Success Stories: April 13, 2022

In March of 2021, we enrolled in the HTHSOE. It was a pivotal point for me personally. HTHSOE helped our congregation implement an organized way to reach the lost. For the first time at this work, I felt I had some sense of direction! The number of my Bible studies increased, which led to the number of baptisms increasing as well. Also, being enrolled in the school helped me be more effective in encouraging other members to be evangelistic. There were some members who had never tried to study with others, who now are beginning to reach out to those they know are lost.

My family and I have recently began working with the Monroe church of Christ in Monroe, Georgia. We have brought things we learned from HTHSOE with us, and they have been helping here as well. We are working on changing the culture of the church here into an evangelistic one. The elders are soul-conscious and truly desire to exalt the name of Christ in this community. In the few months we have been working with the church, various members have come to me privately, asking me to help them be more evangelistic. Many of the evangelistic suggestions I have passed on to them are things I have learned from HTHSOE.

This morning during worship service, I baptized Billy Ray. He has been visiting services for quite some time, and one of our elders had studied with him. Recently, I sent a weekly report about a study my wife and I were having with Kurtis and Mackenzie. By applying many HTHSOE principles, I was able to schedule a study with this young couple. While using BTTB, it was a joy to watch Kurtis and Mackenzie learn Bible truths in the first two studies. As we approached BTTB 3, I was concerned. Mackenzie, who has a Catholic background, recognized in BTTB 2 that the Catholic Church was not the New Testament church. However, she had been baptized as an infant and strongly believed she was saved. Also, Kurtis and Mackenzie were not yet married and had been living together for over two years. They were about to face some major decisions from this study.

As we progressed through BTTB 3, their smiles were turning into looks of concern. They were learning that they were lost. After studying about baptism, they clearly realized the necessity of salvation. They wanted to be baptized. I went back to our study of repentance and addressed their sinful living arrangement. They became convinced they were practicing fornication after studying a few verses on the subject. We discussed a few scriptural solutions. One made the comment to the other, “We’ve got to make this right. Let’s get married now.” They were ready and willing to obey the Lord. I baptized them immediately, and their smiles returned. Then I married them! In the eyes of God, Kurtis and Makenzie are husband and wife, washed by the blood of His Son, added to the Lord’s body. It was truly a remarkable day!

Forestview church of Christ, Memphis, Tennessee: We welcome the Forestview church of Christ to the House to House/Heart to Heart School of Evangelism. Tim Roland is the preacher, and he has already sent a report, “We had 83 in attendance with 20 visitors, and two told me they were going to place membership next Sunday!”

Highway church of Christ, Benton, Arkansas: We welcome the Highway church of Christ to the House to House/Heart to Heart School of Evangelism.

Paintsville church of Christ, Kentucky: Zach Collins (preacher) reports, “After morning services, during our evangelism update, we completed two important tasks. First, we had everyone take out a bookmark, and we prayed for everyone on our list during one minute of silence. Second, we recognized our two newest Christians and gave them Bibles engraved with their names. We have had two baptisms in the last six months, and we look forward to more! In the past, we have not always celebrated our new Christians in the manner we should. However, we are trying to build a new culture; therefore, we are flipping the page and starting a new trend.

“Our congregation is excited, and this is evident as we already have THREE contact cards from visitors one week after HTHSOE left Paintsville. This week, our elders are meeting to assign individuals to their new groups! Even though we have no one assigned to any specific task, our members are chomping at the bit to get started.”

Eisenhower church of Christ, Odessa, Texas: Allen Weakland (elder/preacher) reports, “Once again God has impacted the Eisenhower congregation. Caleb and Julia York responded to the gospel call this evening. They have been visiting with us for quite some time and had accepted an invitation to sit down with Jeff and Holly Wesson for a Bible study. Their studies concluded in their desire to be baptized into Christ. What a time to rejoice—the angels in heaven are rejoicing, and we hope this report causes others to be encouraged to keep pressing on for our Lord.”

