Success Stories: April 23, 2025

Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: David Marker (elder) reports, “We have been working on getting more people involved with our evangelistic efforts. We have two groups that alternate months in working on compassion cards. Also, we have created three groups to work with our transition contacts and door-knocking efforts. Those efforts are paying off with numerous visitors attending our services. Recently, our new mover program led us to visit a family of six who seemed very receptive to our visit, and we followed up with compassion cards. We followed up with transitional efforts, and the family visited this past weekend. We were very encouraged, and we will continue to work with this family in the coming weeks. I might add that sometimes it takes several visits to prospect a contact. We have five ongoing Bible studies, and we utilize our progress board to keep everyone motivated and abreast of the ongoing work.”

West Huntsville church of Christ, Alabama: Paul Owen (evangelist) reports, “I wanted to share a wonderful experience we had Sunday. Susan, a new Christian, brought along her co-worker, Bobby Browning. I believe it highlights the potential for every member, including new Christians, to share the Gospel of Christ. This highlights the importance of inviting friends and family to services. Easter Sunday is a time when we find that people are more open to attending church, and it provides us with a valuable opportunity to reach out to those who might not typically come. HTHSOE, thank you for your continued support and commitment to the growth of our Lord’s church.”

Hartselle church of Christ, Alabama: Justin Smith (preacher) reports, “The response to our post seminar survey was a great one. The laborers at Hartselle will not be few! We are assigning coordinators and staying on task with the checklist. Training begins this coming Sunday. I am excited to pass out bookmarks and to see the congregation start identifying souls that need saving. To God be the glory!”

Highland Park church of Christ, Muscle Shoals, Alabama: Andrew Myhan (deacon) reports, “We have ongoing Bible studies. We covet your prayers. We had a substantial donation of clothes/toys to use for outreach in the Samaritan House. This has been the single biggest way we get prospects.”

Central church of Christ, Saraland, Alabama: David Dixon (preacher) reports, “It was a strong evangelistic weekend. My family hosted a yard sale at our home Friday and Saturday. That led to many good conversations and introductions. I wish I had prepared beforehand to have material available to hand out to people. Next time I will. If you have not thought of yard sales as evangelism tools, I highly recommend it. The people who are out looking for deals are usually very conversational as well. With Sunday being Easter, we had several visitors in attendance. Some were repeat visitors. It is time to progress the relationship with them and institute a Bible study. We expect to have more successes in the coming weeks.”

Creekwood church of Christ, Mobile, Alabama: Tucker Presley (preacher) reports, “We currently have one Bible study in progress with a couple. David is using the booklets with them. Other than that, we are sending cards to a few more contacts every week. We had a great response from the congregation on that. We are still trying to get coordinators in place, which is really the next step we need to take. David shared a proposal from Rod Selman with our eldership about new movers, so hopefully that will get going as soon as possible.”

Petersville church of Christ, Florence, Alabama: Adam Richardson (preacher) reports, “Petersville had a great weekend at Lads to Leaders in Nashville, and many of our families came back Saturday night to be at home for worship Sunday. We had multiple families visiting, including three first-time visitors who were given visitor bags and welcomed by our greeters. We have one Bible study ongoing and two new prospects; we hope to establish studies with them soon. Our one-year meeting with Rob is this Wednesday, and we look forward to hearing from him as we continue to shift our culture to congregational evangelism.”

Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “We rejoice as Marryah Gutierrez was baptized into Christ this past Wednesday night. Then Malikye Cox obeyed the Gospel this Sunday after completing a study! To God be the glory!”

Mountain Home church of Christ, Arkansas: Joshua Adams (preacher) reports, “Our first round of compassion cards went out this week, and this effort has already led to a scheduled Bible study! It is amazing! We knew the system would work, but we anticipated going the full four weeks and making an in-home visit before getting a study scheduled. But this person could not wait! We had our second round of compassion card writing yesterday after our evening Bible class. Twenty-one people (last names D-J) participated. Again, our coordinators were pleasantly surprised and greatly encouraged. We have 15 coordinators in place in various areas within the HTHSOE system who have been activating team members. We also covered part of Book 1 from Back to the Bible, and are helping people become familiar with the Bible study material and build confidence in using the tool themselves. We had 15 visitors attend yesterday morning, one of whom was ‘looking for a church home,’ so we fast-tracked that prospect to our compassion card list. God is good!”

