So far, 2022 has been fruitful at the Riverbend Church of Christ in Dalton, Georgia. We have had seven baptisms in the first three months. My goal was to start and focus on members that were already sitting in our pew—HOT contacts.
In November of 2021, Aiden Basler began attending with the Miller family. They studied with him, and he was baptized. Then his mother began to come to services. She was one of my contacts. We set up a Bible study and three weeks later, she was baptized! Right after that Charlie began visiting with us. We befriended him and began going through Back to the Bible. Three weeks later, we had another baptism. Focusing on those who are coming to us has been successful for us.
We are taking the enthusiasm that we have right now and building upon it. We are going through Back to the Bible on Sunday nights and teaching the congregation how to use it. I have gotten a lot of good feedback from these lessons. I am also teaching an evangelism class, and we started a New Converts class on Wednesday night. During my Sunday morning class, we are starting each class with our evangelism bookmark to see how we can take those contacts and turn them into prospects.
Next month, we are reorganizing and refocusing our compassion card groups. We are calling the groups SALT groups (Speaking, Aiding, Living, Taking the Gospel). We plan to add delivering new movers baskets, taking meals, and other ways to continue prospecting our contacts. We have a lot of good things going on right now by following the Evangelism Model. We plan to continue glorifying God in these works!
This week’s report: On Tuesday night, Barry, our preacher, and my grandfather visited with some people who have visited with us in the past few months. One of their visits was to Ernest Greeson. He has been visiting with us for a while now with his grandson. After their visit, he was baptized into Christ.
On Thursday, I took one of my contacts to dinner. He had back surgery recently. The Bible study with him is coming very soon. Tonight, I went through Back to the Bible lesson two. It went well, and the congregation is seeing how easy evangelism is. Tomorrow night, one of my elders, Ernie Sanders, and I are going to visit a couple that recently had a baby. Valorie Sanders is making some chicken salad for us to take. I am looking forward to that visit and hopefully getting in a Bible Study with them soon.
Congregational Reports
Rogersville church of Christ, Tennessee: We welcome the Rogersville church of Christ to the House to House/Heart to Heart School of Evangelism. This is a small congregation in the northeast corner of Tennessee. It was well attended, and the elders and preacher showed great leadership during the seminar.
Ethan Tate (preacher) reports, “This past weekend, our congregation experienced something I have never seen in my life growing up in the church—EXCITEMENT to save lost souls! Everyone felt the power of every message delivered, and it hit us right in the soul. The day after the seminar, we had two visitors worship with us. It was like a switch flipped; everyone knew what to do, we had one mission, and we succeeded! This seminar was more than a “game-changer” for the congregation, it was exactly what we needed to see, seek, and save our community. Thank you to Rob, Nicole, Hannah, and Jared is not enough to express what we gained this weekend. We are traveling on a brighter road now for God’s glory and the future of the kingdom. Please pray for us as we begin this journey to reach lost souls in our area.”
Tri-Cities School of Preaching: The Tri-Cities School of Preaching had several of students attend the HTHSOE evangelism seminar at Rogersville. This is our first time to become acquainted with the great work being done there. Due to generous contributions from Christians and congregations, we were able to provide 15 evangelism material packs to the students and staff. We look forward to returning and doing additional training in the future.
Crossville church of Christ, Tennessee: On Sunday evening, we had our post virtual meeting with the Crossville church of Christ. We reviewed the progress they have made and the successes they have enjoyed. They will be a featured congregation soon, so we can give you a detailed report of how well this congregation is doing!
Shiloh church of Christ, Florence, Alabama: McKinley Pate (preacher) reports, “Sunday was our first Sunday after the seminar. We had great attendance for our morning service as we looked at the idea of how to build relationships like Jesus. In a class, they began working on the Back to the Bibleworkbooks. We will begin that as a congregation within the next week or so. On Sunday evening we had a visiting family, and many members greeted them. We are in the process of trying to set up a meal at our home with them as soon as the husband returns from a trip. The wife had many questions and stated that her husband did too. Lord willing, we will begin a study with them as soon as we can get them to the house for dinner. We are still in the process of assigning team leaders for all the moving parts of our evangelism mission. We are excited to be moving forward and reaching lost souls in Greenhill.”