Towne Acres church of Christ, Muncie, Indiana: Mark Reynolds (preacher) reports, “Our elders presented our compassion card system to the congregation today with a great response from the congregation. The church was divided into four groups. Each group will take turns meeting on Sunday afternoons to send cards to our contacts so that each contact will receive multiple cards each day for two months. Each member was given a bookmark to write the names of people they hope to reach. From these names will come the contacts to whom we will send cards. We already have ten contacts and two active Bible studies taking place.”

Westside church of Christ, Muncie, Indiana: Mike Gors (elder/preacher) reports, “We got the table set up last week. Sermon series is coming along nicely; excitement is still at a high level. The Bible study I have been in continues this Saturday. The young man has been coming to services and seems very interested. (There has been another young man who listen to our conversations and study and seems interested. So there may be  another study to report soon.”)

Southwest School of Bible Studies, Austin, Texas: Jessie Stuart (student) reports, “Yesterday after Bible class, my wife had me pick up a bed we bought from Facebook marketplace from a lady named Cyndi. When I handed her the money, I handed her my “”How may I pray for you” card, and she immediately asked if I could come pray for her husband who is battling cancer.

“I went in and held hands with them and prayed, and the husband told me how he visited Southwest years ago. He is 65-years-old, and he and Cyndi have been married for 47 years. He told me that he had brain cancer but had tumors removed in December and now has lung cancer. He said he just took chemo treatments today and has another treatment scheduled on April 27, and he asked that I keep him in prayer. They live just a few minutes from the Southwest building. I asked if I could get his information to send compassion cards and he said agreed.  This is where you can help me spread the Good News of Jesus. Let us send him compassion and love, and I will follow up and keep everyone updated: Mike & Cyndi Sullivan, 4819 Hale Dr. Austin, TX 78749.

“An update on Julia Franco from her sister who is a member in Natalia: ‘I just talked to my sister, and she is crying and crying. I asked what was happening, and she said, ‘I just came from checking the mail, and I have so many cards from everywhere!! Austin, Sugarland, Natalia, and Devine.’ I asked why she was crying.  She said, ‘Because I’ve never had this happen before ever!!!’” She is looking forward to Saturday for Bible study and asking if she can bring her sister stuff to make us breakfast before the study.
“Keep up the compassion cards to people. The cards are working, and the love is seen. A handwritten card can go a thousand miles and open up the hearts of people to hear the gospel.”

Natalia church of Christ, Texas: Jim Word (preacher/elder) reports, “We have been sending cards out to the people that Jesse is studying with, as one of them is the sister of one of our members. People are still having a hard time gathering names for their cards. I suggested going through their contact list in their phones. We will see how that goes. I spoke with the shop owner whose making our table, and he said it is ready to cut out and they should get on it this week. They had a project or two ahead of us. Please keep us in your prayers as the harvest is plenty but the laborers are few.”

Windsong church of Christ, Little Rock, Arkansas: During HTHSOE training seminars, congregations often visit from nearby congregations and take what they learn back home. Lew Holsten (elder) sent this report, “Her name is Jennifer Zanca. She has been attending with her husband and his parents who are all Christians. She was sprinkled as a baby by her grandpa, a Lutheran who recently passed away. That was the challenge during the study. I used what you taught by asking her if he were here and heard the truth, would he want you to ensure you were saved? We studied in their home and our home and had a one-on-one Bible study during Bible class on Sunday morning. Thank you for these tools for reaching the lost.”

Marietta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Chase Green (preacher) reports, “Our evangelistic card program continues to make a big impact. We have heard from lots of folks that it has made a good impression on them. We have had an uptick in visitors lately, and just had to replenish our visitor bags for the first time. We have lots of copies of Back to the Bible ready for the congregation’s use, and Lindsey and I have plans to invite visitors over to our house for dinner with hopes of getting into more Bible studies. Please pray for honest hearts and courage on our part to seize opportunities for the gospel’s sake!”

