Success Stories: April 15, 2026

Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: Keith Ritchie (evangelist) reports, “We had another Sunday with several visitors (eleven)! We delivered New Movers bags/baskets and are planning more outreach work soon. Glencoe is very excited about our upcoming opportunities; prayerful contacts will be made, studies will be set up, and souls will be saved through the Gospel of Christ. We appreciate all prayers as we strive to be a shining light for the Gospel!”

Hatton church of Christ, Town Creek, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “We met Sunday for our mission meal and made assignments. We are doing a focused effort with our youth and their friends, in hopes of setting up studies with them. One of our current contacts, who has been coming regularly, has also started bringing a friend; both of them are showing a lot of interest, and we hope to set up studies with them.”

Central church of Christ, Saraland, Alabama: David Dixon (preacher) reports, “Some changes will be occurring at Central throughout the next few months. I announced to the congregation that we have accepted a new work with the congregation in Abingdon, Virginia. This is both a sad and a happy occasion. We love Central and trust that the work initiated here will continue even without us. But it will require some of our men to step up and do things they have never done before. They will need to coordinate the contacts, make visits, and conduct Bible studies. These are things I know they can do, even if they do not know it themselves yet. Whoever the next preacher is should be made to feel like he has to catch up when he arrives because the evangelism work will already be going full steam ahead! Please pray for Central that the Lord will bless their search for a new preacher and that He will continue to bring forth fruit through their evangelism.”

Petersville church of Christ, Florence, Alabama: “We sent 57 compassion cards this week. Adam (minister) has been down with COVID, so everyone has stepped up to keep things going in his absence.”

Creekwood church of Christ, Mobile, Alabama: Tucker Presley (preacher) reports, “We had a baptism last week! David McClendon is a resident at Mobile Nursing and Rehab, where we do a devotional every Sunday afternoon. He asked to be baptized, we studied with him, and he was baptized on Wednesday afternoon. We are still writing compassion cards each week, making visits, and delivering new movers’ baskets. One Bible study is going on right now.”

Fayette church of Christ, Alabama: Josh Taylor (deacon) reports, “Today was the end of our Gospel Meeting with Lonnie Jones. It was also our Friends and Family Day, and we had so many visitors today. It was great to have these opportunities to invite our community and build relationships, and to hear great gospel preaching. We appreciate all prayers for our continuing work through these prospects and hopefully build on today’s success. To God be the glory!”

Harrisburg church of Christ, Arkansas: Mark Weston (elder) reports, “This past week continued to be a very stressful week for our church family. We were saddened by the death of an elder’s father. We had talked with him for years, but he never obeyed the Gospel, and our hearts are very sorrowful. He was one of the best men who has ever walked this earth.  He was a lifetime farmer, highly respected in the community, and he had been a faithful husband to his wife for 75 years. She has been a faithful member of the Lord’s church for all those years. She is heartbroken, but her strength and trust in God will see her through. He died on Wednesday and was buried on Friday. The community turned out in full force and paid honor to a man to whom honor was due. I was asked to preach the funeral, and I did my best to honor his many years of farming, his dedicated work ethic, his commitment to his wife and family, and his generosity to others. I spoke in farming terms and talked about how farmers live for the harvest. It was easy as I spoke on farming to impress everyone with the importance of being prepared when our harvest time comes. I think it was received well, and I certainly hope it will make people think about their relationship with God. As we fed the family at our church building following the service on Friday, another of our elderly ladies, who had been serving the family, fell and broke her leg just outside the door. She will be having surgery on Monday and then spend some time in rehab. We certainly pray she heals quickly and has no problems in the future. We were busy again on Sunday afternoon with our compassion card writing. We will send out 80 cards this week. Last week, we finished most of the cards that were sent to our wayward members, and our visits will start very soon to follow up on those cards.  We are looking forward to the visits and hope hearts have been softened enough to move some to repentance. I hope to meet with some of our members who have volunteered to make initial visits and hold some training this week. It is time to put this evangelism model into full speed. We will make the visits and pray that God will soften their hearts so that we might be able to enjoy them in our fellowship once again. Even with the temporary setback because of the Gospel meeting, sicknesses, and death in the family, our momentum continues to grow, and we continue to learn together. We know that God will give the increase!”

Northside church of Christ, Harrison, Arkansas: Larry Keener (elder) reports, “We continue to move forward with coordinators being identified and training continues. The elders prayed with our compassion card organizers, Kara and Katherine, and discussed that area. We have also decided to meet with David and Steve each Wednesday night to update and pray for the work. This last Sunday was our final Future Christian Leaders class, so the evening service was directed by our young men. Our next quarter will begin our first principles classes. We appreciate all prayers for God’s will and glory to be accomplished.”