Memphis School of Preaching, Tennessee: Getting reports from the schools where HTHSOE has trained students is a special blessing. Remando McFarlane (student) reports, “Your videos and materials are very good. Using WhatsApp, I did a virtual study. His name is Megais Simpson from the Santa Cruz, in St. Elizabeth Jamaica. He is 17 or18 years old, and I started studying with him a few months ago using Back to the Bible. A preacher in Jamaican baptized him last Sunday.”
Oxford church of Christ, Alabama: Mike Benson (preacher) reports, “Glenn Fulmer (and his wife, Kim), the deacon in charge of our compassion card ministry, have been teaching his son and daughter-in-law in recent weeks. Nathan and Blaire Fulmer were baptized last Monday evening at the Oxford church building.”
Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Matt Amos (preacher) reports, “We started the Back to the Bible sermons this week. The green booklets were handed out, and the first lesson of the series was taught. Our goal is two lessons per booklet. We had a new couple place membership Sunday. Four couples have placed membership, and eight have been baptized since the seminar. We will send the picture of the fourth couple next week. Below is the picture of the congregation holding up the Bookmark.”
Natalia church of Christ, Texas: Jim Word (elder/preacher) reports, “We have had a few minor setbacks this week. The table we found for the foyer turned out to be the wrong size. We are pressed for space and may need to have one made that will fit our needs. Meanwhile, Angie completed all three studies with a visitor. She says she needs time to think about what she’s learned. We are continuing to meet with her and encourage her. Last week we reported that Ginger was scheduling a second study, which did take place and went well. She is scheduled to have the third study this week. I preached through book three of Back to the Bible today, but we have had low numbers as many have been travelling for spring break. Cards have been passed out and names put on them. We have been praying for those names. Philip announces he has been encouraging a study with a co-worker who is becoming more receptive as he is asking about what the Bible says about Catholicism.”
University church of Christ, Montgomery, Alabama: Faires Austin (elder) reports,
- “There were five college students baptized in the last two weeks. Jeremy Smith, a Faulkner employee and preacher, taught these students.
- “Our prison minister, Mike Haynes, baptized a male who is incarcerated. Mike used the Back to the Bible booklets.
- “We continue to have visitors from our area. They are given a Welcome Bag, and we retrieve their contact information.
- “We will be giving an update to the congregation soon. Here are some of the responses we have received from our Compassion Card ministry.”
Brady Webster (family friend of Susan Riggs): Friend passed away in car accident as a result of drunk driving. From Susan Riggs: “Please let the card writers know how much the cards mean to him. He said he is putting them in his dresser to continue to read. Thank you from me too; this is all helping to save a soul.”
Lawrence Smith (Lindsay Moore’s father): “I received some sweet cards from your church friends in the mail. I am overwhelmed with the continuing prayers from your church. God has my attention.”
Chris Haynes (co-worker of Jody Vickery): Wife on ventilator with COVID. Message Jody received from Chris: “Please tell your church folks we have been overwhelmed with kindness with all the cards we have received. We are very grateful.”
Gilt Edge church of Christ, Tennessee: Daniel Dalton (preacher) reports, “We have been praying for Emily and Phillip. Phillip (Gail’s son) was on our evangelism list when his grandfather died. This was his wife’s public Facebook response. They are on the list for cards next week too and we are scheduled to go to the zoo with their family soon too.”
