Success Stories: April 24, 2024

Welcome Malvern church of Christ, Arkansas (remote):  We want to welcome the Malvern church of Christ to the House to House/Heart to Heart School of Evangelism. This congregation is seeking to rebuild through evangelism and recently enrolled using our remote option.  Their preacher is David Burruss.  Here is his first update: “For the last 6 weeks, we have participated in the virtual training sessions, and the congregation at Malvern, AR, is very excited about starting this wonderful evangelism program to save souls. Even though we are just beginning, we already have two prospects and have completed book 1 of Back to the Bible on both prospects. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we start this new journey.”

Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: David Marker (elder) reports, “We had a youth event this past Sunday; several of our young people went bowling. What is important to note is that out of those who went, three are currently involved in Bible studies. Also, we are planning a VBS for June. We are planning numerous events to reach out to the community, including advertising in HTH, planning a door-knocking campaign, using our invitation cards, and inviting our new movers. It was a blessing to present our latest convert with a baptism certificate this past Sunday morning, recognizing her great decision. That is certainly a great encouragement to her and the entire congregation. We are grateful to many who are working tirelessly in the ongoing efforts. We have many who are seeking the few!”

Petersville church of Christ, Florence, Alabama: Adam Richardson (preacher) reports, “Getting started! We had one baptism last week (picture attached)! We sent about 17 cards as we got the program rolling. We had 20 visitors. The HTHSOE bookmarks were passed out for the first time; you can see how we did it at the 1:57:40 moment at this link: Facebook. We are still updating everything else, but a room is set up for training, and another room is ready for Bible studies when going to homes is not an option.”
                                                                                          
Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “This week, we made a lot of visits to set up more studies. We anticipated from our last meeting that this week would have several excellent opportunities. A lot continues to happen.”

Central church of Christ, Saraland, Alabama: David Dixon (preacher) reports, “I do not even know where to begin. We had two baptisms this week. Dalton Powell and Mallory Miller, engaged to be married, completed Back to the Bible and did not hesitate to obey the Lord. They were immediately baptized. This makes three baptisms within a week. We are over the moon. To help those three, we began a New Converts class Sunday with one of our elders teaching it. They are using the Growing in Christ book.

“What blew us away this week was the Compassion Card team. We had divided the whole congregation into three teams. Last week, Team One met, and we encountered several growing pains. This week was completely different. Team Two met and wrote nearly 100 cards. It was an organized process, well supported by about 25 card writers. I think we have a system that will work!

“But that is not all! On Sunday, we had three or four families visiting, which is a lot for us. One family is worthy of note. It is a family that is on my personal prospect list. They have a son on our son’s baseball team. The two boys wanted a sleepover, and everything just fell into place for their son to stay at our house Saturday night. The parents then came to worship Sunday morning. We convinced them to go to lunch with us (even though it was their son’s birthday).  As the conversation progressed over lunch, it happened just as we hoped. They became increasingly more comfortable the more we talked about the things we had in common. We did not talk about church or the Bible or anything like that. We just tried to make friends. The whole time we talked, I kept thinking about the impact it would have for them to be flooded with cards throughout the week. I could not have scripted it better.

“From two baptisms Saturday morning to a prospective family visiting services Sunday, it was an incredible week. The whole week just added fuel to our fire, and I am happy to say the elders are leading the charge. Good things are happening!”

West Huntsville church of Christ, Alabama: Paul Owen (associate preacher) reports, “Yesterday we had our third week of writing compassion cards. We currently have six Bible studies on going, and we have 26 prospects. Glenn finished preaching the third Back to the Bible booklet yesterday. We baptized a man in his 60’s yesterday. Glory to God.”

Rison church of Christ, Arkansas: Keden Shrum (preacher) reports, “Care Team A met Sunday evening after worship and signed cards for five more prospects. We have one study lined up for Tuesday evening with a gentleman who has been receiving compassion cards. We have 17 prospects that we are working on right now.”

Lake City church of Christ, Florida: Jim Flegert (elder) reports, “Today our Mission Monday/Sunday Team was all excited with the announcement that we chose 13 families from our spreadsheet to receive gift bags and special invitations from our team members. We pray that these lost souls will respond to the gospel call and that doors of opportunity to expand God’s Kingdom will be the result.”

