Reports from Covington and St. Mary’s

These are my favorite updates to publish, reports right from the field. There may be some who dismiss these successes and reason, “It might work for you but not me.” Dear brethren, anyone can be successful in reaching the lost. The commission of Christ to teach and baptize is for all disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). Some may be better bringers; others are good teachers, and some are good keepers, but each member has been perfectly set in the body as God has pleased (1 Corinthians 11:18). Consider the news we just received.

First, just after the mandatory lockdown, we trained the Covington church of Christ. This congregation has been diligent to follow the ten-step program. They had a baptism shortly after the seminar concluded and immediately set up their evangelism table. Below is a report from one of their elders:

Good morning,
It has been an exciting time for us in Covington even in the midst of this pandemic. One of our ministers presented the Back to the Bible lessons recently on Sunday evenings. Many are excited about using them in Bible studies. My daughter used them with her friend. Although her friend has not obeyed the gospel yet, the seed has been planted. Please pray that God will give the increase. One of our teenagers heard the lessons preached and decided she needed to be baptized into Christ. The picture of her baptism is attached. We praise God for her obedience. Also, we are going to personally hand out the September issue of HTH to all of our routes. That’s almost 2000 households. Please pray that we make many contacts. Thank you for all you do. Keep up the good work.

Second, on August 12-16, we trained the St. Mary’s church of Christ in South Georgia. This seminar immediately resulted in a baptism at a nearby congregation that attended. Now we are hearing from their preacher, Arthur Wilson, on the results at St. Mary’s.

Rob,
We had our first baptism as a result from a Back to the Bible study. Eric and Candy Bennett studied with Candy’s mother, Maxine Asbell, who was a Baptist most of her life. Eric and Candy and I have all tried to reach her in the past, but your seminar gave Eric and Candy the encouragement needed to set up and complete the study. It was about midnight last night when she was baptized. Eric is the one who had the connection with the other Fishing Charter I told you about. Also, Bill Christensen (manager of Cracker Barrel) has an ongoing study. Tomorrow we kick off the Compassion Cards. Just wanted to give you an update with some pictures. Hope things are going well.

Someone once said, the best tact is contact. Whether you invite a visitor to dinner, contact someone through zoom and conduct a Bible study, or just send a card, we pray you will encourage all Christians to begin cultivating the soils of the heart. We all have neighbors, co-workers, friends, and family who can become prospects for Bible studies. The church is facing a critical time, not only due to our numeric decline but also to inactivity due to fear of COVID. We all need to evangelize now!

In His Service,
Rob Whitacre, Director HTHSOE