Bergman church of Christ, Harrison, Arkansas: Vince Stewart (preacher) reports, “My wife and I met with my daughter’s boyfriend’s mother, and our meeting was a success; she is no longer a cold contact. Last Sunday I asked if anyone knew who was ‘sick,’, and four or five people were handed contact cards. I reminded them after they were passed out to bring them back ASAP so we can start sending cards. I sent out a reminder on our church group text Tuesday and also reminded them on Wednesday night and yesterday morning to turn in the names. Yesterday, I decided to give the congregation a break from the topic of evangelism to help prevent burnout. We will start the compassion card video lesson this Wednesday night, split it into two 30-minute lessons, and discuss it after each lesson and after the sermon next Sunday. On Saturday, we set up our accountability board, and I hope this will eventually compel people to get to work, especially the whole congregation, on writing compassion cards. I know this will probably be the most difficult step to get every member of the congregation to do. I explained that all the zeros on there now will only be okay this one time because we are just getting started. I talked with an elder and a deacon at Northside church of Christ since they had a seminar, and we decided to consider meeting together one Sunday a quarter. We will meet together on Sunday mornings for worship and have fellowship afterward. This was a major uplift for everyone.”

Mountain Home church of Christ, Arkansas: Joshua Adams (preacher) reports, “This past week has been a difficult one for our church family. We have experienced multiple losses, along with several illnesses and hospital stays. Yet even in the midst of these trials, we are being reminded of the strength found in Christ as we walk through them together as one body. In the midst of the hardship, God has also blessed us with powerful encouragement. A sister in Christ, Chelsea Kaye, has been restored. Chelsea grew up in the church and was baptized as a teenager, but she drifted from the Lord in early adulthood. Recently, she has decided to return and has begun attending faithfully with her husband, Ryan, and their children, Zoe and Ethan. I have a Bible study scheduled with Chelsea and Ryan tomorrow afternoon. Ryan is not yet a Christian, but he has shown a genuine interest in learning more about the Gospel. We are prayerful that this open door will lead to his obedience to Christ. Chelsea’s mother and grandmother, both faithful members of our congregation, have been instrumental in this journey. Even during times when the rest of the family was not attending, they continued to bring Ethan. Their quiet perseverance is a powerful reminder that steadfast faith—especially in the lives of godly women—can bear fruit in God’s time. We are hopeful and encouraged that this restoration will not only strengthen Chelsea but will also lead to a transformed household centered on Christ.”

Margaret Street church of Christ, Milton, Florida: Troy Spradlin (preacher) reports, “Consider making prospects from any situation. One of our sisters in Christ witnessed a motorcycle accident while she was driving. Not only did she stop to render assistance, she also took another sister-in-Christ with her to go visit the man in the hospital later. She then told one of our other brethren about him, who visited him and realized we should add him to our Prospects list to send compassion cards while he is healing. It is indeed a perfect opportunity to show the church’s love to someone who is hurting and to open the possibility of Bible studies! Seeing souls “as we are going” and in every situation is how we fulfill the Great Commission. Our total 2026 Accountability Board numbers are: 87 Contacts Received; 45 Neighbors (Prospects); 396 Compassion Cards sent; 12 Bible studies; one Restoration, and four Baptisms.”

Stuart church of Christ, Florida: Tom Neth (deacon) reports, “This week we were blessed to witness two more baptisms. Willis, the brother of one of our members, and Beverly, who has been studying with one of our members for some time, both obeyed the Gospel. We are grateful to have seen 10 new births in Christ so far this year. This week also marks the beginning of our refresher and reinforcement training with Keno. We are looking forward to learning additional ways to improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of our efforts. The Lord continues to bless our church family not only in a numerical sense, but also through a growing spirit of energy and commitment as we strive to reach the lost within our families and throughout our community.”

Niceville church of Christ, Florida: Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “This week we saw the power of using benevolence to make contacts. Many churches have a benevolent program, but few are using it to make contacts and win souls. Everything in the church should be pointed toward soul-winning when possible. On our benevolent form, we have the last question: “Are you willing to discuss your spiritual condition?” Most people say yes. Whenever I or someone else interviews the applicant, we try to ask them about their relationship with the Lord. This past month, we have found eight prospects from simple conversations. This week, Monica came in after the form was filled out and asked to pray with me. During that time, I got to know her and found she had some spiritual needs as well as a past connection to the church. I set up a study with her and her family. She has six children, all teens or preteens. On Friday, I had my first study with four participants. We have several future studies set up. This week we had eight visitors, five of whom were new visitors. We had four studies and sent eight cards.”