Niceville church of Christ, Florida: Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “This week we sent 22 cards and had two Bible studies with two people. We had two local visitors and gave out two gift bags. Sunday night was the culmination of several months of love, sweat, and faith as we saw Misty Alford put on Christ in baptism. She was so excited. Earlier, we baptized her boyfriend Alex. Alex, Greg, Brenda, and Yvonne have been studying with and encouraging Misty. She came Sunday night to be baptized, which was a big step for her because she is nervous around people. She professed her faith and was buried in baptism as the congregation sang hymns of joy to our God.”

Peachtree City church of Christ, Georgia: Lew Foshee (elder) reports, “I wanted to provide you with an update of our evangelism program. We relaunched our evangelism program in January after the tumultuous year we experienced in 2023. We currently have 18 members that comprise our evangelism team. We had also planned to appoint a deacon to assist with our evangelism program and had selected an outstanding young man to fill that role.

“From January through the end of March, we mailed 258 cards to 24 contacts. The cards definitely have an impact, as we have received tremendous feedback from individuals who have received them.

“We have also contacted 21 referrals from the New Movers program. We have sent cards and are preparing to deliver gift baskets.

“I am teaching the new converts class, although initially I had to alter the class, as the students I currently have still need to be baptized and come from different religious backgrounds. I structured the class to provide a good basis for why the church was established and the history teaching the doctrine of the Lord’s church, and I will be transitioning to the Back to the Bible booklets in two weeks.

“We have our annual Walk4Water event this Friday. Over 400 people registered for the event, a tremendous evangelism opportunity.

“I have been in contact with Austin Fowler regarding the invitation cards. One of our members has revamped our website and recently started marketing for us. She and I are meeting on Wednesday to discuss what we want on the invitation cards to best market outreach from our congregation. I plan to send that information to Austin next week so that he can produce the invitation cards. We think the cards are a tremendous idea for inviting someone to services. We are also discussing utilizing her talents to expand our evangelism outreach in the local community.”

Oak Hill church of Christ, Covington, Georgia: Tate Sutton (preacher) reports, “This week we have delivered new mover baskets. Also, we had two baptisms: one Thursday night and one today after service. The first baptism resulted from wonderful parents raising their son in the church. He wanted to obey the gospel. Also, one of our members, Noah, used all three Back to the Bible lessons to study with his friend. Courtney, who had been coming for several months, decided to put on Christ in baptism today. It is wonderful to see members use the material that was ready and doing the work of the Lord! God is good!”

Fayetteville church of Christ, Georgia: David Gulledge (associate preacher) reports, “Compassion Card Group 3 met yesterday and wrote cards. We have also created “luncheon groups” for each month that are responsible for taking visitors out to lunch. We have a deacon and his wife who oversee the visitor center, and they are incorporating this into the visitor center program. We have also started training people how to use the Back to the Bible material and now have several members preparing to conduct Bible studies.”

Carrollton church of Christ, Georgia: Danny Spain (member) reports, “We had 16 visitors yesterday and 121 in Bible class last week, which was a record high for us for months. We sent compassions cards and will do even more on Wednesday evening.

“Scott Wilson and Matthew Martin have been having a Bible study with T.J. Garrett and Anna Whitlock. T.J. was baptized Wednesday evening at about 9:30 p.m., and Anna was baptized Sunday morning after worship. That makes nine baptisms since June 2023.

“We had a coordinators’ meeting Sunday after evening service and agreed to start meeting monthly.”

Lafayette church of Christ, Georgia: Jesse Teague (deacon) reports, “Yesterday was the third Sunday, so Group 2 met to sign and send compassion cards. We had 14 saints on hand to fill out cards for eight souls who were prospected through New Mover’s door-knocking, contact cards from members, and folks that came to our assembly to visit, typically because they were invited!

“Our new member class is going strong. We have also encouraged other members who want to brush up on fundamentals to join this class. It is encouraging for the new members, and the not-so-new members as well! What better way to make sure you are ready to engage a lost soul with the gospel than to be ready to answer with the things you would learn in this study?”

Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Greg Garner (deacon) reports, “During our ACTS (Actively Caring Teaching & Serving) Evangelism Program, the Compassion Card Group created 16 cards and will send 20 cards this week and eight next week. We were grateful to have Austin Fowler visit us and discuss things we can do to improve. The Prison Ministry is assisting Snellville church of Christ with support for Bible Study and Bible software installation on 400 tablets in jail. This is still in progress. The Greeter Group reported that WCOC had six visitors this week.”

New Hope Road church of Christ, Dacula, Georgia (remote): Charles Harris (regional trainer) reports, “Sunday, the New Hope Road church of Christ began to implement the HTHSOE Model. William preached about ‘Making It Operational.’ All in attendance received an HTHSOE Training Card and Bookmark. Over the past few days, I did some training at the Cartersville church of Christ, and they are now enrolled in the school. I will meet with the elders regularly as we plan for the work, and in June, my family and I will begin working with the church full-time concerning their evangelistic efforts. Both churches are very excited about saving souls. Please pray for them as they seek to save the lost.”

Honolulu church of Christ, Hawaii: Tagiilima Esene (regional trainer) reports, “Aloha from the Honolulu congregation! One of the tools that God provided in our modern-day world is Zoom. Our congregation has been using Zoom ever since the pandemic. Regarding our assembly, we have Zoom running for the sake of the sick and shut-in members of our family. Zoom does not replace being with the body of Christ in person, but it is a great avenue for those who cannot access our worship services and Bible studies.

“The highlight of this report is using Zoom to help souls in other places of the world know about the gospel. After Peter, one of our new converts, was baptized last year, he mentioned that his friend Gabby and her husband Isaiah were interested in a Bible study. They live in American Samoa, where the church needs to be strengthened. American Samoa is an hour behind Hawaii’s time, so Zoom was a good tool for this study. Gabby and Isaiah studied through Zoom for months, and last week, they decided to be baptized into Christ. We are thankful that David Willis was there to help with the baptism in American Samoa. Please pray for these new souls. Please pray also for the churches in American Samoa. As a congregation, we appreciate all prayers. To God be the glory!”

Beloit church of Christ, Kansas (remote): Dustin Dougherty (regional trainer) reports, “On Sunday morning, I gathered with the good brothers and sisters of the Marysville, Kansas, congregation. We had a good worship service and good fellowship with several from the congregation as we enjoyed the noon meal together at the local Pizza Hut. I discussed with a couple of the men the possibility of returning and doing extended training for personal evangelism.  Several are willing to do the work and need direction and encouragement on how to go about it.

“I met with some of the elders and the missions committee in Wichita, Kansas, at one of the congregations there last Wednesday night and was fortunate enough to witness a baptism there with a young man who had studied with the preacher for quite some time.

“Here in Beloit, we are continuing through the Back to the Bible booklets; this Wednesday night, we studied Book 3. We have a study this evening with Book 3, so we are praying for that study. I will begin another study later this week with another young man; we are praying that the study goes well. The work in this area can be difficult, but it is also very rewarding, and I am very happy to be able to do the job for the Kingdom in this area of the country. To God be all honor, glory, and praise forever.”

Paintsville church of Christ, Kentucky: Zach Collins (preacher) reports, “In our Sunday evening sermons in April, we are conducting a sermon series called “12 Rules for Personal Evangelism” by exploring John 4. This series is intended to continue to encourage and motivate our congregation, along with further instruction, to be more effective in their evangelism. This congregation is receiving the sermons well! We are planning for upcoming events in the future and brainstorming for ways to make them more evangelistic. We appreciate all prayers for the church in Paintsville!”

Central church of Christ, Paducah, Kentucky: Adam Faughn (preacher) reports, “We are so excited to share that Ginger Spearman was baptized after our services Sunday morning. Ginger has been a guest with us for a long time. She went through all three books of Back to the Bible some time ago but was not immersed at the time. After further study and great encouragement from some of our members, she responded on Sunday. We are thrilled by her decision and rejoice with her.

“We have also been so excited to see many guests each week lately, most of them from our local community. We have so many guests that we need help knowing how best to contact them for meals. That is a great problem to have!

“Our youth group went door-knocking Sunday afternoon to advertise two upcoming events—a grief workshop and VBS—that we are praying will be great contact creators for us. We are thankful for the young people who took part. They were able to spread the word about these events, and they even had a brief but good conversation with one of our erring members. About 100 cards were sent out this week, and that seems to be where our average is. We are making several follow-up visits. We know of one ongoing Bible study and are praying for another to start very soon. To God be the glory!”