Rison church of Christ, Arkansas: Keden Shrum (preacher) reports, “We had one visitor yesterday, and we are thankful for that. We also have a family who has been visiting with us on and off for several weeks now. Chandra and I have talked to them about getting together for dinner (and hopefully a Bible study) soon. We are trying to find a time to fit their busy schedule.”

Windsor church of Christ, Colorado: Lucas Stephens (member) reports, “We had several visitors on Sunday, and we hope to build a relationship with them and get a Bible study. We sent compassion cards to six neighbors this week, and we have a plan to visit 40 people over the next couple of weeks for new movers.”

Margaret Street church of Christ, Milton, Florida: Troy Spradlin (preacher) reports, “It takes contacts to generate prospects and lots of prospecting to get a Bible study. Our Pantry Ministry has really turned up the heat for making evangelism contacts for us! Once a month, we serve around 100 families in our community by providing boxes of food. Cars line up around the building to receive a free box, but first, they must register. During registration, we now ask the following questions: (a) “We love to send cards. May we send you cards?” (b) “Would you like to enroll in our Bible Correspondence Program?” (c) “Would you like a personal Bible study?” This month, of the people who came through, 26 expressed interest in receiving cards, nine requested Bible Correspondence Courses, and six indicated they would like a Bible study! To God be the glory! Now we pray that these contacts and prospects will result in souls saved. We currently have 136 total contacts, and we have sent 1001 compassion cards. (Our Compassion Card teams were postponed this week due to the holiday, and many are participating in Lads to Leaders). We also continued our training on how to use the Back to the Bible study materials.”

Lake Forest church of Christ, Jacksonville, Florida: Brian Howard (preacher) reports, “Our official start date for the evangelism program is this Sunday. I will be preaching on John 4, and our associate preacher will be presenting the bookmarks. We have framed the posters and continue to move down the list to work on the plan.”

Niceville church of Christ, Florida: Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “Every soul counts, and most congregations have contacts who walk into their building on a weekly basis. They walk in asking for physical help: rent, electric bills, food, and gas. The Lord wants us to do good and to help the poor. ‘He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, and He will pay back what he has given’ (Proverbs 19:17 NKJV). Most churches do little to meet the real spiritual needs of these people in order to harvest a soul for the Lord. This week I saw an opportunity to do that. We have had several contacts this year with people who needed help, including some ongoing studies and visitors to worship. On Wednesday, a young lady called, and I met her at the building and addressed her need. Before she left, I started a casual conversation with her. I asked about her family and her work. As we talked, she even shared her goal to become a teacher, and she told me that her father had recently passed away. This naturally allowed me to ask, ‘Do you have a church home?’ Because I started with the topic she came in about, (money and her job), I was able to ask seamlessly about her faith. She had visited a church recently, but she was not committed. I asked her if she would be interested in studying the Bible, and she said she would like that. I now have a study. She gave me her name and phone number. We will follow this lead by sending compassion cards. I even invited her to worship and our egg hunt afterward. She had to decline that invitation, but she was grateful I asked. I feel very hopeful about this study. While we usually send compassion cards before asking for the study, in this case I sensed the timing was right to ask now. Her openness in sharing her life let me know she felt connected and trusted me. Where will this study go? I do not know, but the Lord does. Where will it end? I do not know, but the Lord does. All I know is that I offered her the hope to hear the true Gospel, and she accepted. This week, we mailed 20 cards and had six local visitors at worship. We had one Bible study. I set up a study for this week with a recent contact.”

Avalon church of Christ, Florida (remote): Preston Silcox (elder) reports, “We had three visitors Sunday, including a teenager who came, in part, due to compassion cards. A group met Sunday night to discuss its role in the New Movers Program. Also, we had one Bible study last week with additional studies planned for this week. Although our congregation was already focused on evangelism, it has been very encouraging to see them become even more intentional about it.”

