Success Stories: April 3, 2024

Welcome Strathmore Blvd church of Christ, Canada (remote): We welcome the Strathmore Blvd church of Christ to the HTHSOE. Austin Fowler (regional trainer) reports, “This past weekend, I was in Canada doing an evangelism seminar. It was amazing. The attendance was fantastic! On Friday, 200 people from all the area congregations met together. Two men drove eight hours to attend this event. They came to every session. The congregation at Strathmore Blvd hosted the event. Sunday worship was amazing. So many different cultures came together for one purpose! Pray for the congregations in Canada as they practice what they learned from the seminar!”

Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: Brooks Boyd (elder) reports, “The Lord’s church at Glencoe continues to see abundant blessings. This past Sunday, we had the best attendance for morning worship we have had in a long time, with 132 present.  Among those, we had 34 visitors. One was a new mover who had received a new mover’s basket and numerous follow-up invitation cards. He also brought a friend and her daughter.

“After our afternoon worship service, we invited the community to enjoy an egg hunt for the little folks. Our members filled more than 1,000 eggs, and our teenagers hid them for the children. Besides our preteens, we had three other families attend this event. One of those families (with four children) promised to return; based on the conversation with them afterward, we should have a Bible study with them soon. We have two Bible studies pending plus a special new converts’ study with two of our newest members. We continue to be amazed at the many good things the Lord showers upon us virtually every week.”

Chase Park church of Christ, Huntsville, Alabama: Pat Cowden (associate preacher): “Caroline Young was baptized into Christ after we completed the Does It Matter Bible study. She is the caregiver for the mother of one of our elders. She is extremely excited about learning and obeying the gospel. She has been religious for a very long time. After becoming a Christian, she told Miss Martha and me, ‘Until I met you guys, I was happily confused religiously.’ She brought her husband, John, to a congregational meal and services the next two Sundays and Wednesdays. We will likely begin a study with him this week, Lord willing. We also have several community visitors coming and are sending them cards and inviting them to lunch and to our house for meals in hopes of initiating studies with them as well. We appreciate all prayers for our efforts at Chase Park.”

Canal Heights church of Christ, Demopolis, Alabama: Bryan Cook (preacher) reports, “Canal Heights has had many ups and downs in our evangelism efforts. We have continued each month to do our door knocking. This last month, we changed it to do our new movers baskets and then went back to process the information. What was interesting was that one of our new movers had lived there for decades but was a wayward member whose mother is faithful and attends our services at the nursing home. Funny how God works.

“Our ladies, under the guidance of the deacons, have started organizing and maintaining many of the programs such as preparing the bags and new movers’ baskets. The card program system is almost complete. We have new rotating stands for all our cards now and will have a full inventory soon.  One lady who is now attending regularly said she came because of our evangelism efforts, which was a pleasant surprise.

“Shortly, we will start the evangelism sermons from the pulpit to train the congregation and encourage more participation.  Some of our members do not seem to care about evangelism, and that is frustrating. We hope to spur just a few more to get with the program. We appreciate all prayers.”

Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “Sending out HTH has provided more opportunities. We had a visitor who came last night after reading the mail out, and he said, ‘I heard y’all follow the Bible only.’  We invited him for lunch this week and hope to follow up and get a study with this contact. We are looking forward to our Mission Meal next Sunday.”

Central church of Christ, Saraland, Alabama: David Dixon (preacher) reports, “Enthusiasm remains sky-high. We set up our accountability board. We began Book 2 of Back to the Bible with Dalton and Mallory. Yesterday, we had 122 at worship—our largest number since we have been here. The work continues!”

West Huntsville church of Christ, Alabama: Paul Owen (associate preacher) reports, “The West Huntsville church of Christ continues to move toward starting our writing of compassion cards this Sunday!  Our first ‘One Mission Meeting’ will be on May 5. We are excited, and right now, we have three Bible studies ongoing.  We have two door-knocking events scheduled for April 13 and April 27.   Saturday, one of our young people, Lucas, put Christ on in baptism! The below pictures are of our compassion card room and coordinators meeting last night.”

Sunset church of Christ, Nashville, Arkansas (remote): Zach Williams (preacher) reports, “We had two baptisms last week. Both are converts from denominations. They visited and received gift bags. Then they received 30-40 cards in the mail, follow-up visits, dinners, and Bible studies, which led to baptisms. The process works.”