La Plata church of Christ, Maryland (remote): Eric Sykes (regional trainer) reports, “God is good, and we are still working hard here at the La Plata church of Christ. We sent out 14 compassion cards last week. We visited two families and dropped off two gift bags. We have nine open Bible studies. We had seven folks in our new converts classes. We are working on assigning and training our first group of area coordinators. We appreciate all prayers as we implement the congregational evangelism.”

West Hwy 160 church of Christ, West Plains, Missouri: Marvin Hatley (elder) reports, “Jakob delivered part two of the sermon on Does It Matter? Sunday morning.  The elders have selected new coordinators and will meet with these men to establish training and provide support as needed.  Two Bible studies were conducted.  One was with a coworker of a member that continues to desire studies but is reluctant to obey the gospel.  The second study was conducted using book two of Back To The Bible.  The prospect had completed book one several months ago but hesitated to re-engage in future studies.  He finally agreed to study book two when asked by his brother.  Lord willing, he will be willing to continue the study in book three Friday.  Compassion card group one completed twenty-one cards for mailing this week.”

Foristell church of Christ, Missouri: Aaron Baker (preacher) reports, “Spring has sprung, and so have our evangelistic efforts. Current events include new mover’s visits, compassion cards, and Bible studies. We are also prepping for VBS.

“This past week, we made several new movers visits. The gift bags open the door for discussions and soften people’s hearts at the door. We tried making these visits without the gift bags, and it did not go well. Rob’s advice to use the gift bags with some goodies inside is a great tip that allows us to have far better discussions at the door.

“We continue to send compassion cards weekly, soliciting input from members on those who may be ready to receive these cards. Our members have done a great job mailing these out, and it helps to have a well-organized deacon or member spearheading this effort.

“We have two Bible studies under way right now. We appreciate prayers for Heidi, Dakota, and Jennifer. We have one more Bible study planned, but we must get it underway.

“Looking to the future, we are prepping now for VBS. We have selected our theme, and we are writing our lessons and curriculum. In addition, we are focusing on outreach and making it as visitor- friendly as possible. We request prayers as we sow the seed of the Kingdom through this effort.”

West End Blvd church of Christ, Cape Girardeau, Missouri: Jared Scaggs (preacher) reports, “This week we have started our Back to the Bible training on Sunday mornings. We have assigned all our coordinators, and the process feels like it is starting to roll on its own. We are still working on three Bible studies and are beginning to transfer prospects into Bible studies from our compassion cards this week. It is great to see everyone motivated to soul winning.”

Samford church of Christ, Steel, Missouri: Kyle Imel (deacon) reports, “We have a few that need visits after receiving compassion cards. We will meet on Wednesday to set up those meetings.”

East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “We had a first-time visitor. We arranged transportation to and from worship service; we also had a fellowship meal with him at the building after the service. Also, we are planning to take a hot prospect out for pizza. He has been coming to worship services consistently. He has also agreed to come to Wednesday night and have a Bible study afterward.  From there, we will seek to set the appointment to start the BTTB studies with him.
“After worship services, we filled out 53 cards to be mailed out incrementally this week. We appreciated all prayers and encouragement.”

Cary church of Christ, North Carolina: Larry Fife (preacher) reports, “We had an incredible week! Sunday brought us several visitors. Our connect group took the time to write 62 compassion cards, adding up to a total of 502 for the year. Currently, we are working on establishing an online platform for our members to update their evangelism efforts in real-time. Our goal is to develop a web-based dashboard that provides live updates. We are gearing up to deliver new mover baskets in the upcoming week, and we aim to expand our delivery outreach in the months ahead. We are grateful for all of God’s blessings as we look forward to continuing our service journey in God’s Kingdom.”

Carthage church of Christ, North Carolina (remote): Randy Chambers (preacher) reports, “This past week, we had three visitors. One of the visitors was there Wednesday, and two of them stayed to have lunch with us after the morning worship service. We are actively prospecting our visitors and receiving good feedback from them.

“We mailed out compassion cards to four visitors from the past week, and one of the visitors who returned to worship services for the second week was very excited about receiving the cards and was eager to meet some of the members who wrote them.