Oak Hill church of Christ, Rome Georgia: Rod Selman (member) reports, “Recently I took three of the college and young adults from the Oak Hill congregation on a Friday morning and polled people in the city of Rome, asking them, ‘Do you know where the Oak Hill church of Christ building is located?’ Only one out of twenty-five people knew. During this poll, a group of Christians and I met Katelyn and her cousin. Katelyn was very interested in visiting a church and had been praying to find a church home. She attended that Sunday with her boyfriend, Austin. Austin had just started attending a Greek Orthodox church, but quickly fell in love with the Lord’s church on Sunday morning. He returned on Monday night, Tuesday night, and Wednesday night, and he asked a question about baptism. He later said that he knew in his heart what the Bible taught on baptism; he was just hesitant to accept it due to what it would mean for those he loves. Jason Rucker and I met with Austin on Friday, April 18th, and studied Does It Matter for four hours. At the end of the study, Austin knew that he must be baptized and did not hesitate to do so. He is now on fire for the Lord. Jason and Kelsey Rucker are studying Does It Matter today (April 22nd) with Katelyn, Austin’s girlfriend. We are hopeful and praying that she obeys the Gospel soon as well.”

Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Larkin Cook (member) reports, “Our Friends Day is scheduled for May 4, 2025. We hope to have lots of visitors and Bible study prospects. The Compassion Cards Group created cards for six prospects this past Sunday. WCOC had seven non-Christian visitors this Sunday morning. We also had two Bible studies this past week.”

Lafayette church of Christ, Georgia: Jesse Teague (deacon) reports, “This week was the third Sunday, so Group 2 met to sign compassion cards. We had about 16 saints stay after evening worship to send cards to the two names for whom we received contact cards this month. We did have quite a few visitors yesterday. Although we do not celebrate Easter Sunday as a religious event, we are happy to have the chance to meet and engage with folks who came out as part of this tradition. We presented them with a great Gospel sermon that showed the real plan of salvation. We pray their hearts are willing; we know that if they are, God will give the increase!”

Cartersville church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Charles Harris (regional trainer) reports, “We started our evangelism effort last June. We moved slowly, averaging only one or two baptisms and restorations a month. As we continue implementing the Evangelism Model, the work progresses. All of our current Bible studies are the result of our efforts to get out of the church building and reach out to the community. We will be baptizing more souls into Christ soon.”

Collinsville-Troy church of Christ, Illinois: Jason Wright (elder) reports, “We had our monthly coordinators’ meeting and discussed these interesting statistics: Before our grocery giveaway, 14 percent of the families we have contacted have visited our services. Six percent have attended in the last three months. Ten percent are participating in Bible studies, including some who visited. We made 30 new contacts at the recent food giveaway. We gave out two visitors’ bags on Sunday. We mailed 99 compassion cards this week. That brings this year’s total to 2,024. We continue to have multiple personal Bible studies each week. We delivered new movers’ baskets and continued training on Sunday. We will have our hands-on training this Sunday, when we will bundle invitation cards and simulate new movers at the door for practice. I have two studies scheduled this week. We have four ladies we have studied with for several months. Two of them admit they are lost, but they are not ready for baptism, although they know baptism is what they need. Please pray these souls find a sense of urgency regarding their place in eternity.”

Judah church of Christ, Bloomington, Indiana: Joe Moon (preacher) reports, “We have one couple working to keep a study going with friends who show some interest. We signed cards for our next contact and added another to the list to be prospected soon.”

Highland Village church of Christ, Bloomington, Indiana: Mark Stauffer (elder) reports, “So far in April, we sent 35 compassion cards, made seven visits, and had 17 visitors for our services. We currently have five prospects and are between Bible studies. On Sunday, we began a review of the evangelism model, focusing on contacts. We emphasized that many of the people each of us knows are likely to be in need of the Gospel of Christ and that God has given us the task of delivering it. We are also reminding our members how God uses us to accomplish His purposes when we faithfully obey His commands. Even when we are not confident in ourselves, God will accomplish good works through us.”

Beloit church of Christ, Kansas (remote): Dustin Dougherty (regional trainer) reports, “I traveled to Scott City, Kansas, yesterday morning and worshiped with the congregation there; I was honored to present the morning lesson for them. I enjoy gathering with this group of Christians. They were small in number with nine in attendance, including me. Locally in Beloit, we had 25 people, including three visitors.”