Milestone church of Christ, Cantonment, Florida: Randy Brantley (elder) reports, “We have eight new prospects this month who will receive our compassion cards. We have finished two Bible studies using Back to the Bibleand are continuing those studies. The third study is just starting. We are continuing training classes, and the members are still very excited to continue. We pray that more success is coming soon.”

Cartersville church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Charles Harris (regional trainer) reports, “After many years astray, Kevin has been restored. My work with the HTHSOE Student Program continues to be fruitful. The work is helping members of the church to be more evangelistic. It also gives us opportunities to study with the lost who are interested in the work. There are currently four students who are not Christians with whom we are setting up Bible studies.”

Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Matt Amos (preacher) reports, “WCOC and the Sunabella Assistant Living Facility devotional had approximately six non-Christians at the devotional on Sunday. Last Friday, we conducted a Bible study session with nine non-Christians from this facility. We had four visitors this past Sunday. WCOC had nine Bible studies.”

Warner Robins church of Christ, Georgia: Damien Walker (evangelist) reports, “We had 14 visitors on Sunday, and had 13 visits made last week. We are going to begin our transition team training (over a series of 6-8 weeks) this coming Sunday, Lord willing. We have selected a solid crew and are praying for a comparatively solid turnout. We wrote cards to 12 of our prospects and got a total of 112 cards written for those prospects. One thing we’re looking at right now is how to reshape our “announcements” by trimming redundant items from the bulletin or congregational emails, and instead giving a report, exhortation, and/or a commendation to the brethren for their work in our congregational evangelism. We haven’t quite gotten it to the point we envision, but we believe it will be a powerful component to help implement and reinforce the work we are doing together as the body of Christ.”

Gray church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Keith Dixon (preacher) reports, “We sent out 20 cards. We are working with a prospect that we have had. We are still training. I am preaching sermons and teaching lessons in Bible class to help others teach and build up the members. We are praying for workers and support. We always want to give glory to God.”

Harrisburg church of Christ, Illinois (remote): Doug Berry (preacher) reports, “We have two ongoing Bible studies, with one of them coming to fulfillment when Shari Stevers was baptized into Christ this evening! She was open and excited throughout the studies, and before we were two-thirds through the third study, she was ready to be baptized! What a glorious and fulfilling time to see God’s Word lead her home to Jesus! About 20 from our congregation gathered to share in her joy!”

Collinsville-Troy church of Christ, Illinois: Jason Wright (evangelist) reports, “We had a Gospel Meeting this week with Jeff Phillips. It was very encouraging, and he spoke on ‘Rejoice Always.’ We have a lot of reasons to rejoice here at Collinsville. One member repented of sins. Some of our new converts attended on Friday night. We made 27 new mover visits and delivered 12 baskets. We conducted three Bible studies. Several have been rescheduled due to sickness. We mailed 100 compassion cards. Our clothing closet will be open on Tuesday. We have had seven baptisms this year and pray there are more to come.”

Columbus church of Christ, Kansas (remote): Matt Fowler (member) reports, “We wrote compassion cards to three high schoolers who visited us for services recently. We have an ongoing Bible study that has been paused; we ask for prayers to help us and to remove obstacles so it can continue. We have been training by going through the charts in Evangelism Visualized, which I highly recommend, as it makes us more familiar with those helps should a need arise to use them in a study. We continue to pray for everyone’s efforts!”

Beloit church of Christ, Kansas (remote): Dustin Dougherty (regional trainer) reports, “I have had a person reach out to me about doing a correspondence course via the mail, so I sent out the first lesson this week, praying that good will come from that course. I have offered a correspondence course to another couple; I have not been able to study with them yet. If they accept and it goes well, we might try some Zoom BTTB studies. This was our second week of using the ‘Thankful and Concerns’ list on the whiteboard before the adult class on Sunday morning. We will continue that practice in an effort to get local contacts. This coming weekend, I will be back with the saints in Ransom, Kansas. To God be the Glory.”

Flatwoods church of Christ, Kentucky (remote): Nathan Adkins (elder) reports, “We have two ongoing Bible studies. Once again, evangelism was emphasized to the congregation during our worship, reminding them of our goals and how far we have come. We had a great sermon on ‘Today’ and taking our friends to heaven with us.”

