He wrote, “East Ridge was blessed with a wonderful Evangelism Seminar with Rob and Nicole Whitacre. A fire was lit in the hearts of our congregation. We are seeing more concern for souls among our members. We knew that the Pandemic had taken a negative toll on our growth. The true way to rebuild the work would be through seeking the lost.
We have a lot of studies going on and have had four recent baptisms. The first picture is of Thomas Cole baptizing Kristen Phillips. Thomas and Rose studied Back to the Bible with her. They are following up on new Christian studies with her. She is excited about what she learned. Her husband, Aaron, taught her, too. He is away in the service. The next two pictures are of Mike Frost baptizing his daughter, Mallory. The family picture is of the Frosts. The whole family is now in the Lord. The other picture is of George Shoemaker baptizing his daughter Georgia. Now his whole family is in the church!
It has been such a blessing to see fathers baptizing their children. Whole families are now in the Lord. We have seen some of our members teach others. It is a joy to know that men who are not preachers are baptizing souls into Christ. We have seen new Christians added to the Lord’s church! A spirit of love and outreach continues to permeate this congregation. The seed is still being sown each week. God is giving the increase. We look forward to continuing to rebuild our work. The Evangelism Seminar lit the fire, and we will continue to keep it burning. Our theme for 2021 is a challenge the elders gave: Save One Soul. We are doing just that! To God be the glory!”
Beattie Road church of Christ, Albany, Georgia: Charles Harris (preacher) reports, “Woody Hart had become aware of the church at Beattie Road from knowing a few members for several years. I write a weekly article for a local newspaper. Woody had read several and became interested in visiting. It did not take long before he wanted to know more about the church. Our studies through the Back to the Bible series went well. He seemed to be understanding the Scriptures.”
“By the time we got toward the end of Lesson 3, he knew he needed to be baptized but was hesitant. Obeying the gospel would cause division at home. We talked about Jesus being rejected by His brothers at one time. However, Jesus continued following the Father’s will, which led to two of his brothers to become faithful to God as well. The study went over the two-hour mark, and I could tell he was troubled and overwhelmed. The study came to an end, and I encouraged him to continue looking over the booklets.”
“The next church service was a couple of days later and Woody wasn’t there, so I was concerned. I reached out to him through the next couple of weeks, just checking in and letting him know we can continue our studies. Finally, we scheduled a study. I introduced Does It Matter to him as a condensed version of what we had previously studied. We got to the section about baptism, and he was ready immediately. He calls me “boss.” He said “Boss, I’m ready.” The hesitation was long gone. I believe using Does It Matter after BTTB helped reinforce what has been previously studied. It takes some people time to go from answering questions correctly to really believing the answers are correct. We were studying at the church building so we quickly went to the baptistery. Now we have a new brother.”
Caddo Mills church of Christ, Texas: Jason Sparks (preacher) reports, “We wrote 20 cards tonight to mail out for the week. A lot of people are involved, and we are all excited to be working together!”
Riverbend church of Christ, Georgia: Austin Fowler member (reports), “I finished going though Does it Matter Wednesday at Riverbend. I told them about the new contract cards and how we will be using them. I mentioned New Movers baskets. One of our deacons and his wife are going to get the teens to start putting those together next Sunday. Lord willing, I will be going through Back to the Bible soon.”
Siwell Road church of Christ, Mississippi: Derek Broome (preacher) reports, “The culture around Siwell Road is changing and growing week by week. Each week more and more people are getting involved and excited about evangelism. Card care groups are going great. Each week we are having visitors return and they are commenting on how welcomed they have felt. We have been able to start cultivating those relationships. We have several ongoing Bible studies, and they are going great.”
Hillsboro church of Christ, Tennessee: Shelby Moorman (preacher) reports, “We have two studies still ongoing and continue to pray for the Lord of Harvest to give the increase. We are beginning to prepare for the annual Door knocking on October 2.”
Willow Avenue church of Christ, Cookeville, Tennessee: Jonathan Medley (member) reports, “We rolled out the compassion cards program last week to the congregation (we are referring to the cards as Prospect Notes). We had five contacts turned in just this week to send out Prospect Notes, so those cards are being assigned to go out this week. A few are for prospects that members are actively studying with right now, and a couple are for prospects that members are hoping to start studies with soon. It’s exciting to get this rolling.”
