College Avenue church of Christ, Enterprise, Alabama: We welcome the College Avenue church of Christ to the House to House/Heart to Heart School of Evangelism. The eldership and preachers are eager to begin and are actively using the checklist to execute the plan. Phillip Rabren (member) reports, “Elders and preachers held their first weekly leadership meeting today, August 6. They scheduled our start date for next Sunday and they will meet weekly. A point of contact for HTHSOE was assigned. We selected an Overall Coordinator, and he will work on the selection of other coordinators.”
Farley church of Christ, Huntsville, Alabama: “We welcome the Farley church of Christ to the House to House/Heart to Heart School of Evangelism. This congregation already has many contacts and is committed to following the HTHSOE model for growth.”
Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: Brooks Boyd (elder) reports, “We had another good Sunday at Glencoe with several visitors. One woman who had received numerous compassion cards due to surgery several weeks ago came with her husband. We will follow up with a visit soon. A teenage visitor who is a neighbor to some of our members came with them Sunday, went to lunch with them, and returned Sunday night. We learned that her mother is seriously ill. This presents another opportunity for cards. My wife received a text from our newest convert today saying that her adult daughter wants to study about being baptized. Lord willing, that will begin soon. To God be the glory.”
Fayette church of Christ, Alabama: Josh Taylor (deacon) reports, “I am preparing for a third study (BTTB #3) with Mr. Hubbert on Sunday. Be praying for this study as he has done well with the last two studies.”
Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “We had an excellent mission Sunday. We made assignments with an emphasis on when we make our visits to ensure the three questions are asked to lead to the Bible study. We have two studies in progress.”
University church of Christ, Montgomery, Alabama: Faires Austin (elder) reports, “Due to the teachings of the Faulkner football coaches, college ministers, Mitch Henry, (Faulkner’s President), and other individuals who have studied the Bible with these athletes, 37 Faulkner football players were baptized into Christ last night at 8 p.m. I am confident that more will follow. Faulkner classes begin Monday. On the first day of chapel, President Henry will make sure all Faulkner students have a Bible. Several congregations in town have contributed to this effort. I wanted to share this fantastic news. On my Facebook page, I shared the blessing of studying with Eric Reeves, and we baptized him two weeks ago. He is a Faulkner graduate. I used the three Back to the Bible books.”
Foothills church of Christ in Searcy, Arkansas: Josh Alexander (preacher) reports, “Rosalyn grew up in the Baptist church and has been visiting our services with her husband Jayce, a member. She made friends here quickly, and one night she said she was not sure if she was saved. We studied Back to the Bible over the course of three weeks, and last night was the final study. She was baptized into Christ.”
Lake City church of Christ, Florida: Jim Flegert (elder) reports, “Our congregation rejoiced last week as one of our teenage boys decided to be baptized. This Wednesday, we are having an orientation for our Mover Teams. Our first group will go out Sunday to deliver Mover Baskets. Adding this program to our congregational evangelism efforts has encouraged us. One Monday Missions team finally delivered a gift bag to a contact who had yet to be home. This contact, who had been receiving medical attention, appreciated the many compassion cards he had received. He indicated that he and his wife intend to attend worship with us after completing treatments. He told our team that they were undoubtedly doing Jesus’s work, and he appreciated our efforts.”
North Brevard church of Christ, Titusville, Florida: “We are into the second week after the great HTHSOE seminar. Our members are asking questions about next steps. We have started organizing the support material. One sister who is excellent at doing bulletin boards has already started on the layout of the evangelism board in our foyer. We have postponed the first congregational training session to this Sunday. Last Sunday we devoted a lesson to our students and a luncheon for our church’s students, teachers, administrative, and support personnel. We invited community members who participated in our School Backpack/Supply giveaway. We had a great turnout of members and visitors. The visitors will be placed on our contact list. The elders will have their first planning session tomorrow with the minister and others to organize training, identify possible coordinators, and initiate the contacts portion of the evangelism model.”
Niceville church of Christ, Florida: Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “This is our second week of HTHSOE. We have one Bible study ongoing and another scheduled. We had our first compassion card meeting tonight. We had about 25 members send out 150 cards. We had three visitors Sunday, and we gave gift bags to them. We have completed training for writing cards and appointed leaders for this work.”
Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Greg Garner (deacon), “We prayed for our prospects on our bookmarks Sunday. During our Actively Caring, Teaching, and Serving (ACTS) evangelism program, we collected one contact card to work on this week. The Greeters Group reported that we had two visitors. The prison ministry is coordinating post baptism follow up care with Hillcrest COC. We have six Bible studies in progress!”