Rison church of Christ, Arkansas: Keden Shrum (preacher) reports, “This past Tuesday, I visited with a man who has been receiving cards for a couple of weeks. As soon as I entered his house, he showed me the stack of cards next to the recliner. The compassion of the church deeply moved him. That visit led to a Bible study, and we completed Book 1. Lord willing, we can continue with Book 2 this week. Three other visits were made this past week to card recipients. I have included a picture of Curtis, one of our young boys, working on his cards.”

Lake City church of Christ, Florida: Jim Flegert (elder) reports, “Our leadership is excited about our Zoom meeting this past week with Rob Whitacre. This marks our first anniversary of implementing the congressional evangelism program Rob and his team presented to our congregation. We realize that there are a few things we need to tweak, and we are learning about some of the new facets, like the training cards, that will certainly help our congregational efforts in evangelism.”

Niceville church of Christ, Florida: Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “This week, we had three studies conducted with five prospects. We mailed 35 cards. We had no new visitors but had three returning visitors. The exciting thing was seeing people this week trying to be evangelistic in their actions and thinking. We are encouraged as we watch people make the transition to growth.”

Lafayette church of Christ, Georgia: Jesse Teague (deacon) reports, “This week was the last Sunday of the month, so we had our usual fellowship meal. Some family members were visiting, including the daughter-in-law of one of our members who has a denominational background and is not a New Testament Christian (yet!). After a bit of discussion, it looks like she is interested in learning more and is amenable to studying! Also, one of our newest members has a wife who is still learning—a really good family and a very good person. She came to our worship services even when her husband was out of town two weeks ago. She completed the first study yesterday after worship, and it went well. Study 2 is scheduled for this Wednesday! So many people were involved in these two good news reports; it is great when a congregation works together to save souls!”

Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Greg Garner (deacon) reports, “During our ACTS (Actively Caring Teaching and Serving) Evangelism Program, Prison Ministry is resuming Bible studies on April 18 at DeKalb RYDC. We received permission from the commissioner to let the kids outside of the buildings. This is a major milestone as this will be a step closer to accomplishing baptism for those who are ready. Four volunteers have stepped up to help with Bible studies and setting up the baptism pool. Their paperwork is in progress. We had 14 in our New Convert class. The Greeter Group reported that WCOC had four visitors this week. WCOC conducted two Bible studies.”

Forest Park church of Christ, Valdosta, Georgia: Wes Hazel (preacher) reports, “Layla Gay was baptized tonight. She is a college student studying with another of our college students.”

Fayetteville church of Christ, Georgia: David Gulledge (associate preacher) reports, “Compassion cards were sent to prospects. I am not sure who wrote cards because I am out of town, and we do not have a group that meets on fifth Sundays. They were going to announce that it would be open to anyone who wants to write cards. Also, Maria Andablo was baptized last Wednesday afternoon. We went through all three Back to the Bible studies with her.”

Rabun County church of Christ, Tiger, Georgia (remote): McKinley Pate (preacher) reports, “We continue to plug away here in the northeast Georgia mountains. We are seeing an increase of out-of-town visitors here on vacation. Many are first-time visitors. We also continue to have local visitors almost weekly. One lady has visited with us three times with one of our members. She has not committed to a Bible study yet; however, she is hearing the Word. We will continue to show her love and compassion.

“Another lady has visited several times and has read Muscle and a Shovel. She is questioning her salvation; however, she continues to no-show on the Bible studies that we have set up for her.  We refuse to turn our backs on her as we continue to contact her weekly.

“Recently, I had several conversations with a Lutheran associate ‘pastor’ who had questions about why we believe what we do. He lives about two hours north of us. However, I have given him a copy of Muscle and a Shovel and hope to see him again soon.

“I had a conversation with a man who works at a local funeral home. His boss, the owner of the funeral home, has visited a few times and is in a Bible study now. The worker stated that his wife has been having health issues lately. We began sending cards to her today and will follow up in the upcoming weeks. We have had nearly 30 in attendance the past few weeks. Since this is a church plant, this is good. God continues to bless us, and we give Him all the honor and glory!”