“Over the last two weeks, we have delivered twelve new movers baskets and are preparing to visit more in the future. One Bible study was rescheduled for this week. We pray that all will go as planned. We continue to educate and encourage the saints; we are thankful to the brethren for their prayers and good work in the Kingdom.”

Warners Chapel church of Christ, Clemmons, North Carolina: Todd Hinson (elder) reports, “This past Saturday, we manned a table at the Clemmons Community Day. This event featured over 100 tables of local businesses and groups. Our table included a brochure about our congregation, several applicable House to House School of Evangelism materials, some candy for the kids, and a registration card for one of three Apologetics Press Study Bibles we would give away. At the end of the five-hour event, we had obtained 44 contacts, nine of whom checked a box wanting some form of Bible study. We also talked to an erring sister who had left a sister congregation for a denomination. She knows she is wrong. She wants to get it right and specifically requested a follow-up. We appreciate all prayers for these efforts.”

Streetsboro church of Christ, Ohio: Ralph Price (preacher) reports, “We have had a couple of encouraging developments. An elderly woman visited last week. She lives down the street from our building. When she came in, she asked if we were Baptist. When I told her no, she turned around and started to leave. Then she asked if the church across the street was Baptist, to which I said, “No.” She turned around again and said, “I guess I will stay. If I do not like it, I will not come back.”  We gave her a visitor bag and got her information. Someone was coming to pick her up, so she could not go out to lunch. We put her on the compassion card list. She came back this week! She brought a handwritten note that she wanted us to read to the congregation. She thanked the congregation for being so friendly, thanked us for the cards, and said she would continue coming. We are all very happy, and we will follow up with her. We also have another contact in the community—a man whom we have helped financially. We took him out to lunch today and put him on the compassion card list. We are hoping this turns into a study as well.”

Greenville church of Christ, Ohio: John McGiffin (preacher) reports, “We are glad to report that we had two baptisms on Sunday. This brings our total since the beginning of the year to five. Our Baptism Goal for the calendar year was four.  They had been studying with a member of the congregation for some time. They had completed an entire study without committing. We transitioned to Back to the Bible. After the second lesson, they decided to follow Jesus. The new converts have recently moved, so we found a congregation for them, introduced them to the elders, and transitioned them into new convert classes. They were well received by the sister congregation.

“They had invited co-workers (denominational members) to witness their baptisms. The co-workers taped the baptism. They were interested in the entire process. It appears they may be new prospects for a Bible Study.

“This brings our stats to 16 prospects this year. We are a small congregation and cannot prospect many people. We now have six ongoing Bible studies. Those seem to be going slowly, but so did the recent two converts. We have sent approximately 530 compassion cards. Our current focus is on prodigal members. I had the chance to visit with one of them in the hospital and show our concern.”

New Concord church of Christ, Ohio: Terry Townsend (preacher) reports, “Our visits continue to be made (prospecting), and we continue to pray for Bible studies. We have made 12 visits for those we are trying to reach with the Gospel. That number is down this month, but we still have over a week to go. Our visitors continue to assemble with us, and we hope some of them will soon obey. We have one Bible study that is ongoing.”

Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (regional trainer) reports, “It has been another blessed week in Coweta. We are thankful to the Father for the opportunities He places before us. After an enjoyable meal on Thursday, Houston and I studied Lesson 1 with Clayton and Shy. It seems simple, but ‘always eat’ helps. Nothing breaks the ice like a meal before your first study with someone. They enjoyed the study.

“Clayton has only stepped foot in a worship service with Shy one other time at a mega-church in Tulsa. He said it did not feel right, and he did not want to return. Shy was raised by atheist parents and had only very recently started going to this mega-church with a friend. This mega-church has a weekly attendance of over 5000 people, with another 15,000 watching virtually. They both agreed that they liked worshiping at the church of Christ much better.

“While going through Lesson 1, we came to Matthew 15:9. I always back up and include verse 8. When we read it, Shy looked up and said, ‘Is this what they are doing at my church?’ Wanting her to reason through this thought alone, I asked, ‘What kind of things are they doing that would lead you to that conclusion?’ Before she could answer, Clayton said, ‘Well, for starters, I do not think they are supposed to be having a 30-minute concert at the start of church.’ She followed up with, ‘And the preacher never uses a Bible. He gives motivational talks.’