Northern Oaks church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas:  Mel Hutzler (elder/preacher) reports, “The elders have been meeting and we made four teams and are training members this month to better take names and lead the card writing teams. This was lacking. We also restarted the bookmarks and explained the importance of them to the congregation, so they understand their value.”

“We will start the four teams in May with everyone properly trained and this will be a tremendous help. We hope to have the new mover’s program and the HTH mail-out in place by then too. I got to call HTH soon to get that going. We have many more members having Bible Studies than I thought. Our deacon of evangelism wanted me to give extra training to him and others are interested on how to be more successful. It seems like they have a lot of questions about should they do this or that.”

“In addition, members are following up on the cards too, making food and having them over for dinner but the main hang up is moving into a Bible Study.”

Rogersville church of Christ, Tennessee: Ethan Tate (preacher) reports, “This week was the first time we had direct feedback from our compassion cards! The people we have been sending to came this past Sunday saying, ‘We have never felt so loved anywhere we have attended. Even from bigger congregations, we have never been flooded with this much care for our family. We cannot express how thankful we are for all the cards we have received!’ Everyone is excited as we transition from our compassion cards to visiting and talking with the families at the four-week marker. On Sunday morning, we finished the first book of Back to the Bible and have received numerous compliments from members just from the first study! One of the members has been working on building a card rack for compassion cards, which turned our fantastic! Please continue your prayers for us as we have a community event this coming Sunday evening. We hope to gain new prospects from this!”

University church of Christ, Tyler Texas: David Westbrook (preacher) reports, “We are progressing forward in our efforts. Our card writing has grown to the point that we are having to move into our annex in order to accommodate everyone. As can be seen in the pictures below, we have people standing in the hallway waiting to get in. We are sending our ladies out shopping soon, as our new mover baskets are about gone. It is exciting to see everyone working together for a common goal—saving souls!”

Chase Park church of Christ, Huntsville, Alabama: Pat Cowden (preacher) reports, “We have had a tough time getting through the COVID resurgence, and the folks we have been studying with are still holding back a little bit. We have one family having a study in their home, and they are on the final stages of that study. We are praying for all the studies currently in progress that they will result in obedience to the gospel, understanding that the increase is God’s part; we are just seed planters and waterers.

“In our New Convert class, we have been having an ongoing study with Taciane’s mom, Sylvia. When I teach, Pablo translates, and then we have questions and answers. She is very interested in the gospel, and we plan on starting a private study with her as soon as this week. Please help her to have an open heart.

“We are starting to have more visitors from the community and are expecting opportunities to arise from those contacts as we work the system. Please pray for us as we reach out to our community here in Huntsville.”

Church of Christ, Guam: Joey Treat (missionary) reports, “We have had four more baptisms in Guam, bringing the total to nine in a month’s time! The congregation is elated. And there are several studies ongoing, and several new contacts still to work with. God be thanked!”

Deerfoot church of Christ, Birmingham, Alabama: Richard Harp (preacher) reports, “The update for today is an exciting one. We had our first annual ‘breakfast with the bunny’ on Saturday. It was a great success with the community as we gained great connection with our surrounding neighbors. We have eight prospects who desire to study the Bible. We had one family come to services from the breakfast, Eloise Trotter, a single grandmother with eight children. She is a great prospect and plans to return. Tonight, we will be delivering 26 Easter baskets to prospects who came to this event. The hope is that they will consider worshiping with us on Easter Sunday. Please pray for this effort as the follow ups are vital for bringing teaching and keeping. Also, Jeffery Howell, Steve Putnam, and I have completed the second study with one of our recent visitors named Frank. Please pray for this effort as well.”

Mabelvale church of Christ, Arkansas: During our seminar with the Highway church of Christ I was able to meet with the elders for about an hour to discuss progress since the seminar earlier this year. It was a very productive meeting. These elders are dedicated to winning souls as they adjust and continue setting up the HTHSOE model.