Spring Creek church of Christ, Kentucky: David Morse (elder) reports, “We are encouraged by the fact that three of our current prospects have agreed to Bible studies last week. We will not count those in our summary numbers until the studies actually begin. Our white group wrote compassion cards this past Sunday, following morning services and prior to our evening services. While we have a good number of prospects on our list, our weekly totals for compassion cards are low. Our challenge for the next few weeks will be to add to our list of prospects needing compassion cards. Numbers for the week:  Visitors – 17, Prospects – 21, Compassion Cards – 2014, Bible Studies – two, Baptisms – five, Baptism Goal – seven.”

Central church of Christ, Paducah, Kentucky: Adam Faughn (preacher) reports, “On Saturday morning, Brent Clark was baptized into Christ. He had been baptized a few years ago, but after studying with some of our men, he realized that his baptism was not for remission of sins. So he made the decision to do things God’s way, and we rejoice with him. Then, on Sunday night, his wife, Tiffany, also came to the same conclusion. She had also been previously baptized for unscriptural reasons, but she knew what she needed to do to have her sins washed away. We rejoice with her, as well. This couple is newly married (in August), and now it is united in faith. We had two more Bible studies this week, and those studies are going very well. We are praying they will be converted quite soon. To God be the glory!”

Gonzales church of Christ, Louisiana: Ben Vallery (deacon) reports, “Our new convert classes continue on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings. We have begun including flyers and invitations to upcoming events, gatherings, and studies in our weekly compassion cards. Over the course of a month, each recipient will receive an invitation to our regular services, along with information about upcoming opportunities. We have received encouraging feedback from many who have received cards, though we have not yet seen many attend services as a result. Our hope is that these additional invitations will open more doors and provide greater opportunities for people to come to the truth.”

Waldorf church of Christ, Maryland: Joseph Day (member) reports, “Last Sunday, we had eight visitors; two of the visitors specifically came due to the compassion cards. We also prepared 300 cards for mailing this week. Three Bible studies are pending due to conflicting schedules.”

La Plata church of Christ, Maryland: Eric Sykes (regional trainer) reports, “With the American Mission Campaign completed, now the work begins. We are grateful for everyone’s support. Together we are making a difference. We were blessed to welcome 76 new contacts—more contacts than we have had in the past two years! We are excited about what the future holds, so we have decided to reboot the evangelism model here at the La Plata church of Christ. We are assigning and training several new area coordinators for visitors, the prospect list, compassion cards, transition visits, and our new converts. We view these activities as preparation for the harvest. We are currently working with ten contacts. We wrote 56 compassion cards. We had four visitors; each was offered to go out for a meal, but they all chose to take rain checks. We visited two folks on our transitional visits list. We completed Lesson 1 of Back to the Bible with our grandson’s former football coach and his wife, and one of our new converts completed Lesson 1 of Back to the Bible with his brother. Both studies have been scheduled to complete Lesson 2 of BTTB this week. We just started studying with a young couple using Searching for Truth. Also, one of the folks we contacted during AMC happened to be the ‘event planner’ for Charles County. Although she had a ‘No Trespassing’ sign on her front porch, we wound up praying with her for her husband, who had just had surgery. At first, he listened as we prayed for him through the ‘Ring’ camera, but ultimately, he came outside and joined us in the prayer. Long story short, she offered us an opportunity to set up a free booth (or tent) at the ‘Celebrate La Plata 2026’ county-wide fair next Saturday. We will be there! We appreciate all prayers for our plans.”

Fulton church of Christ, Mississippi: Richard Comer (deacon) reports, “We are currently teaching Back to the Bible. We are attempting to schedule visits from the prospect list. We continue to send compassion cards; we sent 20 cards this week. I have a Bible study scheduled for this week.”

Aberdeen church of Christ, Mississippi: Jonathan Hagar (preacher) reports, “We had four visitors Sunday. One was a return visitor. We met with the three new visitors, collected their information, and gave them the visitor packets. I look forward to writing to them this week. We had our seasonal Summer Planning Session and came up with ways to reach out to the community and encourage shy people to engage in casual interactions with the church. The church has two Bible studies set up for this week, and we welcome all prayers for those studying. Next week is our monthly card-writing Sunday. This Sunday, I did a sermon on mentorship and how we can help the new converts. I am proud to say that over the past 5 years, 77 percent of our new converts remain faithful. I think that is a wonderful number, and I praised the congregation for their excellent mentorship. The sermon focused on what we can learn from the 23 percent that fell away and how we can do better moving forward. Our metrics for the year are: three baptisms, two restorations, 22 Bible studies, ten prospects, 431 cards sent, and 44 visits made.”

Oak Grove church of Christ, Missouri: David Wiseman (elder) reports, “In the last two weeks, we have sent 44 compassion cards. We have had 14 visitors with several possibilities. There is one ongoing Bible study. We have a meeting scheduled for setting up a new convert class. We are also preparing for our first round of transition visits.”