“I confirmed her suspicion that their worship was indeed in vain, just as Jesus had stated. We continued with the study, and they received it well. On Sunday after morning worship, we went to lunch, returned to the church building, and went through Lesson 2. They are excited to get to Lesson 3 as quickly as their schedule allows.

“On Saturday, I had lunch with Chris and then went through Lesson 1. Ironically, Chris also comes from an atheist family. However, his grandmother, whom we baptized last April, has greatly encouraged Chris. She is very faithful and has grown tremendously in the past year. The example she has set and the direction she has shown him have influenced him heavily. He started coming to services with her a few weeks ago. We went through Lesson 1, and he is excited to get through Lesson 2.

“After finishing Lesson 1 with Chris, brother Mark Garner joined me at the church building, and we went through Lesson 2 with Kirby. He has such a craving for the word. He has the mindset that whatever he needs to change, he is ready to walk with Christ. Wednesday evening, we will be going through Lesson 3 with Kirby. We appreciate all prayers for these efforts.”

Union church of Christ, South Carolina (remote): Terry Hale (preacher) reports, “New converts are very active in wanting to learn the program. We have compassion cards going out in the next couple of weeks and studies with prospects in Back to the Bible. We currently have five prospects from our contact list that we are engaging. We continue to train, and several willing members want to learn and grow. Our congregation here is growing in number and unity. So thankful for all the good work being done.”

North Bradley church of Christ, Cleveland, Tennessee: Keith Wilson (preacher) reports, “We picked up another Back to the Bible study with one of our hot contacts recently. Taylor is heading this one up with me as back up. Altogether, we have seven current studies.”

Hebron church of Christ, McMinnville, Tennessee: Derrick Stiles (preacher) reports, “This week at Hebron was eventful. We began a new Bible study with a couple on Tuesday night and will continue our study on Monday night. We had a family with six children visit on Sunday. Compassion cards will go out to this family this week. John 4, Part 2 was preached on Sunday morning, and training continues. The evangelism table is complete, and our Evangelism Model posters are framed and hanging in the foyer. We appreciate all prayers as we continue to move forward at Hebron.”

Madison County church of Christ, Jackson, Tennessee: Steven Sprouse (preacher) reports, “We delivered new movers’ baskets and wrote cards this week. We continue to learn more about evangelism on Sunday mornings. We have four active prospects right now.”

Rivergate church of Christ, Madison, Tennessee: Doug Tooley (preacher) reports, “We continued preaching and teaching the HTHSOE schedule. Our coordinators have been selected, and training is underway. Our card ministry is rolling. We had a return visitor based on the cards received. The first time she was at Rivergate, we had a potluck. This Sunday, one of our elders took her to lunch.

“I performed a funeral this past week for a family that did not have a preacher. The wife told me they were church of Christ. They will be receiving cards and encouragement. We are hopeful we can get them back in the church.”

Hillsboro church of Christ, Tennessee: Chris Sliger (member) reports, “Team C met to write cards for three contacts. For the next few weeks, we will do follow-up visits for four compassion card recipients. James continues to study with his coworker, and we continue to hand out invitation cards to the public.”

East Main church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Brad Rowley (elder) reports, “Last week, East Main sent 65 cards, completed two follow-up visits, and delivered six new mover baskets. We have one on-going Bible study.”

McKenzie church of Christ, Tennessee: Randy McAdams (elder) reports, “We showed the congregation our first video about how to use the Bookmark/Prospect card Sunday night. Sunday morning, we gave the congregation a heads-up about how to prospect people who need prayers so we can send cards of love to them. Chance, our regular preacher, gave the morning lesson on “Jesus the Politically Incorrect” from John 4. The lesson discussed how Jesus was not always politically in favor of society’s “norm” but used technique and strategy in His evangelism. We hope that our congregation will get on board with our efforts and be more proactive in our outreach program so that much fruit will come from our work.”

Brushy church of Christ, Centerville, Tennessee: Kevin Johnston (preacher) reports, “We have sent out eleven compassion cards this week, and we have fine-tuned our new movers’ ministry with plans to deliver several baskets. This past week, we ate supper with a potential prospect, and we anticipate having a Bible study in the future. We continue to remind and encourage members to actively participate in the ministry.”