New Hope Road church of Christ, Dacula, Georgia (remote): Charles Harris (regional trainer) reports, “Planning is still underway concerning our evangelistic works with the New Hope Road church of Christ. There is much excitement about the work. On Sunday, I had the privilege to preach for the Eatonton church of Christ and give them some information about HTHSOE. They are very interested but are trying to decide whether to enroll in the remote program or wait until they can schedule an in-person seminar. Please pray for both congregations as they strive to lead the lost to Jesus.”

Central church of Christ, Paducah, Kentucky: Adam Faughn (preacher) reports, “The best news from this week is that John Henderson was baptized into Christ on Sunday morning. He has been at Central for a number of years but had simply never decided to become a Christian. After further encouragement from some family members, he told his wife (one of our members) on the way to church Sunday morning, ‘I am going to be baptized today.’ Coincidentally (providentially?), the sermon was on God’s plan of salvation, and John responded and was immersed by one of his family members. We are so grateful for this great news!

“One of our ladies began a study with a friend on Monday, which went very well. They started Book 1 but did not quite finish it. They plan to finish it this week. The prospect said that she had prayed for a study based solely on the Bible and was very grateful that this was the import of the study. So many members are doing good things, and it is a joy to see the congregation work together, even if it is slow at times because the focus is on what is most important: saving souls to the glory of God. Good things are happening, and we give God all the glory. He truly is good!”

Paintsville church of Christ, Kentucky: Zach Collins (preacher) reports, “Recently, one of our new converts experienced some setbacks in his life and had to move away for some time to try to get his life back on track. For many years, before his conversion, he had fought many battles and wanted to ensure that he could overcome his struggles to live a faithful life. Our congregation was moved by his sincerity and missed him dearly. So, we decided to band together to send him a ‘care package.’ It included a Bible, many biblical books, evangelistic materials, personal letters of encouragement, goodies, and congregational mementos that reminded him of God’s family. He received the gift and sent a message to our group saying, ‘I miss my church family; God is so amazing.’ Part of helping the saved stay saved includes daily reminders and tokens of encouragement that help us all, as struggling humans, stay faithful unto death. We are in continual conversation with him, and we are trying to help him along his journey to overcome his struggles. Please pray that this brother in Christ can return to the fold of God’s family soon!”

La Plata church of Christ, Maryland (remote): Eric Sykes (regional trainer) reports, “All is well.  We are making progress here at the La Plata church of Christ. We sent out 28 compassion cards this week. We visited and dropped off eight gift bags. We had three visitors, and we have six active prospects. We have 11 open Bible studies. Seven new converts attended the new converts Bible study classes this week.”

Southside church of Christ, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Freddie Klein (preacher) reports, “We are regularly encouraged by the growth of our new converts. Jacob was baptized a year ago, and he has been evangelizing on the Michigan State University campus. On his visits home, he always asks to deliver the devotional. He does a great job and is a wonderful example to younger and older Christians alike.”

Looxahoma church of Christ, Mississippi: Blake Hawkins (deacon) reports, “Our congregation is divided into teams for writing compassion cards, and Team 1 stayed after the afternoon worship service to write cards. In May, our local town will hold a craft fair, so our congregation will plan to have a tent, pass out Bibles, and engage with the community. We participated last year and successfully had many meaningful conversations with those who attended the event, and we are looking forward to being involved again this year.”

Foristell church of Christ, Missouri: Rod Jackson (elder) reports, “This past week was productive. First, we continued congregational training. Each Sunday afternoon, we show videos from the House to House School of Evangelism to further equip our congregation to reach out. Currently, we are watching videos and working through the Supplemental Studies. As members are comfortable with the material, they are better equipped to study the Bible with people.

“Second, we continue to conduct two Bible studies. We request prayers for Heidi as she studies with two ladies from our congregation. She cares deeply about spiritual matters and is now in Book 2, learning more about the church Jesus bought and built. Please pray for Dakota and Jennifer, as they have just started Book 2. They are surprised at the simplicity of God’s plan for the church, yet confused as to why everybody doesn’t follow the Bible as it is written. I wonder the same thing.