LaFayette church of Christ, Georgia: Jesse Teague (deacon) reports, “Yesterday Group 1 met to send out compassion cards. The core team met to review the current status of our efforts. Visits are being made monthly for the prior month’s compassion cards. Contact cards from the current month’s compassion card-signing are put in next month’s visitation folder. Any carry-over from previous months can be added to the visiting pool. Ken is doing a great job helping coordinate the visits. The elders are very involved and encouraging at every step. David mentions the need for evangelism in every sermon. The members are sending compassion cards at a steady pace.”
Riverbend church of Christ, Dalton, Georgia: Austin Fowler (regional trainer) reports, “A few weeks ago, when I was in Peru, my mom called to inform me that a member at Riverbend had passed away. It was hard to believe because I had just seen him the Sunday before I flew out of the country. Randell called my grandmother to inform her about Tren’s passing. During that phone conversation, my grandmother asked Randell if he had ever been baptized. He said, ‘No, but I have been thinking about that lately.’ My grandmother told Randell that her grandson (me) does studies with people to learn more about the Bible. She asked, ‘Would you like to study with him?’ He said, ‘Yes!’
“When I returned, I went through Does It Matter with Randell, thinking he would be baptized. He told me he wanted to wait. I tried several closes to get him to do it that day. He said he wanted to wait. He agreed to keep studying. So, I started Back to the Bible with him when I returned from Costa Rica. At the end of the study, he said, ‘I’ve been thinking more about being baptized; I might do it next week.’ My grandmother said, ‘Randell, today is the day of salvation!’ He agreed. I asked a few questions to ensure he was ready, and we went to the building. Now Randell and my grandmother are not just kin by blood, but they are kin by the blood of Christ!
“Also, a wayward friend from high school reached out to me wanting to do a Bible study with him and his friend. We started that Saturday. It went well, and we will do Book 2 on Saturday!”
Honolulu church of Christ, Hawaii: Lima Esene (preacher) reports, “We are excited that we will be at Polishing the Pulpit sharing the work that we are doing. We continue encouraging our members to be active. We have two prospects who have turned into scheduled Bible studies. We began our New Converts class Sunday. We encouraged our seasoned members to be part of the class to help with questions and discussions. Class attendees shared details about their conversion, which had a lot of positive feedback. The highlight was seeing two of our new converts (husband and wife, Tony and Doanne) take the lead in hosting our back-to-school youth lock-in. They did a great job leading devotion, encouraging the youth, and preparing fun games. We appreciate prayers! To God be the glory!”
Jerseyville church of Christ, Illinois (digital): Jake Medford (preacher) reports, “Our VBS produced contacts that translated to a family visiting with us Sunday. They are now on the prospect list, and we also have them on the card list. The cards have proven to be our most significant strength so far. We received our order today of 900 more! We have two families of four and a married couple on our active prospect list. We have an updated list going out each week. We completed Lesson 2 of Believe the Bible last week. We will finish the last one this week and continue the rest of our training. We framed our HTH Model poster. It will be a fixture in our hallway forever. This model works, and we continue to apply it.”
Beloit church of Christ, Kansas (digital): Dustin Dougherty (regional trainer) reports, “We had a jam-packed week of Bible learning at VBS. Several non-members attended, bringing their kids and sitting through classes. We will follow up with them. The ladies plan to contact the moms in attendance by inviting them to upcoming ladies’ day Bible study. We are constantly on the lookout now for opportunities for evangelism and outreach. To God be all the glory.”
Paintsville church of Christ, Kentucky: Zach Collins (preacher) reports, “In the coming weeks, we have scheduled some important events that have paid dividends evangelistically in the past, including our fall gospel meeting. We will take the same approach as our meeting this spring: Presence, Preparation, and Prospects. Our new converts class has moved into a larger classroom as 17 new Christians have been added this year. We keep praying and prospecting those in our community. We appreciate all prayers!”
Blanchard church of Christ, Louisiana: Pat Cell (elder) reports, “We continue Back to the Bible training every Wednesday, and at least one sermon per week is focused on evangelism. This week we sent 27 cards to one couple on our prospect list who visited last week. We will continue to follow up with them. After much encouragement, a couple who had been out of service for a while came Sunday night.”
LaPlata church of Christ, Maryland (digital): Eric Sykes (regional trainer) wrote, “We had two new visitors this week. We added two more names to our prospects list. Two people who were receiving compassion card visited. We have eight people in our new convert’s class. We are training members to use Back to the Bible and conduct Bible studies. We sent out 78 compassion cards. We have six planned visits to drop off care packages to prospects. We appreciate all prayers.”