Concord church of Christ, New Hampshire (remote): Terry Hale (evangelist) reports, “We are currently working with three different prospects who have been visiting with us over the last several weeks. We have a fellowship event this Friday, and we hope that we can get to know them better on a personal level. Last Sunday, we were able to teach from the book Growing in Christ, Lesson 3, which was about how to study the Bible. We have also had members doing a great job organizing the evangelism room. The materials have been carefully organized and are ready for use.”

East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “We had five visitors last Lord’s Day. After worship service we watched the HTH video ‘Contacts: Word on the Street WOS.’ Our metrics thus far through and for April 2026 are two baptisms, nine visitors, ten Bible studies, and one in our new convert’s class. We appreciate all prayers.”

Glendale St church of Christ, Newton, North Carolina (remote): Dayle Taylor (minister) reports, “Prospects: On Sunday, April 5, we had 14 visitors attending worship. That is nearly five times more than any other Sunday. The majority of visitors were family members of two of the new converts and of a sister restored to Christ. They included several aunts, an uncle, and several cousins. Contact cards were filled out by the pew greeter, and compassion cards were signed that Wednesday following Bible study. On April 12, one return visitor attended. New Converts: New converts except Brittany our newest, were present for Sunday morning Bible study and worship. Prayers are requested for Brittany. Restoration: One of the restored members continues to attend Sunday services faithfully. We continue to pray and help all of the erring that are reachable, and we encourage the faithful restored of the family. Visitor Follow-Up: During this reporting period (April 5-12), thirty compassion cards were sent.”

Oak Forest church of Christ, Goldsboro, North Carolina: Dennis Mays (elder) reports, “We had five visitors this Sunday. The compassion card group sent out 75 cards this Sunday. We now have five new Bible studies in progress. The congregation is getting our welcome baskets ready, as we should start sending out HTH/HTH mailings in this area soon. We completed Believe the Bible Lesson B: Bible Inspiration, this Sunday evening. We request prayers for those who are now in Bible studies.”

East Sparta church of Christ, Magnolia, Ohio (remote): Andrew Masterson (minister) reports, “We have had several visitors over the past week, thanks to our Spaghetti Dinner and compassion cards. We sent out 64 compassion cards, held two Bible studies, and scheduled a follow-up visit with a prospect this coming week. We also have a new sister in Christ. Late Saturday night, we baptized Sirena Davenport into the Lord’s church. We continue to study with her family as well.”

Alkire Road church of Christ, Grove City, Ohio: Tony Dunnagan (member) reports, “We are working with several returning visitors. We had one new visitor, and we obtained a contact card. We have two Bible studies scheduled, and we request prayers for those studies. We sent 51 contact cards. We are continuing new convert classes on Sundays and Wednesdays. Transition visits are coming up soon. We request prayers for successful transitions.”

Grove church of Christ, Oklahoma: Juan Jarmillo (preacher) reports, “This week we added two more people to our prayer list and began sending them cards yesterday. We also had a visitor who was added to the Lord’s church at Cowetta, and he plans to keep coming to our congregation since he moved to the area. Brother Keno introduced me to him, and we hope to continue helping him grow in his Christian life. We wrote 58 cards this week, bringing our total to 140 cards sent this month. We hope to begin training selected members to do the visits very soon!”

Guymon church of Christ, Oklahoma: Chandler Henderson (preacher) reports, “This last week, there was a fire in a local apartment complex, which resulted in the loss of homes for many in our community. Many volunteer church members were involved in setting up, organizing, and cooking for those in need. We have made many, many contacts and are becoming better known throughout the community. We have many contacts, five prospects, one man’s Bible study, one new converts study, and five ongoing BTTB studies.”

Barnes church of Christ, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: John Bellah (member) reports, “Sunday was the final day of our 36th annual lectureship with the theme: ‘God’s Lists for Daily Living,’ an in-depth study of some of the lists in the Bible. These were good lessons for growing Christians, and several members invited some of their contacts to attend. While the lectureship takes a lot of time and effort, several were still able to write more compassion cards on Sunday. We also prayed for our contacts on our bookmarks and used it as an opportunity to encourage our visitors from other congregations to do the same. Two ladies from the congregation were able to visit one of the prospects who has received our cards, but she is unable to visit our services yet. Another prospect has expressed his intention to visit soon. One of our members added another Bible study as well.”