“Lastly, we continue to reach out to new movers in our area. Wentzville is one of the fastest-growing cities in Missouri, and we are trying to get ahead of the growth in spreading God’s word. We are working hard to involve members in shopping for and assembling the gift bags and making the visits. We appreciate all prayers for our efforts as we try to be lights shining in our area.”

Samford church of Christ, Steele, Missouri: Kyle Imel (deacon) reports, “Samford meets the last Sunday evening of each month to review different aspects of the model using the training cards. This past Sunday, our minister, Tim, reviewed prospects and the associated cards. Evangelism Team 2 met and wrote compassion cards to three individuals.”

West End Blvd. church of Christ, Cape Girardeau, Missouri: Jared Scaggs (preacher) reports, “This week we had one baptism, one scheduled Bible study, and three prospects who are receiving cards. Our contact list is about the same this week, but we are going through the steps to gain more. The elders and I met Sunday to discuss what our plan attacks will be focused on for this week. We will assign coordinators for the door and pew greeters ministry and make sure our new converts class is fully equipped to begin this coming Sunday morning.”

East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “This past Sunday, we had two consistent visitors to the worship services. A hot prospect thanked us for the compassion cards sent to him. We are looking forward to having the Bible study soon. We are continuing to prospect 12 people. We appreciate all prayers.”

Cary church of Christ, North Carolina: Larry Fife (preacher) reports, “This past week has been filled with grace and growth as we forge ahead. During the week, one of our members led a Bible study with a young lady. While eager to learn, she finds it challenging to leave her past behind. It seems she is on the verge of embracing the gospel, and we fervently pray for her to open her heart to God’s Word. Sunday brought a beautiful day our way, marked by the presence of numerous visitors with whom we could establish meaningful connections. A compassionate member requested prayers for our youth who have distanced themselves from their faith, reflecting deep care and concern for our younger Christians that we all should share. In the evening, another individual sought prayers and strength to overcome personal challenges from his past. His resilience inspires many, and we are profoundly grateful for the encouragement he offers to many. Although our connect groups paused on writing compassion cards this Sunday to allow members to spend quality time with their families, our hearts are full of gratitude for the continuous blessings and guidance we receive from God every day. These moments remind us of the profound impact of His grace and blessings on our congregation.”

Streetsboro church of Christ, Ohio: Ralph Price (preacher) reports, “All is going well. We are conducting a Bible study with a young couple who contacted us recently. So far, we have completed the first two Back to the Bible studies with them. We had several visitors yesterday. We recorded contact information and added them to our prospect list. One of our visitors yesterday was a compassion card recipient. We are preparing to do our third round of new mover baskets. We appreciate all prayers.”

Greenville church of Christ, Ohio: John McGiffin (preacher) reports, “Our visitor program is up and working. An older gentleman who has been visiting for a while was baptized into Christ yesterday. He is our third for this calendar year toward our goal of four. The compassion card ministry has produced several viable prospects. One prospect and her husband visited us yesterday. We have been prospecting her for about three months. We are continuing with on-and-off Bible studies with eight individuals. We are focusing on prodigal members at this time.”

New Concord church of Christ, Ohio: Terry Townsend (preacher) reports, “We continue to be encouraged by the number of visitors (local non-members) that are attending our services (many of which have come back multiple weeks). Our attendance for the year is up about 15 Percent. Our next round of compassion cards will go out next week.

“We continue to promote and encourage contacts. Our transition teams will be given new contacts to visit this Sunday. The follow-up has been a little slow, but we are finally starting to catch up! Our new movers’ teams delivered two baskets last week; the housing market in our area has slowed somewhat. We continue to give out “welcome bags” to our visitors. This has been a big hit with those who visit.”

Sullivan Village church of Christ, Lawton, Oklahoma: Steven Hill (preacher) reports, “Sullivan Village has been busy working on making new contacts, inviting friends and neighbors to services, building relationships, and serving. We are very thankful for the tools of evangelism that we now must implement. God is working among us and giving the increase in various ways. We have more first-time visitors, more repeat visitors, and more appreciation among all members for the opportunity to participate in God’s great work of the kingdom of Christ!”

Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (regional trainer) reports, “We had several visitors Sunday morning. We collected their contact information and will mail out compassion cards thanking them for visiting. One of our members, Ty, works in the oilfield, which allows him to meet many people. He has been using the opportunities God gives him to engage people he meets in talks about God to try to get them open to having a Bible study. We pray his works will produce fruit. Our New Converts class is going well on Tuesday evenings. We are staying engaged with new converts and really trying to focus on mentoring them for three or more years. I am looking forward to an upcoming Reboot Session with the Bridgewater church of Christ in Katy, Texas, where I’ll assist the congregation with implementing the HTHSOE Model taught during the Basic Seminar. I would like to encourage congregations to take advantage of the Regional Trainers available to them if they need any assistance after going through the Basic Seminar, whether in person or remotely. As always, we pray daily for all laboring for the Kingdom. May God bless you all in your efforts.”

Carthage church of Christ, South Carolina (remote): Randy Chambers (preacher) reports, “This past month, we had twelve visitors. Currently, the congregation have three ongoing weekly Bible studies with non-Christian prospects. We have mailed out thank you cards for all the visitors so far. We also had three visitors today during worship, and they stayed for our fellowship meal after the morning service. One of the visitors was the gentleman in the community who received the HTH/HTH mailing and requested to be enrolled in our Bible Correspondence Course studies. We were happy to mail out the first lesson, and we were glad to have him visit and stay for our fellowship meal. We continue to encourage all members to be involved in our congregational soul-winning efforts. Working the plan continues to show the fruits of our labor and the blessings from Almighty God.”

Union church of Christ, South Carolina (remote): Terry Hale (preacher) reports, “Tabitha and her son Ethan are our newest family members. We have had three new family members this year already. Our goal is three baptisms a year, and we had three by the end of March. Our members are diligent in training and working on the program. All three new members attended the new convert class. We are continuing the process; to God be the glory.”

New Hope Road church of Christ, Middleton, Tennessee: Cole Wade (preacher) reports, “We continue to encourage fellowship among members at church and in each other’s homes. Our relationships with guests and new members are growing, and we are adding more names to our meal list and new movers list. We have also had some of our members bring back members who were wavering. We appreciate all prayers as we continue our work!”

North Bradley church of Christ, Cleveland, Tennessee: Keith Wilson (preacher) reports, “We started another Bible study tonight with a visitor one of our members brought. She wanted him to have the Bible study; he obeyed the Gospel about a year ago. He started with Book 1 and went through almost the whole book. He said he was surprised that he could give the Bible study with his ‘little Bible knowledge’ (his words). I thought that was super encouraging. We are starting to use Back to the Bible as our go-to tool. A lot of doors are opening for us, and we are hopeful as we pray that these individuals obey the Gospel. We currently have six Bible studies in progress and hope to have more. My week is almost full every day with a Bible study! I am thankful!”

Rivergate church of Christ, Madison, Tennessee: Doug Tooley (preacher) reports, “On Wednesday night, we had a baptism. The lady had been attending Rivergate previously. I had talked with her about baptism on one occasion. She attended all the HTH training sessions while Rob and Nicole were with us. Carla met with her before service on Wednesday night. I preached the first part of John 4. We handed out the Bookmarks to the congregation. On Sunday night, I covered the Introduction section about making it operational.

“We had five visitors on Sunday morning. All of these were members of the church that were visiting with family. However, one lady talked with one of our elders about her baptism. She has concerns about it, and I think she has been away from the church. She was at Rivergate with a family member, but the elders have her contact information and are working on a time to meet with her. The elders are meeting this evening to discuss details related to our evangelism efforts that must be immediately addressed.”

Madison County church of Christ, Jackson, Tennessee: Steven Sprouse (preacher) reports, “We are writing cards to a lot of visitors. We are also building relationships with visitors from new movers. We hope to have some studies this week.”

Hillsboro church of Christ, Tennessee: Chris Sliger (member) reports, “Hillsboro sent compassion cards to five recipients this week. A few of our members, including Ronnie and Debbie Poole and Christina Braseel, have been in close contact with one of the previous compassion card contacts, Leo Horsch.  Ronnie, Debbie, and Christina plan to share a meal with Leo this week.