Poole church of Christ, Kentucky: Andrew Wynne (preacher) reports, “Sunday (April 20), we had a larger attendance for our morning worship service than we typically have, including several wayward members. Our new movers’ bags are ready to be delivered for the month. For our Wednesday night Bible class this week, we plan to continue our study of Back to the Bible with a focus on the Bible teaching of partaking of the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week. We are scheduled for this Sunday (April 27) to send out our next round of compassion cards. We appreciate all prayers for our evangelistic efforts.”

Madisonville church of Christ, Kentucky: Russell Kline (preacher) reports, “This past weekend was very busy. We finished our lectureship, and of course, we had the holiday. It was a great weekend. We continued to send out compassion cards each week. We are committed to creating a congregational culture.”

Central church of Christ, Paducah, Kentucky: Adam Faughn (preacher) reports, “We continue to be blessed with guests each week, and we are working on following up with them. Long-time readers will remember that about six months ago, we had a large group of guests from a ladies’ home in Paducah. They returned this past Sunday night and were warmly welcomed. We continue to try to make inroads with this group. Also, we began our weekly booth at the downtown farmer’s market, offering both correspondence courses and in-home Bible studies. We plan to keep this booth throughout the entire summer. Finally, we trained our area coordinators last Monday night and ensured we were all on the same page. It was very encouraging, and we will be doing a lot more training in our different areas in the coming months.”

Beltway church of Christ, District of Columbia, Maryland: LeAndre Johnson (minister) reports, “We had our community spring Bible camp last week, and we had one Bible study result from our efforts. We are preparing for congregational training and the execution of the HTHSOE model soon.”

La Plata church of Christ, Maryland (remote): Eric Sykes (regional trainer) reports, “We had our annual Easter Egg Hunt this weekend…the kids had a great time…One of our members invited his brother and his son; he’s working on starting a Bible study with him this week. We still have four open Bible studies. The couple that Sandy and I have been studying with still hasn’t made a final decision…they’ve said that they want to be baptized, but we still haven’t…and they still want to study.  We’re going to start Searching for Truth on Thursday…we’ve ordered the workbook to go along with the videos. We started Growing in Christ to the congregation last Wednesday night. We finished chapter one, ‘My Conversion’…This week we’ll be starting on chapter two…’Master-Disciple’… We’re trying to build a core group of mentors for our new converts. We mailed out 10 compassion cards last week, and we had 14 folks attend our video of the week’s training on idols. Idols in the past and in the present and how they affect our worship and service to God are a great class. Please keep us uplifted as we strive to evangelize our community here in La Plata, Maryland.

Concord church of Christ, New Hampshire (remote): Terry Hale (evangelist) reports, “Our new brother from New Hampshire and our new sister in Union, South Carolina are thankful to God as He adds them to the church.  Sebastian and Elizabeth were added on Sunday. Studies continue in Book 3, and some new contacts are scheduled for visits.”

East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “We had one person that’s been visiting on Wednesday nights, we are praying that she will begin coming on Sunday’s,  continue the BTTB studies, and obey the Gospel. For worship service, we had one visitor. We have 20 compassion cards to be sent out incrementally this week. Our April metrics are 50 compassion cards, 16 prospects, and seven ongoing Bible studies. We appreciate all prayers.”

Linville Forest church of Christ, Kernersville, North Carolina: Kelly Brown (preacher) reports, “We rejoice! Another soul has been added to the Body of Christ. We immersed Penny Foster Sunday morning following a study with her sister, Jennie Robertson. Her nephew, Jerry Clark, who was baptized last year, baptized Jennie. God continues to open doors. We appreciate all prayers as we continue to reach out with God’s word.”