Owasso church of Christ, Oklahoma: David Combs (elder) reports, “We baptized one young man, Adrian Reyes, Sunday morning. Tuesday evening, we baptized another young man, Zak Eudy, and then on Thursday evening, we baptized another young man, Chris Conwell. Then we started this week with a restoration on Sunday morning. We will start our new convert class again to continue their education. On Sunday evening, following services, Group 2 met to write compassion cards. Fifteen writers wrote 46 cards to be mailed out this week.”

St. Andrews Road church of Christ, Columbia, South Carolina: Jamie Byrom (preacher) reports, “We continued with Book 2 of Back to the Bible as the sermon addressed the worship of the church. Thirty-two compassion cards were written to our visitor prospects and to those who have lost a loved one. We handed out three visitor bags on Sunday and completed three contact cards. Two were new to the area, and one came by invitation. There continues to be one student in our new converts’ class.”

Hillcrest church of Christ, Springfield, Tennessee: Tim Taylor (evangelist) reports, “We had another baptism! Jimmy had some insecurities about his prior baptism and wanted the peace of mind of knowing his salvation was secure. We were thrilled to witness the sincerity of his faith and honor his request to be fully immersed for the remission of sin. Additionally, we were privileged to assist the Sycamore Chapel congregation in the baptism of Richie, a terminally ill cancer patient. Due to his circumstances, the church’s baptistery was not suitable to accommodate his desire to be baptized.  Brad, one of our deacons, and his wife Dana, recently installed an in-ground heated pool at their home.  This provided a workable solution to allow Richie to remain in his wheelchair and be immersed, adding him to the Lord’s church!”

Southside church of Christ, Franklin, Tennessee: Fredrick Klein (preacher) reports, “This week, I am preaching a Gospel Meeting at the Lafollette church of Christ, where Ben Shafer is the minister. We had a good crowd on Sunday, and the members who went door-knocking had a good turnout. On Sunday, they did something I had never seen before. At the start of worship, they had a prayer focused solely on their evangelism efforts. It is a prayer for God to give the increase in all their outreach endeavors. What a heart for the lost and what a great reminder.”

McEwen church of Christ, Tennessee: Jonthan Jones (evangelist) reports, “We had our last meeting with this group of linemen tonight. They have been more reluctant to head to the water for whatever reason. I have located and contacted the congregations nearest them, and they are looking forward to meeting those congregations. Please pray that studies continue and baptisms are in the near future. We have done our duty and planted the seed. We have one member currently studying with her neighbor using Back to the Bible.”

White Bluff church of Christ, Tennessee: Shamron Jackson (elder) reports, “Several of our couples went to East Tennessee for our annual couples’ retreat. We wrote 206 cards to go out this week. We request prayers for open minds and softened hearts. We had a family that came as a result of the cards we have been sending. We had around eight visitors, and three of those went to lunch. Claire Jackson came forward asking for prayers. Our active Bible studies are going extremely well. Our members are getting to work.”

Arlington church of Christ, Tennessee: Brandon Tibbits (preacher) reports, “We were running low on contacts, so I preached a sermon titled, ‘Who Is Your Neighbor?’ to encourage us to make more contacts and to show love for the contacts. We hope to increase our numbers very soon!”

Freewill church of Christ, Gainesboro, Tennessee (remote): Andrew Scott (preacher) reports, “We are excited as members have started submitting names for the HTH target list. Members are excited to help with mailing out copies and writing personal cards with each mailing. We pray this will expand our prospect list. We give God the glory.”

West Sparta church of Christ, Tennessee: Justin Turney (deacon) reports, “We are going to have our meeting with our team who visits our prospects. This is exciting for us right now because we have a lot of prospects. This is also good because we currently do not have a Bible study going, but we hope and pray these visits will produce one or a few!”

Chapel Hill church of Christ, Tennessee: Matt Jones (deacon) reports, “Our card-writing teams have circled back on previous contacts. We had good visits several months back, but we were not successful at setting up a Bible study originally. We are reaching out again to let them know we are still thinking about them, and it will give us another opportunity to follow up in person. We pray that this will help open additional doors for the Word to be received in the hearts of those who will hear it.”