“Shelby’s son James recently had a Bible study with his co-worker, Andrew, and he was very receptive to a follow-up study. Sherry Dunn, another contact who is currently on our compassion card list, was very happy to receive cards. She hopes to visit soon. Roy and several others continue to meet with the Colvaines over the loss of their teenage daughter. Overall, our work is beginning to bear fruit. We are very appreciative of prayers for all our contacts.”

East Main church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Brad Rowley (elder) reports, “Last week, East Main received six contact cards. One of our members started a new Bible study with a Jehovah’s Witness. Our card team wrote 48 compassion cards. We completed two follow-up visits and delivered three baskets. We met with a website designer this week and discussed details.”

McKenzie church of Christ, Tennessee: Randy McAdams (elder) reports, “We initiated our April mailouts this week with Group 1, and we baptized a 13-year-old young man. He had been discussing this with his mom and dad for some time and finally decided to put on Christ yesterday. The elders will be meeting tomorrow night, and if all approve, we will begin showing the 5-minute videos to the congregation to help motivate our members to be ‘contact aware.’”

Brushy church of Christ, Centerville, Tennessee: Kevin Johnston (preacher) reports, “We have now completed one month of sending out compassion cards. Thus far, we have sent out 319 compassion cards. We see how sending compassion cards helps us determine the soil type (heart test). We are determined not to let those who do not want our love and compassion hinder the work. In time, this may bring about a door of opportunity. We will contact those who have received four weeks’ worth of compassion cards. The compassion card team leaders met tonight and discussed ways to improve and make this work seamlessly. Group leaders talked about ideas, and everyone learned from each other.”

Mountain Creek church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Michael Tomshack (elder) reports, “This past Sunday, many of the congregation were away participating in Lads to Leaders convention in Nashville, which included Gary Massey (Elder, Minister). Therefore, our lesson series was suspended for one week. Ali Hagemann (Young Adult) held her first Back to the Bible study with a friend, and a second one is now scheduled. Don Hedrick’s (Elder) scheduled Bible study was delayed due to extreme weather; we rescheduled. We will take what we have learned these last two and a half months to implement the process with Jesse Neal, Deaf Minister, and Terry Cox, Deaf Deacon, for further outreach into the deaf community of the greater Chattanooga area.”

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

Chapel Hill church of Christ, Tennessee: Matt Jones (deacon) reports, “We continue to have good efforts in all areas. We still have several Bible studies ongoing. The delivered sermons are perfect for some of our new converts and a great reminder for all. The new converts class has been very helpful, and I am getting good feedback from those attending. We keep a complete list for our compassion card group, including many recent visitors. This past Sunday was filled with many visitors. The coordinator team will be meeting this Thursday, as we do regularly, to get full updates from each coordinator and feedback on any improvement ideas. Overall, things are going well, and we are staying focused on reaching the lost!”

Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “The last couple of weeks have been great for Covington. Two weeks ago, on Tuesday evening, Brock McMahan was baptized into Christ. He is the son of our members, Luke and Jennifer McMahan, and the grandson of our members, Jimmy and Kathy McMahan. His grandfather had the privilege of baptizing him for the forgiveness of his sins.

“Last weekend, a large group attended the Lads to Leaders convention in Nashville. In spite of the 50 or so who were away from home due to the convention, we still had about the same number of people present for Sunday morning worship because of our many visitors. While some were Christians, others were not. We plan to reach out to these soon. Two of our deacons continue developing a system to help us galvanize our members better and reach out to non-Christians more effectively. We still have about four Bible studies that are currently ongoing and two that should be resuming soon. May God touch the hearts of those who are lost.”

Monticello church of Christ, Arkansas: Josh Walker (preacher) reports, “This past weekend we had an Easter egg hunt. More than 100 people attended, and over half were from the community. We made contacts, and we will begin to send cards thanking them for attending and inviting them to come see us again. We have a few Bible studies in the process now. We appreciate all prayers for these efforts.”

Bridgeport church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (deacon) reports, “On Sunday evening, one of our compassion card teams met to address cards to those whose names were turned into us. Ben, one of our members, also brought several names and addresses of those who live close to him, and we also sent cards to them. Andre, another member, is currently studying with a teacher he knows.

“The Bridgewater congregation has scheduled a time for Keno Shrum, one of the regional trainers, to spend a day with us to help us in our evangelism efforts. He will be here on April 28, and anyone in our area of Katy, Texas, is welcome to come as well. We appreciate prayers for our efforts as we endeavor to reach the lost.”

