the 50-week evangelism plan by trying to get the entire congregation involved. It is great to see the congregation excited about our new brother in Christ.”
Corinth church of Christ, Portland, Tennessee: James Parker (elder) reports, “I will be having my third study with the newly married couple Monday evening! This will be the second lesson in BTTB studies. We have had two families that have placed membership that we think resulted in the card shower that we gave each of them. We continue to have visitors each week! Thankful to God for the great blessings we have been given!”
Eisenhower church of Christ, Midland, Texas: Allen Weakland (elder/preacher) reports, “We just met this evening for the second round of cards for Dr. Abrams. He was overwhelmed by receiving so many cards from Eisenhower. He stated that it meant so much to have people in his corner during this difficult time. It is our prayer that God will open a door for this precious soul. God has opened other doors through HTH—we are engaged in two home correspondence courses, and it is our hope that such will offer an in home study. On another note, we were contacted by one of the local funeral homes seeking help with a family that has no religious affiliation. Pray that God will open another door to comfort this family and a study to find eternal hope.”
Hillsboro church of Christ, Hillsboro, Tennessee: Shelby Moorman (preacher) reports, “Mark Anderson’s conversion to Christ is a perfect illustration of how the principles in RTL work. Back in the early summer of 2021, Christina Braseel told me about a coworker that she was talking to about the gospel. Soon after she brought (Christina being a “bringer” was crucial) Mark to a Wednesday evening Bible Study. He hit it off quickly with the members at Hillsboro. Soon after, I invited Christina and Mark to go through BTTB with me. The study was enjoyable, and Mark was eager to learn. However, Mark believed he was saved in a denomination at nine-years-old. He was baptized but did not believe that had any bearing on his salvation. At the end of the study, I could tell that pushing for a baptism was the wrong call because Mark did not believe he was lost. He continued to come to Hillsboro for Bible Study and soon after BTTB ended, a family member began the Jule Miller films with Mark. I am not sure why the films paused, but recently we picked up where Mark had previously gotten to on the films. After the fifth film (where the states of conversion are covered), I turned to Mark and asked him what he thought about that one. He immediately responded that he needed to be baptized for the remission of his sins! What a joyous evening! I believe this conversion illustrates the value of Bringers and Teachers. Now it is time for Keepers!”
Lafollette church of Christ, Tennessee: Ben Shafer (preacher) reports, “We have a lot more people turning in contact cards. I am starting a Bible study with a young couple who plans to get married. A Christian is engaged to a non-Christian, so we are going to study the Bible together.”
Cowetta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (elder/preacher): “We had a great Bible study with a couple this past Tuesday. We covered Lesson 1 BTTB. Prior to the study, they filled out the survey. Her answer to the question on baptism was that she had been baptized and would go to heaven if she died today. As we followed up, we learned she had been baptized through pouring in the Catholic church. So we have some ground to cover, BUT she is eager to learn as is he. They told me to just tell them the truth point blank and do not sugar coat anything, and they will accept the truth. What an encouraging attitude. We will study Lesson two this week. We are praying they maintain that attitude, and we hope it leads to her baptism and his re-dedication.”
Smithville church of Christ, Mississippi: Andrew Wynne (preacher) reports: “We are planning on several door knocking days next year to get the word out for upcoming events at Smithville church of Christ. The members have also been encouraged to get involved by finding a lost soul they would like to convert through Bible studies next year. In addition, we are continuing the new mover basket program. Please pray for our efforts as we endeavor to reach the lost.”
Sevierville church of Christ, Tennessee: Hey Rob, we have had three ongoing Bible studies, and last night one of them led to a baptism. The other two studies are nearing completion, and we are prayerful that two more souls will be added to the church. One of these contacts is from our October door knocking work. God bless, Kevin
Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “Hey Rob, it has been a good few weeks at the Covington church. Jeff Phillips (our youth minister) preached a sermon on Sunday evening a few weeks ago. While he preached, he had 21 new movers’ baskets sitting on the stage in front of the pulpit. He told the congregation about how these baskets open doors to allow us to make contacts and prospect them so we can plant the seed of the kingdom. He challenged each family in the congregation that was there (out of about 150 members in attendance) to take just one basket to deliver in the next couple of days. After the final prayer was said, it took about one minute for the entire stage to be cleared of baskets. On the following Wednesday evening, Reid McMahan, one of our young men (12 years old), gave a report on the basket he helped to deliver. It was obvious he was encouraged by the experience.
One of our young adult men, Zach Kidd, was restored to the Lord a couple of weeks ago. He expressed his desire to rededicate his life to the Lord. He is currently away in Kentucky for his job. Please pray that he continues on this new path and grows stronger each day.
Clifton Carter, who is the ex-husband of one of our members, has been studying with our minister, Mike Rogers. Last Sunday night he was baptized into Christ! Also, they are working on possibly reconciling their marriage. Please pray that this will work out as well.
Also, we have begun our new convert’s class. The first two weeks have gone well.
The gospel is God’s power to save (Rom. 1:16). May God continue to give the increase as we plant and water the seed.
Cordova church of Christ, Tennessee: Bruce Hatcher (preacher) reports, “Monday, December 13th, Veronica, one of our members taught book three to her friend who lives in New York over the phone. She had located a congregation in that area just in case she obeyed the Gospel. Praise God, she did obey the Gospel that night and was baptized into Christ and added to His church. This is a great example of a member of the body putting what we have been teaching into practice and overcoming obstacles along the way. We are lucky to have such a great example in our congregation. Brother, I’m so excited. You are right, the ones that others do are the best.”
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