Whispering Hills church of Christ, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma: Matt McBrayer (preacher) reports, “The congregation has been diligent and patient as we have been setting up our evangelistic efforts. Yesterday, we had seven visitors and prepared 112 compassion cards to send out this week. After sending our compassion cards, we have shifted our focus to the follow-up visits. We know how important these visits are, and yesterday morning, we instructed the congregation on how to go about these visits. My favorite part of yesterday was seeing my oldest son get involved. I have neglected to involve him in many ways, and that has been my downfall as a father. Yesterday, I gave him the job of going around and handing out evangelism material that we would be talking about that morning. My son loves to be goofy and make people laugh, but yesterday I saw a different side of him. He took his job seriously. We should not count anyone out when it comes to this work. There is something for everyone to do. We just have to find it for them and put them in the right spot to succeed. (Thanks for letting me share a ‘Happy Father Moment’).”

Sullivan Village church of Christ, Lawton, Oklahoma: Steven Hill (preacher) reports, “Sullivan Village is looking forward to having a refresher course for our evangelism program with Keno Shrum. Our new convert, Barbara Perkins, who was baptized last week, has been faithful in attendance and is enjoying the new convert class. We continue to encourage all of our visitors. We are getting the members ready for more training, developing an evangelistic culture, and implementing habits that will recreate the way that we operate and function as a body.”

Porter church of Christ, Oklahoma: Nathan Boyd (elder) reports, “We had our third compassion card night. We wrote 160 cards, mailing them out to 18 households to be delivered over five days. Thirteen from Group C, the Compassion Card team, were ready to show their faith through their works, and four from other groups stayed as well. Thank you to the members of the congregation. Dan had one Bible study last week; a second study is scheduled for Tuesday. Metric board numbers as of April 20 include 18 visitors, 560 cards, 51 prospects, three Bible studies, and one baptism. The first group from our care list will receive three weeks of cards, approximately 46 cards per person. The goal is to start visiting them this Thursday through Monday.”

Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (regional trainer) reports, “Our Bible study with Kennedi had to be postponed due to COVID. It is now scheduled for this week. On Sunday morning, one of our new converts brought his mother and father with him to the worship service. They attend Life Church normally. Afterwards, Jamie and I offered to take them to lunch, but they had family plans. I called on Monday, and they are tentatively scheduled to come over Thursday evening for dinner and a Bible study. They agreed because they had seen the changes in their son. We ask for prayers for this study.  Over the upcoming months, I have a host of Refreshes scheduled with congregations enrolled in HTHSOE. We will spend time in congregational training as well as targeted one-on-one training with coordinators and those active in the different areas of the Evangelism Model. We look forward to helping these congregations make the most of their evangelism efforts!”

Owasso church of Christ, Oklahoma: David Combs (elder) reports, “We had our first Sunday morning adult Bible class dedicated to the Back to the Biblebooklets taught by Dan Schnell, our pulpit minister. Following evening service, Group 3 met in the annex, and 15 people wrote compassion cards. A total of 150 cards were written to be mailed this week. We have two Bible studies in progress, with Solomon’s on hold for a bit as his job temporarily took him out of state. We have the contents of our visitor gift bags that were ordered. Four or five teaching teams are reviewing the Back to the Bible materials.”

York church of Christ, Pennsylvania: Mark Rashke (deacon) reports, “We request prayers for a study this week with one of our youth who has expressed interest in being baptized.”

Collierville church of Christ, Tennessee: Justin Evergarden (evangelist) reports, “We have officially begun the post-seminar training phase and are assigning evangelistic roles to our members. This Wednesday, we will be training everyone on effectively using the evangelism table. The table and a dedicated room for compassion cards are currently being set up. This room will remain open at all times so members can easily access any materials they need. We have already had a few visitors! One couple—Dan and Ashley—will be going out to eat with us next week. It is a special week for them: Dan’s birthday is Thursday, Ashley’s is Tuesday, and Wednesday marks their wedding anniversary. Several members have already written cards for them as we continue reaching out in love. Our members are genuinely excited to get to work! There is so much enthusiasm that I can barely keep up with all the coordination involved. I could not be more proud of this congregation—full of loving, evangelistic hearts. What a blessing it is to serve alongside them!”

McKenzie church of Christ, Tennessee: Randall McCadams (elder) reports, “Yesterday began our third mail out for the month of April. We have eight non-members. We also sent an encouragement card to a brother who is battling cancer; he is from another congregation. We are happy to announce another baptism; last Wednesday night Daniel was baptized into Christ. He is a handicapped middle-aged man who has been visiting us for about two months. Also today, Chance and I took a ‘New Move-in Basket’ to a family that bought a house across the street from our building, the Allens. Yesterday, we had the highest attendance at our morning worship in quite a while, with a little over 320 people in our auditorium. Around 30 were watching via streaming. Little by little, inch by inch, we are keeping evangelism on our minds. May our Lord continue to bless our efforts. We appreciate all who encourage us.”