Mountain Creek church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Michael Tomshack (elder) reports, “Gary Massey (Elder, Minister), completed the School of Evangelism sermon series on Sunday. Four Bible studies are in various stages utilizing Back to the Bible. Our VBS is scheduled for July. Lord willing, we plan to reach out proactively to the community in a more focused method utilizing the School of Evangelism process. We will sort out guests who attend from another local church of Christ because our goal is to reach non-members of the body and those who have fallen. When visitors from a church of Christ attend, we send one card from that week’s team leader thanking them for attending, unless a desire for a new place to worship is indicated.”

New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fulks (elder) reports, “We had five visitors from the community. Our evangelism team made five visits. Our new movers’ team did not make any deliveries this past week. The congregation submitted five contacts for prospecting. We conducted one personal Bible study and have one person in our New Converts class. We wrote forty-four compassion cards to send throughout the week.”

Chapel Hill church of Christ, Tennessee: Matt Jones (deacon) reports, “Overall, things are going very well. We continue to make steady progress in all areas. This week, we had a coordinator meeting, and everyone worked hard in each area. Yesterday, many prayers were answered by adding a new brother in Christ! This brother started receiving cards weeks ago, and we continued to shower him with love. After several studies, he was ready to obey the gospel, and we rejoice with him! We have several other Bible studies ongoing, and we pray those continue to progress and more souls will be added to the Kingdom soon!”

Northern Oaks church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas: Mel Hutzler (preacher) reports, “Manuel Tarango from the HOW Foundation was baptized on Sunday by Anthony Castillo, one of our deacons. We appreciate Manuel’s decision to put Christ on in baptism as well for Anthony to study with him. We have some Bible studies in progress and a few more that will start soon. We are sending out cards, making new mover visits, and prospecting people.”

North Jefferson church of Christ, Mt. Pleasant, Texas: Kris Groda (preacher) reports, “Tony Smith started visiting the year before last. The congregation took him in. He received tons of compassion cards. He made friends with God‘s children and even ate with several of them many times. Last year, he contracted coronavirus and had what they called Long Covid. He was not around the congregation for several months, maintaining contact only through Facebook or telephone. Just this year, he felt like returning and has steadily built strength before returning to work. We stayed after him to continue the Bible study. He was agreeable. He decided to put Christ on in baptism this past Sunday.”

Eisenhower church of Christ, Odessa, Texas: Allen Weakland (preacher) reports, “Things have been moving quite fast in west Texas. We just finished our public seminar with Jeff Miller: ‘Does Science Support Creation?’ We advertised with billboards, the internet, flyers, and Facebook.  We contacted over 17 people from the community. We were also blessed to realize that we caught the attention of several members of the church who were out of duty.

“As I spoke to the congregation Sunday evening, we emphasized that now the real work begins. Several of our members have already set up Bible studies, and several of our deacons will be gathering to support these studies and to help strengthen several new converts in Christ. We appreciate all prayers for us as we continue to plant and water, for we know God will give the increase.”

9^th and Main church of Christ, San Angelo, Texas: Bryan Braswell (elder) reports, “We are in active meetings with are coordinators and teams. We are working through the training materials with detail, teaching every able member the materials so we know our people are grounded. They love this material! We are also executing contact lists and visiting our new contacts every week. We post new contacts on our screen weekly.

“I am aware of at least five different studies using these materials.  This number is changing every week. I know some are close to baptism. We have been very busy reviewing our members’ lists and establishing good team order and leadership. We have officially installed two new deacons who are actively involved with our evangelism program.

“For the last several weeks, our auditorium has been swelling with visitors, and it is a result of our approach and attention to evangelism. Last night, we had more people stay for our third week evening sandwich supper than ever before with a ton of food. Our people are working. There were many visitors here last night as well! We have more than enough going on to stay ahead of the contacts.

“We had our first kickoff visitation team meeting last night, after our third-week sandwich supper. This is not the usual visitation meeting; it is specifically geared toward evangelizing and finding out who is serious about the work at 9th and Main. We want to find out where their focus is and how we can help them enjoy the true purpose of life being evangelistic (cf. Acts 20:35).”