Windmill church of Christ, Weatherford, Texas (remote): Eric Tipton (preacher student, BTSOP) reports, “Thank you to everyone who prayed for Kailie! She was baptized into a relationship with God this past Wednesday! Kailie has two young girls (ages 2 and 6), and we are so excited for them to grow up in the church.

“Slowly but surely, we are amassing a youth group. We have also switched our Sent Sundays to Transition Thursdays this week and had phenomenal results. Of fourteen prospects, four of them asked for Bible studies. This congregation of sixty has eight active Bible studies—yes, EIGHT! These guys are remarkable; we are excited to see what the coming months bring. Obviously, with this many studies, we ask for prayers for these people, but I request prayers for one family in particular: Heather and her three daughters are very close to Calvary this week.”

Northern Oaks church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas: Mel Hutzler (elder) reports, “We had two baptisms recently. Ethan Guerrero, a friend of Jared Williamson, was baptized Sunday, March 24. D’Angelo Cadena was invited to services by Wrenn and Jae, and he was baptized Wednesday, March 27. We appreciate Anthony for studying with them. We have others with ongoing studies that are taking a little bit longer. We also have a considerable number of studies that need to take place.

“All aspects of our evangelism program run well but are never perfect. However, God continues to give the increase. I believe we will continue to have more baptisms and more membership placements. We have wonderful members who invite visitors to services with the expectation that a Bible study will occur. The culture in the congregation has undoubtedly changed over the years to become much more evangelistic.”

Shenandoah church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas (remote): Tim Ayers (preacher) reports, “We are still making our way through the process of organizing our evangelism program. Members wrote compassion cards last Sunday evening. I am mailing those out one or two at a time. We received the invitation cards this week, so we will go through the training and sermon this coming Sunday.

“On Wednesday night last week, we began the training for the Back to the Biblebooklets. We will continue that this Wednesday. Things are moving right along, though we know it moves slowly at first and takes at least six months to get every part working like it should. So, we are patient and praying for the Lord to bless us as we strive to glorify His name. We know that all of you at HTHSOE are praying for us, which comforts us. It is easy to grow discouraged because we are such a small congregation, but we refuse to allow the devil to stop us! Discouragement is his greatest weapon, I believe. So, as Paul said, we will ‘press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.’”

Crosby church of Christ, Houston, Texas (remote): Jon Wheeler (elder) reports, “This Sunday, we had a couple visit who had received a door hanger a while back. The wife contacted the church office regarding services, and it was explained to her that we are a non-denominational church. She was very interested and said they would be at the services, and they were! She appreciated the warm welcome they received. We were also very happy that the husband of one of our recent converts attended services on Sunday morning. We rejoiced Sunday evening when one of our teenagers was baptized.”

9^th and Main church of Christ, San Angelo, Texas: Bryan Braswell (elder) reports, “Multiple Bible studies are going on at the present time. We are using Back to the Bible and Does it Matter. There are no new baptisms to mention, but there are several prospects in studies. I know that one is already talking about needing to be baptized for the right reason, as he was raised Baptist. He is really close. We studied tonight. We are fine-tuning our teams. We send cards out every week to new contacts and get responses weekly from the cards. Next Sunday, we will present our plan to the congregation and set the different teams into action. We are seeing new visitors every time the doors are open—lots of visitors!”

Buda-Kyle church of Christ, Texas: Ronnie Scherffius (preacher) reports, “The work at Buda Kyle continues to progress. Visitor and pew greeter teams are being put in place, and visitor bags are being made. We will begin Lesson 3 in our present Bible study next week.”

Graceton church of Christ, Diana, Texas: Johnny Williford (elder) reports, “Our Compassion Card Group B met Sunday evening and will send out 38 cards to five people. We received thank you cards from two of our contacts this past week. Our Mission Monday group will be visiting them in the next two weeks.“We had a large crowd at Sunday morning services. Ten different families visited, and most stayed for our fellowship meal afterward. It gave us a great opportunity to start growing a relationship with them. Scott’s sermon was on the grace of our Lord and Savior. Our Graceton Ladies’ Day is this coming Saturday. We appreciate prayers for a successful event.”