Philadelphia church of Christ, Lebanon, Tennessee (remote): Alex Graves (associate preacher) reports, “We had the ‘Quantity, not Quality’ sermon yesterday, as well as the final video in the principal folder of our Remote Enrollment. We had 25 compassion cards written yesterday to kick off our card ministry.”

Rome church of Christ, Lebanon, Tennessee (remote): David Oxley reports, “We will meet this week for our advanced class. We are sending cards this week to four new prospects. We will meet Monday night for our New Convert’s class. We have a study scheduled for this week; we will use Book 3 of Back to the Bible. We will also make some prospect visits.”

Blackman church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee (remote): Brian McCord reports, “We had 21 visitors yesterday. One of those visitors was someone who has received our cards. We are sending 20+ cards per week. We continue to work with these prospects.”

Hillcrest church of Christ, Springfield, Tennessee: Tim Taylor (evangelist) reports, “We continue to be blessed with new and returning visitors each week! Tonjua, a benevolence contact from earlier this year, came by Wednesday night after Bible study to thank us for all the compassion cards we sent to her following our food giveaway. We invited her to come back, especially for our Friends & Family event this coming Sunday, and we are following up with more cards and prayers. We had three first-time visitors with a total of 18 this past Sunday.”

Chapel Hill church of Christ, Tennessee: Matt Jones (deacon) reports, “We have several Bible studies still going on. We continue to pray for hearts to be open. All other areas are still staying focused. From card writing to new mover baskets, we are continuing to work to spread the Gospel.”

Cookeville church of Christ, Tennessee: Jonathan Medley (elder) reports, “We continue to send cards to six contacts. The three Indian ladies came back to the building after the service again. This time, the grandmother was asking to take communion; we assume it is because it was Easter. The grandmother again confirmed that she had been baptized, but she only spoke Telugu, so we could not get much more than that. Not knowing her religious background, I was not going to do a full communion with her. However, we knew that if we turned them away, the door would be shut to studying with the daughters. So we gave them three travel packs of communion for them to take with them. We talked to the younger girls about possible studies, but they did not seem interested. However, they know where we are, and they know we are open and willing to talk to them if they ever want to, so that door remains open.”

McEwen church of Christ, Tennessee: John Jones (preacher) reports, “We began a new Bible study last week. Two other studies are going well. One dropped off, unfortunately. She was not interested in continuing. I started six new contacts with compassion cards last week, so I hope to have some good opportunities with them soon.”

Birdwell Chapel church of Christ, Cottontown, Tennessee: Kerry England (elder) reports, “We are making progress with implementing the new movers’ visitation and compassion card ministry. Our goal is to become efficient in these areas and then move forward with the other aspects of the evangelism program. We continue to have several visitors each week and pass out visitor bags. Please pray that we can build those relationships that will allow us to begin Bible studies. We have received and passed out our invitation cards so we can invite people with whom we have had a short period of interaction.”

Ocoee Street church of Christ, Copperhill, Tennessee: R.E. Vann (elder) reports, “We had another evangelistic family placing their workmanship with us! The holiday weekend events provided us with three additional contacts whom we will begin prospecting. However, we are struggling with our transition visits and would appreciate prayers in this area so we can become more confident in setting up Bible studies.”

Rivergate church of Christ, Madison, Tennessee: Doug Tooley (preacher) reports, “We had eight visitors on Sunday morning, one on Sunday night, and two on Wednesday night. Several of the Sunday morning visitors were local family members. Two visits were made last week.  We had a restoration on Wednesday night.”