“Grandpa Simmons funeral was nine days ago today. Within that time frame. Phillip and I have received TEN sympathy cards (all from different people) in our mailbox from members of Church of Christ meeting at Gilt Edge. This is the church Phillip’s mom side is a part of that we have never attended. Most of these people would not recognize us in public. The promptness, thought, time, and prayers that this LITTLE church put forth toward the entire Simmons family during this time is incredible. THIS is the love of Christ. Gail, Barbara, Annette: please thank the congregation on our behalf. To say I’m impressed in an understatement.”
Shertz church of Christ, Shertz, Texas: Jay Stewart (elder) reports, “After a slow start due to some key pre-planned absences, Schertz made significant progress this week. The elders met for a foundational planning session to distribute the work across the congregation. We are planning to resume our weekly meals for visitors small group fellowship. Our evangelism table will be placed in the foyer by the end of the week; pictures will follow. We have one reported Bible study upcoming this week, using the red booklet. Our ministers, Stan and Scott, are continuing to preach the John 4 lessons and planned to be complete by April 3.”
Deerfoot church of Christ, Pinson, Alabama: Richard Harp (preacher) reports, “Yesterday after services, I met with Pam and Dwayne Duke. We went through the first book of Back to the Bible. Hopefully we will be able to meet for the second one soon. Pam is dealing with some health concerns, so please pray that we can meet. Pam has been having a Bible study with a sister in Christ online. And this sister reached out to me through Matt Wallin because Pam and Wayne live just down the street from the church building. God be praised that we were able to meet. They were extremely receptive to the word of God.”
Eisenhower church of Christ, Odessa, Texas: Allen Weakland (elder) reports, “Our God is so amazing. The Eisenhower congregation has been hit with serious illness and death. We realize that Satan is trying his best to stop or hinder a good thing. However, our resolve is with our God, and He has blessed us once again. We have had several families visiting over the past several months. Caleb and Julia York have agreed to sit down and have a Bible study. Please pray for them to have open hearts to God’s truth. Also pray for the Justin and Kayla—they have expressed more interest about the church—pray for this young couple as they seek truth. On another note, we are encouraged by several of our ladies who have made our visitors bags and have gathered items for our move-in buckets. We are so excited how God continues to provide prospects as we seek to fulfill the great commission.”
Northern Oaks church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas: Mel Hutzler (preacher/elder) reports, “We are continuing to make improvements to our evangelism program. We have contacts that are being made and cards are being sent out. We have been taking down visitors’ information and prospecting potential Bible studies. We have a picnic coming up, and we have invited those who could use a Bible study. We hope to prospect them more and continue with a study or start a study with them. We are ready to take visitors out to eat, and we currently have a few members in Bible studies. We hope to attach evangelism to all our programs so that souls will be saved.”
Warner Robbins church of Christ, Georgia: Daniel Stearsman (preacher) reports, “We thank God for the power of His word and the opportunity to study the Bible with Carl Jordan, Jr. He’s been connecting in our young adult’s class on Wednesday nights while studying with Russ (one of our former elders) and myself. Carl has a soft heart and wants to be clean and right with the Lord. Please pray as we continue to plant and water.”
Coldwater church of Christ, Kentucky: Luke Puckett (preacher) reports, “This past week was slower for us, as some weeks are. We dealt with the death of family members in the congregation. This did give us an opportunity to open up our fellowship room to feed the family. Most of the family are members of the Lord’s church, but some of them and some of the friends are not. This gave us an opportunity to make some contacts and send compassion cards.
Also, this week we sent several cards to contacts we have already made. We followed up with them to try to establish a relationship. We will continue to follow up with them and build new contacts and prospects. Attached are some pictures of our work team meeting and filling out cards.”
Cowetta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum: “After much study with Tami, I was honored to be able to baptize her in accordance with the Scriptures. She had previously been a Catholic; however, through diligent study of the scriptures, she recognized that her Catholic ‘baptism’ was not in line with the scriptures. After her baptism, her husband Danny, who has already been baptized scripturally, relayed that they wanted to place membership with us at the Coweta congregation. Praise God for the response of another believer.”