Bridgeport church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (deacon) reports, “Our congregation at Bridgewater in Katy, Texas, will be hosting Keno Shrum, who is a regional trainer. He is coming to encourage us in our evangelism efforts. If you are in the Katy area, you can come on Sunday, April 28. Wade and I will meet with a visitor to our services for a Bible study on Tuesday morning.”

Shenandoah church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas (remote): Tim Ayers (preacher) reports, “We are continuing to study through Back to the BibleLesson 2. We are delivering new movers’ baskets this week. We are handing out invitation cards. So far, we have not seen many results from our efforts, but we know we are barely getting started. As they say, we are in this for the long haul. If we faithfully work for the Lord in His kingdom, the fruit will be seen eventually. We appreciate all who pray for us, as we pray for all who seek to save the lost. What a blessing it is to be in God’s family!”

Canyon Lake church of Christ, Texas (remote): Raoul Ferris and Jesse Stuart report, “We continue to work the evangelism model. We have seen the model come full circle several times at Canyon Lake church of Christ. Because of this, we continue to follow the outlined strategy.

“Currently, we have one in a new convert’s study using the Open Bible study method. We have a family of seven who are doing the Spanish version of Back to the Bible. We have had trouble getting one of our studies to commit to a second study, but she constantly calls to thank us for the compassion cards.

“We continue to reach out to the community using the book Coping by Steven Lloyd at the local library to gain new contacts. We now have four new contacts using this method. We were assisted in setting up a Bible study page on Facebook called “Canyon Lake Bible Study,” and from this, we were able to set up a Bible study and invite someone to our class about coping. This Facebook page is designed to hit the masses within a few-mile radius of us in Canyon Lake by using videos from World Video Bible School, Apologetics Press, and GBN. We will start to do follow-up work next week from our door-knocking campaign from four weeks ago.”

Wheeler church of Christ, Texas: Garrett English (preacher) reports, “We checked on the man who moved into town who asked about baptism, but I was told he was gone out of town for a few weeks. I will keep checking. Our Sunday morning class is into Back to the Bible, Book 3. We pray there are open hearts that will truly examine whether their baptism was correct.”

Granbury Street church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas: Ryan Cowan (deacon) reports, “It has been a whirlwind of activity at Granbury Street over the past few weeks. This past Saturday, a group of 18 adults gathered for ‘Mission Saturday,’ where they watched and discussed videos by Rob, delving into the key principles highlighted in each one. John also led a review of Chapter 3 from Bobby Bates’s book, Fishers for Men, focusing on door-knocking techniques using the ‘three questions.’ Contact cards were passed out, and marching orders were provided.

“Currently, there are around ten studies taking place in the area. One particularly interesting situation involved my wife, Kerista, who visited an assisted living center to meet with a lovely lady named Irma. As Kerista began Book 1 with Irma, three other people in the room started listening in, and a spontaneous group study occurred. Kerista and my daughter Kaitley managed the situation despite the unexpected events. Kerista is returning this week to begin Book 2 with the group.”

Crosby church of Christ, Texas (remote): Jon Wheeler (elder) reports, “We rejoice with a new baptism last Wednesday evening.  A young mother completed the BTTB series and wanted to be saved through immersion baptism. She had been ‘baptized’ as a young child but not by immersion. She and her husband attended the new converts class on Sunday morning! Fifteen new movers’ baskets were delivered on Saturday. Some indicated they are looking for a church home. We will follow up with them. One of our prospects had a baby, so the ladies are preparing a nice gift basket for her.”

Graceton Church of Christ, Diana, Texas: Johnny Willeford (elder) reports, “Our Compassion Card Group met Sunday afternoon to sign 34 cards for four new contacts. We will hold our annual High School Senior first Sunday fellowship this Sunday. We are expecting several extended family members from our two graduating seniors. Our Mission Monday group will meet next Monday evening to report on our home visits and get the next month’s assignments. We have begun work on our summer Family VBS Day.”

Eight Mile Rock church of Christ, Bahamas (remote): Tavaro Hanna (preacher) reports, “I preached the benevolence lesson by brother McGiffin, and it was well received. Several of us are in ongoing Bible studies, including Sister Hanna, who has three ongoing studies. I have four ongoing studies, with a few pending. We will use the Back to the Bible study booklets for our new studies.”