Forestburg church of Christ, Texas: Mark Lindsey (preacher) reports, “We finished our training on book one and the congregation is excited. Our second issue of House-to-House/Heart to Heart hit mailboxes this week, and our members are getting comments from people in town about the articles and how they enjoy reading them. I hope this opens some doors. We were told our recent visitors have been overwhelmed with cards, and one said even her husband was impressed.”
Wise County church of Christ, Fort Worth, Texas: Chris Savage (preacher) reports, “The Wise County church of Christ in Newark, Texas, is rejoicing with our new brother and sister in Christ following the baptisms of Derek and Tara Shelburg on Friday evening, August 6. The Shelburgs have been regularly visiting this new congregation since its inception in May of 2020, and they recently completed a series of in-depth studies focused on the plan of salvation and the sin of denominationalism and division among those professing to follow Christ. In addition, we are moving forward with a website and beginning to send House to House/Heart to Heart to Newark and Rhome. I am working with Matt. Thank you for your help in connecting me with him, as well!”
Jacksonville church of Christ, Alabama: Keith Ritchie (preacher) reports, “We had another great morning at Jacksonville. We had visitors and a Bible study set up last Thursday. This is Mitchell, Meagan, Gavin, and Trae Swain. The first study was the best first study I have ever had. The second study went great. She brought her mom on Sunday. I believe we will have two baptisms on Sunday.”
Oak Hill church of Christ, Rome, Georgia: Steve Murdock (elder) reports, “The effects of the AMC campaign are being felt! Ten Bible Studies, 40 compassion cards, and 100 congregational training (from the pulpit).”
Honolulu Church of Christ, Hawaii: Tagiilima Esene (preacher) reports, “Aloha from Honolulu Hawaii! We praise God for his mercies and grace during this pandemic. It is encouraging to see different congregations of our Lord’s church reaching the lost.
We want to join in the encouragement by sharing with you all what the Lord is doing here at the Honolulu church of Christ. Meet Brittany Hill. Brittany visited with us during the pandemic last year 2020, before summer. She was searching for the truth and had visited different types of churches locally. One Sunday during the invitation, I offered an opportunity for anyone to have a personal Bible study, and Brittany came to me after service and scheduled a study. We studied Back to the Bible for about five weeks, and Brittany was baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of her sins on July 12, 2021. Praise God!
This past Sunday (Aug. 8, 2021), Brittany brought her friend Lisa to our worship service. The sermon was on questions about the judgement day. After hearing the Scriptures and learning about how to be saved in Christ, Lisa mentioned to Brittany that she wanted to be baptized after services. After a study on the purpose of baptism, Lisa was baptized into Christ.
We are now planning to do more study with Lisa just as we are instructed by Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20). As of now, we have two ongoing Bible studies using Back to the Bible. Marlena (a new convert as of March 2020) is studying with Mia using the Back to the Bible books. Please pray for her and Mia. Our other study is currently in Book 2. Our church secretary and I are helping Miss Ellen to learn the Truth of the gospel.”
Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “We are praying for the work you and your family are doing in Alaska. May many lost souls be saved as a result! I want to share some good news with you. Meet Hailee Ballard, Rachel Vandeven, and Garret Howard. Hailee (pictured on the left) works at a local restaurant that a couple of our members own. She has been visiting our services for several months. On Saturday, July 24, she was baptized into Christ! Rachel (right) is the girlfriend of one of our members who is a relatively new Christian himself. She and her daughter have been visiting our services for a few months as well. She has shown a lot of interest in what the Bible teaches and has been considering becoming a Christian for a couple of weeks. Her boyfriend, Chris Sanders, studied with her using Back to the Bible, and she was baptized for the forgiveness of her sins Sunday, July 25. Garret is a 14 year-old son of parents who have been visiting our services over a year. He thought he had been baptized correctly before, but he was unsure. After more study, he was baptized into the body of Christ on Wednesday, August 4. Please also pray for us as we try to study with his parents. They are both from various denominational backgrounds and believe they are saved even though they are not. They have gone through Back to the Bible but are still not convinced. Pray their hearts will be softened to receive the Truth.”
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