Mountain Creek church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Michael Tomshack (elder) reports, “Approximately a year ago, two young adult men visited our Sunday morning class during their religious exploration. They did not participate in our worship assembly, as they were scheduled to visit another place of worship. This occurred for approximately a month, during which they refrained from providing their contact information, only their names. After each class, I initiated efforts to learn more about them in the brief moments before their departure. By the fourth week, one of the men expressed a desire to engage in further study, as he aspired to become involved in the church. The other man, however, showed little interest and appeared to have his own agenda, lacking support for the idea of studying with individuals from the church of Christ. I provided them with my contact information, which typically prompts the other person to at least provide their phone number. In this instance, however, it did not happen. I offered several evenings as potential meeting times, including Saturday and Sunday, but they declined to contact me and never returned. Yesterday, the young man who had previously expressed interest returned to our class. Our greeters welcomed him and escorted him to the Young Adult classroom. We engaged in a brief conversation, during which I learned that he had recently broken up with his girlfriend and was eager to resume a Bible study. Consequently, he intended to repeat the previous process of visiting various places on Sunday. I extended an invitation for him to attend the assembly, although he was not fully committed. As part of our class, we begin with sharing events of the week as a means of fostering relationships. We had recently commenced a study of Acts and were in Chapter 1. We engaged in a productive discussion, during which the visitor posed insightful questions.

Following class, two of our recent converts approached him and extended an invitation for him to stay, which he accepted. Afterward, he expressed his enjoyment of the class and worship, noting that it was distinct from other places and that he intends to return. Both of our young adults attempted to obtain his contact information, but he was hesitant to provide it. We are hopeful that he will return and participate in a Bible study. The significance of this situation lies in the fact that we are uncertain about the duration of the dormant state of the seeds we plant. Life events often prompt reflection, and the warmth and Bible lesson we presented a year ago, for some reason, prompted him to give us another chance. Subsequently, he took the next step because the recent young adult converts expressed interest and invited him to the assembly. Individuals of his age made a significant impact. It is the collective involvement and dedication of the congregation that ultimately makes a difference. We ask for prayers that, Lord willing, this young man will continue to attend and soon become a child of God.”

Soddy church of Christ, Soddy Daisy, Tennessee: Joe Mallory (preacher) reports, “We continue to be blessed with many friends and family members visiting us during Bible study and worship assemblies. It is our goal to meet with them all and set up ways we might minister to them and study God’s Word. Transition meetings are being set up, and we are getting to know many of our prospects. Please pray for receptive hearts and willingness to obey our Father in Heaven. Care Teams 1 and 2 joined forces this past week to send out compassion cards. We praise God for His goodness and mercy!”
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Rivergate church of Christ, Madison, Tennessee: Doug Tooley (preacher) reports, “We had three visitors on Wednesday. We had a Spring Bring on Sunday morning. We had about 30 visitors. Over half of them stayed for the meal. One lady who has become a regular visitor is really close to baptism. Another visitor told me he is going to call me this week with some questions. Sue Crain reported that her group baptized four young ladies at the Walnut Academy on Thursday. These are the underage girls who have been in trouble. Baptizing them required a lot of work with rules to obey, and we were not allowed to take pictures.”

Eisenhower church of Christ, Odessa, Texas: Allen Weakland (elder) reports, “As spring arrives and school begins its final weeks of the school year, we are still experiencing a large number of visitors on Sunday morning. One of these visitors is a young man who is dating one of our college-age ladies. After morning services, we visited, and he said he is still in a weekly study with Don and Nancy. We request prayers for this young man. A young husband and wife who have been visiting with us discussed scheduling a Bible study with one of our deacons. May God give the increase. Our plans for our upcoming VBS are in full swing. This effort has produced a number of studies that resulted in conversions and restorations in past years. We appreciate all prayers as we labor in God’s vineyard.”

Weslaco church of Christ, Texas: Braulio Carvajal III (preacher) reports, “This week we were blessed to have five new visitors at our Sunday services. Along with those visitors, we had four prospects who attended services this week, as well our new converts’ class on Sunday morning and Wednesday morning. We currently have three ongoing Bible studies and one Bible study focused on a restoration.”

Centerville Road church of Christ, Garland, Texas: Alan Stevens (elder) reports, “We sent 51 cards again this past week and made transition visits to five souls on our compassion list. Though no visits yielded immediate responses, it is very encouraging to see the positive reception of our cards and prayers. We can see the pieces starting to come together. The first lesson over the Back to the Bible booklets was presented on Sunday.”

Roanoke church of Christ, Texas: Caleb Rutherford (preacher) reports, “Last Sunday, Group 1 wrote to six prospects. We also had four contact cards turned in, so we will begin prospecting them this coming week. We continue to prep for AMC. We will hold monthly communication meetings with our congregation to ensure everyone is ready and on the same page. Our VBS coordinator (who will also be part of AMC) met with all those who will be involved. Communication between the leadership and the congregation is vital for success. This is a great opportunity for the church to come together and impact our community!”

Bridgewater church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (deacon) reports, “We have had several visitors lately, and they have asked for more information. Some are interested in a Bible study, and we are working to schedule with them. Our next compassion card meeting will be this Sunday.”