White Oak church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee (remote): John McGiffin (preacher) reports, “We had two more sets of visitors on Sunday. We are encouraged by their response. We will be following up with them this week. We are preparing for our upcoming Gospel meeting. We continue to put House-to-House issues in the distribution box before Dollar General. We also continue to send tracts to congregations that cannot afford to purchase them for themselves. Our current Facebook advertisement has been viewed by 14,938 people within a five-mile radius. Regarding our website, 204 people have clicked for information. The total cost so far is $74.34. In addition, we have distributed 400 door hangers in the immediate area. We have offered water to those walking or jogging by our building for a second week in a row. So far, we have had little response, but we keep working and looking for additional contact creators.”

West Fayetteville church of Christ, Tennessee: Steve Jefferson (elder) reports, “We have been blessed at West Fayetteville with many visitors for Bible school and worship this Sunday. We are currently working on four Bible studies and are thankful for eager students. We plan to involve more members to help us make more timely transition visits.”

Mountain Creek church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Michael Tomshack (elder) reports, “One aspect for spiritual growth of recent converts and members is fellowship with believers. On May 4, we will initiate Connect Groups to deepen personal relationships that cannot be strengthened by simply meeting corporately a few times a week. This endeavor, if God wills, will provide our new converts with a sense of closer inclusion and a support system as life challenges arise. Additionally, we strive to maintain the ‘back door closed’ policy, encouraging members who are not truly connected to become an active part of the local congregation. On Sunday, we welcomed several visitors. A recent convert invited one, and they both were taken to lunch, which provided an opportunity to encourage future attendance of the guest, and, if God wills, a study. Another lady from one of the apartment complexes near the building came to worship on ‘Easter.’ She said, ‘I am here for an Easter service.’ She is Catholic. So I just played along and did not get involved in a discussion about how we celebrate Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection every week, instead of explaining the origins of Easter. Regardless of the reason for her visit, we greeted her with a warm, friendly, and welcoming nature. Our greeting team and other members welcomed the visitors and lingered after worship to create an inviting atmosphere, planting the seeds of potential future engagement with our guests.”

Bridgewater church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (deacon) reports, “We had a few visitors at our services Sunday. After our morning assembly, we took a visiting couple out to lunch. The couple lives close to the building. We look forward to a study with them soon. We will also begin a New Converts class this coming Sunday. Our new movers also met to address packets to 43 homes of those who recently moved into our area. One of our compassion teams met and signed about 60 cards for us to mail to those who may be prospects.”

Colleyville church of Christ, Texas: John Garza (regional trainer) reports, “We continue to have multiple studies taking place, and we have many other prospects that we hope will come to fruition. Many good works are taking place. With our Spring Gospel Meeting approaching, the Elders have set a goal of personally inviting 500 people to the meeting across all members of the congregation. We are at about 250 right now. We look forward to this meeting focused on inviting the lost to have their questions answered.”

Eisenhower church of Christ, Odessa, Texas: Allen Weakland (elder) reports, “With the last week leading up to our nation’s holiday, things seemed very quiet. This past Saturday night, the congregation enjoyed our Brisket Dinner, and a number of visitors joined us as we sat around and basked in a time of fellowship. Times like these are so important because they offer us a precious moment to connect with our new brothers and sisters in Christ. It also provides our new converts insight as to the closeness that is found within the Body of Christ. As we begin this new week, I received a text message from one of our elders informing me that a young lady has requested to be baptized into Christ. She has been involved in a study with a sister in Christ and made her intentions known after their study. We rejoiced as Nazareth Franco was baptized into Christ on Monday evening. She and her husband are blessed with two children. She was studying with a Christian named Ashley, whom she met at work. Ashley was allowed to start a Bible study with any of the ladies during their lunchtime.”

9^th and Main church of Christ, San Angelo, Texas: Leon Martinez (evangelist) reports, “The members are making efforts to reach out, not only to the community, but also to the families of our members who are not Christians. We continue to send out cards of encouragement, and multiple Bible studies have been conducted lately. We appreciate all prayers for our efforts.”

Howe church of Christ, Texas: Aaron Alsbrook (preacher) reports, “Last week is a reminder that we are changing the culture. Our Eldership is putting together a game plan for our New Converts class. We are in the middle of three Bible studies, and the congregation is working to identify more contacts. We are going to appoint a Visitor coordinator and get the ball rolling with members to help in that effort. We have also started a study class on Sunday afternoons to think of possible objections that may come up in the study of our Bibles. Our first response is to defer rather than debate, and our second response has been that this may open the door for studying in the New Converts class or later down the road.”