Crossville church of Christ, Tennessee: Alan Judd (preacher) reports, “Last Sunday, we had a fellowship meal and had five visitors stay and enjoy lunch with us. One of these was a fellow Christian who is looking to move to our area. The other four were all newcomers to our community. Our members did an excellent job engaging them and laying the groundwork to turn them into good prospects for Bible studies.

“We will meet later this month to provide additional training to our team responsible for welcoming visitors to our worship assemblies. We are having to help our folks not be ‘too friendly’ and allow people to sit down so we can get the needed contact information from them.

“One of our men helping with the card ministry crunched the numbers and reported on the impact of that aspect of the effort since the beginning of the year. Over 900 cards have been sent to various individuals since the start of 2022. Other outputs show the hard work that many are doing to help in the overall program of evangelism. We continue to pray, ask for God’s blessings, and seek to show His love and teach His truth!”

University church of Christ, Montgomery, Alabama: Faires Austin (elder) reports,

1. “My long-distance Bible study with the Catholic Priest in Texas is slowly progressing in the right direction.
2. “Kyle is continuing to study with his Muslim friend.
3. “Our card ministry is really moving along. We are receiving some great notes of thanks from many of the recipients. The messages that are written on the cards, are really having a positive impact.
4. “Many of our members are delivering the New Movers Buckets to people in their neighborhoods.”

Riverbend church of Christ, Georgia: Austin Fowler reports, “On Sunday, Mady Dover made the decision to obey the gospel. Her dad is not a member of the church. I have been getting to know him while he has been visiting us. We have a connection through coaching. I am hoping to use that to get in a Bible study with him in the near future.

“Saturday, my grandfather got a phone call from a lady that visited with us, and she was requesting prayers. He invited her to church, and she said she would be there. Sadly, they did not show up Sunday morning. So my grandfather and Barry went to visit her. She is hopefully to come one night this week. During the visit, they learned she had some car trouble. I am going to talk to the elders about using that opportunity to help get her car fixed to help prospect her further.

“This week is our gospel meeting with David B. Smith. Tonight, he preached on Searching for the Church. It was an outstanding sermon. We had one visitor that was not a member of the church. We collected her contact information and will be adding her to the compassion card list.

“Today, I received an email from HTH saying someone in our area signed up for a Correspondence Course. I am very excited about this new contact! Also, my mom has a co-worker who is currently going through a divorce. They have had some good religious conversations in the past. Mom asked her if she would be interested in just sitting down and doing a Bible study. She agreed, and hopefully they will be able to do so soon. It might be a little while before they start the studies because of the divorce process. Please be prayerful for all of our ongoing efforts.”

Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Matt Amos (preacher) reports, “We have started the blue Back to the Bible booklet. We are praying for the names on our bookmarks each week. We are taking names from bookmarks to contact cards. Starting next Sunday night, we are dedicating the 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4th Sunday nights to evangelism. This will include filling out compassion cards, door knocking, visiting prospects, and having classes for Bible study application.”

North Jefferson church of Christ, Mt. Pleasant, Texas: Kris Groda (preacher) reports, “We had another baptism in one of the nursing home ministries. It was a challenge for Jeff with the wheelchair transfer, but it was exciting! With excitement comes growth. We had a couple place membership last Sunday and another family with three children expressing interest.”

New Hope church of Christ, Middleton, Tennessee: Cole Wade (preacher) reports, “We are continuing to meet new people and build our contacts. Those who are in our doors and near to us are being prospected with kind cards, food, and visits. I am currently building relationships with a few people who have been visiting. People love eating, playing games, spending quality time together, and telling their stories. We are showing people kindness and interest, and many become interested in us when we do. Pray for a study I will be having Wednesday night with someone who has been attending for a while. I may use Does It Matter? since they are familiar with what is taught in the Bible. I expect to soon send another picture of a baptism!”

NOTE: These reports are from Christians and congregations enrolled in the House to House/Heart to Heart School of Evangelism. These emails are sent to teach and provoke one another to remain focused on the mission of Christ. Each week, we share several reports and highlight one with more details. We hope you enjoy reading them.