Wheeler church of Christ, Texas: Garrett English (preacher) reports, “Our Sunday morning Bible class for new converts had a new attendee yesterday who has visited worship services a few times before. They were studying through Book 2, and she had a lightbulb moment when it came to the name of the Lord’s Church. She attended worship on Sunday evenings also. She will continue to come to class to study Book 3.

“We also had a family visiting who does not like the direction their current church is taking and is looking for a new church home. We plan to reach out to them to study. Our community study on the “end times” did not have as many visitors as we had hoped; the few who visited have been attending Sunday worship services. We aim to get them to a Bible study soon.”

Granbury Street church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas: Ryan Cowan (deacon) reports, “The work at Granbury Street is still in full swing. Kaitley Cowan is studying with a fellow teen and is eager to dive into Book 2. Kerista is gearing up to start Book 2 with a friend as well. Dale, whom we identified during AMC last summer, will hopefully meet with me soon. After receiving compassion cards, he spent his days helping his wife at a memory care unit in Cleburne and expressed interest in learning more about the church. Cheryl McIntosh is busy with two studies, both transitioning to the Jule Miller series. New member Andrew Randig, soon to be a father, is engaged in the study with a young man connected to one of our members, having just completed Book 1. We appreciate all prayers for these individuals and their studies.”

Itasca church of Christ, Texas (remote): Justin Hopkins (preacher) reports, “This week was a bit of a lull. We have reached the end of our compassion cards from the door-knocking campaign, so we sent five this week. Our workers all had personal things come up that ties us up, so we only made four visits and had one Bible study. I am trying to get back on that study this week.

“One of our young ladies who works at a store in town invited a coworker who attended worship last night. We gave her a visitor bag and got her contact info, so she will receive compassion cards this week. We also invited her to watch the eclipse with us next week. I signed into the website this week, so I will be looking that over and making plans to implement that in my preaching and teaching in the coming weeks.”

Andrews church of Christ, Texas (remote): Andy Reyes (member and future SWSBS student): “I wanted to apologize for the late notice; Wesly and I have been meeting with the Elders to tell them about The School of Evangelism and the Seminar. I have signed them up with Reaching the Lost. I have repeated many times that the method works. We will meet again on April 3, and I hope and pray that they will want to do it. The Associate Minister has agreed to help us.

“My younger sister decided to put on Christ on March 4.  My dad wants to learn more and is currently studying with my 13-year-old, teaching him about God’s Holiness. In addition, Taylor wanted to put on Christ. Wesly studied with him about the four Gospels, so we studied Does It Matter?   He was baptized at 1:01 pm today.

“I have also started a Facebook and Instagram account called “Andrews for Truth.” It is like Angelo Bible Study and Canyon Lake Bible Study. I have had friends ask me some questions about it. Lord willing, we will have a study in a couple of weeks. The Andrews church of Christ has a lot of great things in progress. I still have ongoing Bible Studies with friends and am still making contacts.”

Bahama church of Christ (remote): Tavaro Hanna (preacher) reports, “We are actually ahead of where we should be because we used our midweek meetings for HTHSOE classes. We have completed up to Contacts – The Unfaithful in the HTHSOE curriculum. We went door-knocking on Sunday afternoon after our Bring a Friend Sunday. We offered a free Bible to everyone who said yes to completing personal Bible studies with us. We garnered three Bible studies and several good contacts for follow-up in the coming days.

“The congregation has eight adults. Saturday was our end-of-month Bible and Bingo night for folks over 50. We have many solid contacts in that group and two Bible studies from it. Its entire purpose is to get studies. I have three ongoing Bible studies with people I met at my local gym, and three others are pending. My wife is currently studying with two women and will start another study next week.”

Austin Fowler (regional trainer): “Over the past week, David Webster and I have been studying with Jake. He reached out to us on Instagram requesting to be baptized. After completing the survey with him, I knew he needed further study. We went through Back to the Bible, and after Book 3, he wanted to be baptized. We contacted the Olathe congregation outside of Kansas City. Zac Hall is their preacher, and he baptized him. On Sunday, Jake brought his brother to church. Zac got to know him, and his brother wanted a Bible study. They are going to begin studying Back to the Bible.”