Roanoke church of Christ, Texas: Caleb Rutherford (preacher) reports, “We want to start with the GREAT news: we had our first restoration on Sunday morning! George Williams made the decision to come back to God’s family. He asked for the forgiveness of his sins and stated that he is making the necessary changes in order to be right with God. We began sending cards to George back in January. Jason, one of our elders, made a few visits; eventually, he set up a study. After about five weeks of study, George made the decision. Please pray for him as he rekindles his fire and zeal for the Lord. As with many congregations across the country, we had several visitors present because of the holiday. We had 44 visitors total and received several contact cards. Group 2 wrote to three prospects. In my last report, I mentioned a lady with whom Kaylon and I began studying last Sunday evening. We finished Book 2 yesterday morning during Bible class. She was mind blown about the singularity of Christ’s church; she had not realized that there are so many ‘churches’ that do not adhere to the authority of God’s Word. We will begin Book 3 on Tuesday; we appreciate prayers for a successful study.”

Fruitvale church of Christ, Texas: Carl McCann (elder) reports, “We report a baptism! Seth Adkins was baptized into Christ for the remission of his sins after concluding Book 3 of Back to the Bible. In addition, we were able to begin a new converts study with him. We have five ongoing Bible studies and more follow-up work to be done.”

Wheeler church of Christ, Texas: Garrett English (preacher) reports, “I studied Lesson 3 with a young man on Friday. Although he read that ‘today is the day of salvation,’ he still did not recognize the urgency. He is still thinking, and I am praying he makes the decision before it is too late. He surely now knows what he needs to do to be saved, and he is counting the cost. If he does not answer the call, we will continue on to Does It Matter. I am checking with the denominational pastor today to set up a study of Book 2 either this week or next. I reached out to a local couple whom I am told by a nearby preacher is interested in studying. I do not have a date set for it, but I will keep pressing them on setting one ASAP.”

Southside church of Christ, Lubbock, Texas (remote): Joshua Hubbard (associate minister) reports, “We have finished sending cards to one of our prospects, and we hope to follow up with him soon. One of our elders is now involved in two Bible studies, and we pray that good things will come from that. We are meeting on Wednesday to talk about how we can improve. We are thankful for all prayers and support!”

Granbury Street church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas: Ryan Cowan (deacon) reports, “A big group showed up for our card writing session. Compassion cards are used to prospect contacts and show them we care. Tilling the heart allows us to visit and sow the seed!”

Abingdon church of Christ, Virginia: Freddie Klein (evangelist) reports, “This week’s three-month follow-up meeting with Rob Whitacre and our key coordinators was highly productive. Attendees left the meeting feeling energized and inspired to promote the cause of Christ. Nathan’s Back to the Bible sermon series continued on Sunday morning. Thanks to our active card group, community engagement and member participation remain robust. On Sunday evening, Nathan’s sermon focused on the importance of perseverance and the dangers of weariness. Two Bible studies are ongoing, and a third could be held in the coming weeks.”

West Side church of Christ, Salem, Virginia: Jeff Durham (elder) reports, “Two of our members had separate interactions with a local business owner who asked about our core beliefs. Our members said that our sole desire is to follow the New Testament pattern to be the church that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 16. The business owner shared his frustration with his current religious organization because of tenets of Calvinism. All could agree that those teachings did not follow what the Bible has to say about His church. Invitations were given by both members to attend worship with us and offered to study the Bible together (using the Back to the Bible series). We are praying this person will accept one or both invitations soon!”

Culpeper church of Christ, Virginia (remote): Dave Calvert (elder) reports, “We’ve put together several new movers baskets and we’ve trained our members how to approach and speak with them.  We are excited to try this new strategy.  We will begin delivering them this week.”

Williamsburg church of Christ, Virginia: Jim Bishop (elder) reports, “Compassion Card Group 3 sent cards to new movers, prospects from door knocking, and a family who brings their children to the Reading Assistance ministry held at the church building. This week, we had one family visit who has been stationed at a local military base. May God bless the work of all those who are spreading the Gospel.”