Siwell Road church of Christ, Jackson, Mississippi: Derek Broome (preacher) reports, “This week we have been blessed with the continuation of a study our preacher’s wife has been having with a lady remotely. Teresa Hampton and this lady are in the third study. We are praying for open hearts. I was blessed to meet a gentleman at worship services on Sunday that has now turned into a study. We have scheduled it later this week. We were also blessed with numerous visitors at our recent ladies’ day. We are following up with those contacts this week. One has already indicated that she is interested in studying with us. Apparently, this new prospect has been invited by numerous members for years. This time she decided to come. On top of that, she came to services on Sunday and was so happy to be there. We have card groups sending many cards, and we are all trying reach out. On a different note, we have a great report on one of our new converts. It was so great to hear about Beverly Patrick reading scripture at our recent ladies’ day. It is always encouraging to see new Christians serving in God’s family.”
New Hope church of Christ, Middleton, Tennessee: Cole Wade (preacher) reports, “Here is a picture just after Wednesday night Bible Study. We are writing cards and spending time together! We delivered meals today and are hoping to soon get a Bible Study with a new family. Pray for more success. We have numerous prospects.”
Chase Park church of Christ, Huntsville, Alabama: Pat Cowden (preacher) reports, “We rejoice that someone who has been on our prospect list for several years, Rafe Barber, was baptized into Christ while in Hawaii. Rafe and his wife, Flori, have been our good friends for several years, and we have prayed continually for his obedience to the gospel. We are thankful that we could plant and water and let God give the increase, when and where He chooses! Please pray for the Barbers and for Rafe as he begins his walk in Christ.
“Pictured is a shot of our M-4 meeting this morning. During the school year, our teens have the opportunity to be fed breakfast and hear a devo to start their week off on the right foot. I shared with them this morning the story of Rafe and Flori. I am so thankful for Flori as she lived out 1 Peter 3:1 in the conversion of her husband. She was patient and consistent with her faithfulness, and it has had an eternal impact on her husband and her family. They have three children and are a joy to know. Now Rafe is the spiritual leader God means for him to be. God bless the Barbers, and God bless us as we patiently work with those who have good hearts and interest in spiritual matter.”
Jacksonville church of Christ, Alabama: Keith Ritchie (preacher) reports, “One of our members is currently doing a Bible study with her sister. I am still prospecting a family member of one of our members and getting closer and closer to a study. On Sunday, Nicole and I finished our third study with Nyliah. This is the daughter of new convert, Geneva. We were impressed with her knowledge of the Scripture. Geneva helped in all three Back to the Biblestudies. Nyliah responded to the Lord’s invitation on Sunday evening and was baptized. It was an encouraging moment for the congregation.”
Liberty church of Christ, Cookeville, Tennessee: Andrew Scott (member) reports, “Good morning Bro. Rob, Hope you all are doing well. It has been so encouraging to see all of the baptisms reported lately. God is giving the increase and to him be all the glory. I wanted to give you an update from Liberty. Over the past several months we have sent out hundreds of cards to several contacts and 15 of those contacts have turned into prospects and come into our home for a meal. Our next meal and study will be with the Ortlep family next week, they are some of the most kindest and loving people on earth.
We are ready to start Back to the Bible Book 2. I know this will be an uphill battle for them because Ed serves as the part time preacher at their denomination. I Pray for an open and honest heart with scripture, as they learn about the one church.
We have a new contact that has been visiting us for the past two weeks, she is the best friend of my aunt. As far as I know, she has no religious background. She said Sunday she loves the services and will continue to come. It is going to take time to transition into Bible Studies as she has gone through some personal matters in her life. Please pray that we will have that opportunity.
It has been amazing to see the church be so involved in recent months. We will continue to do more training later on in the year. I pray that countless numbers of contacts will continue to pour in. We will be praying for your travels and upcoming seminars. God bless you all.
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