Lake Country church of Christ, Burnet, Texas: Alex Simmons (preacher) reports, “This past week we wrote cards to five prospects. Four of the prospects are from our bookmarks, and one is a family that has not attended services for a couple of months. We are praying for all the prospects on a weekly basis in our assembly, and we are looking forward to some transition visits here in several weeks.”

Wheeler church of Christ, Texas: Garrett English (preacher) reports, “I preached a motivational sermon to remind the congregation of our mission, and to get each member to invite one person to our Loss Workshop this weekend. I believe it was effective and will be helpful for our congregational evangelism. I will be out this week, inviting people personally, and following up next week after the workshop.”

Southwest church of Christ, Austin, Texas: Bryce Mayfield (evangelist) reports, “We have multiple Bible studies going on. We are about to ‘graduate’ some of our new converts. This is exciting because it is one of our first rounds of new converts in a while. In this time, we continue to keep our hands on the plow.”

Stratford church of Christ, Texas: Chad Thies (preacher) reports, “We completed preaching lessons over visitors, the unfaithful, and the lesson ‘It’s Quantity, not Quality’. Our numbers for the week: Visitors: two, Prospects: five, Bible studies: two, Baptisms: 0, Compassion Cards Sent: three, and Visits: two. We have two new convert classes on Sunday morning and one on Wednesday evening.”

San Saba church of Christ, Texas: Justin Bell (preacher) reports, “What a great week for evangelism here in San Saba! We have had three baptisms in the past two days. Haley Joy Buford, Chris Sealy, and Skylar Lewis have all been baptized in Christ. All three were a result of personal Bible studies and are already leading more to Bible studies.  Skylar’s great-grandmother has expressed a desire to be baptized, and we will begin a study with her very soon. We have three transition visits to make this week and hopefully will be adding more prospects soon.”

North Jefferson church of Christ, Mt. Pleasant, Texas: Davin Whatley (evangelist) reports, “On Monday, I met with Lesley and Andrew for dinner, and we scheduled a Bible study for May 17 (Andrew is about to graduate from college and things are really busy for him). Jeff and Carrie had dinner with Tina, a new member who moved from another congregation, and her husband, Tony, who is not a Christian. We are hoping to reach him with the Gospel. On Tuesday, Martha began studying Back to the Bible with her friend, Becky, and I continued my study with Estaban. On Wednesday, we had our second baptism of the year when Terry, who has been studying with Jeff, obeyed the Gospel! It was a great day! On a sadder note, Ariana (one of our new converts who was baptized last year) has told us she will not be coming back to church. We have been reaching out to her, but we appreciate all prayers for her with us.”

Colleyville church of Christ, Texas: John Garza (regional trainer) reports, “We have two people who should obey the Gospel of Christ this week. We have multiple other studies taking place, and we have many prospects to follow up with, including the people from our Word on the Street work.”

Northern Oaks church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas: Mel Hutzler (elder) reports, “We were glad to have a visitor as a direct result of our door-knocking. This provides us with even more opportunity to develop a relationship. This week, we begin our follow-up work. We have 47 contacts to prospect. We continue to have steady visitors, we are in four Bible studies and seven new convert studies, and we rejoice to announce one more baptism. Armando Garcia was baptized, and we appreciate his decision to follow Christ.”

Seagoville church of Christ, Texas: Kodie Martin (evangelist) reports, “We rejoiced to have seen Jorgina baptized for the remission of her sins this past Saturday. A sister and I had finished Book 3 of Back to the Bible, and when asked about baptism, she did not hesitate. Now the hard work begins to encourage and teach her on the importance of staying with Christ. Marco and his sister hopefully have a study this Friday with another prospect, and we have one more ongoing study that we hope will bear fruit. We will prospect more names from the Bookmarks to remind the church about them, and we will likely teach about mentoring new converts in the next few weeks.”

Williamsburg church of Christ, Virginia: Jim Bishop (elder) reports, “We are working with one prospect, and she attended worship again today. Next Saturday will be our next door-knocking event. We pray for good weather and for God to bless us with many opportunities to make several contacts. We continue to pray for the lost and all those who work to spread the Gospel.”

West Side church of Christ, Salem, Virginia: Jeff Durham (elder) reports, “Yesterday’s adult Bible class discussion included the importance of mentoring those who are new in the faith. There are many changes in one’s life as a new Christian, including the ongoing learning of one’s responsibilities of service in the Kingdom. Feeling included in the church family with a sense of belonging is very important to them as they work through all these new things. Our new converts class, coupled with members who guide and encourage them, helps make their transition a little smoother. We are thankful for the ‘increase’ God has provided through our efforts to teach the Gospel.”