Southside church of Christ, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Freddie Klein (preacher) reports, “We continue to preach through Back to the Bible. We are gaining traction with several who have asked for visits. Our first card group wrote 63 cards that will go out this week.”
Iuka church of Christ, Mississippi: Robert Wimbish (elder) reports, “We are writing cards and making visits. We write about 75 to 100 cards each Sunday and make five to seven Mission Monday visits weekly. Our Bible Study group began meeting last Wednesday before service and will continue for at least the next month. We may try to integrate our Mission Monday group since our group members overlap. This Saturday will be our Food Giveaway Day, and we are trying to develop contacts from this effort. Our next Men’s Breakfast is scheduled for September 2, and we expect at least 12 to 15 visitors to be there. We developed one contact from this effort last month, and we hope to add two more this time. The fields are white, and some kernels need to be harvested. We are like a bunch of three-year-olds on Christmas Eve as we wait for God’s Word to touch a heart or three . . . or maybe seven.”
Looxahoma church of Christ, Mississippi: Blake Hawkins (deacon) reports, “We continue to go through Back to the Bible as a congregation. The preacher guides the study following afternoon worship in a Bible class format. Team 3 wrote compassion cards afterward, and we added a new category from our bookmarks to garner more prospects. We had a visitor attend services and the fellowship meal; he has received cards for about a month. In addition, friends of contacts have been hearing feedback from card recipients, expressing how much they are appreciated. The cards are making an even bigger impact than we know. There are a couple of Bible studies in progress, and we are praying for those efforts.”
Foristell church of Christ, Missouri: Rod Jackson (elder) reports, “Aaron preached his second sermon, explaining how to use HTH evangelism cards. Our deacons updated and explained their roles in the plan to the congregation in the afternoon service.”
West Hwy 160 church of Christ, West Plains, Missouri (digital): Marvin Hatley (elder) reports, “The congregation continues to prospect about twelve souls. Members are active with these prospects by preparing/delivering meals, writing cards, and completing benevolent work (building relationships). Two current studies have completed all three Back to the Bible books but have hit the roadblock of man-made doctrines/tradition. While these studies have been challenging, the prospects remain willing to stay engaged. A third study continues in Book 3 of Back to the Bible. A fourth study has been put on hold due to a scheduling conflict. Compassion Card Group 3 prepared 75 cards for this week’s mailing. Transition Thursdays have been key to congregational involvement and organization.”
Samford church of Christ, Steele, Missouri: Kyle Imel (deacon) reports, “We gave school supplies to 27 children last Wednesday and contacted seven families. Sunday, Team 1 wrote seven cards to send to each family. Visits will begin in three weeks. We have one active study that hopefully will resume next week. The first two books must be reviewed before starting the last one.”
East Flushing church of Christ, New York (digital): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “We continuously have visitors every Sunday. One visitor received House-to-House in her mail slot. She read it, and then from the information she watched several sermons on our website. Then visited us last Sunday. We are excited, energized, and encouraged. The House-to-House School of Evangelism process works! To God be the glory! We appreciate all prayers.”
Carthage church of Christ, North Carolina (digital): Randy Chambers (preacher) reports, “This week the congregation conducted two Bible studies using Back to the Bible Lesson 3; neither study produced obedience yet. One prospect was not willing to abandon the doctrine of men; she stated she was ‘saved, baptized later, and baptized again after she learned more,’ but admits she was not baptized for the remission of sin. She has decided not to continue the studies. Our members will continue talking to her and seeing if anything changes. The second study was with a husband and wife; after the study, the husband wanted to be baptized and added to the body, but the wife did not, so he decided not to. The wife had been sprinkled, and the husband was not. The wife believed she did not need to be baptized for the remission of her sin, even though she read it for herself. The good news is that they both agreed to another study, and the members are considering using Believe the Bible series. We will discuss these prospects’ best course of action in more detail. We mailed 12 compassion cards to a bereaved widow and a contact in the hospital. The second set of compassion cards is scheduled to go out this week. Our training continues on Believe the Bible, and mock classes are being conducted.”
Cary church of Christ, North Carolina: Larry Fife (preacher) reports, “We added a new Bible study to our numbers. This was a contact from AMC in June. The second study will take place tomorrow. We assigned deacons to their new roles for evangelism. Soon we will start follow-ups from the compassion cards.”
Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (elder) reports, “We are working on something new. We are starting a Prayer Group. I announced that it could be made up of anyone and everyone in the congregation. I hope everyone signs up. In our announcements, each time we meet, we mention members who have asked for or need prayers. Then we mention non-members for whom our members have requested prayers. I know everyone prays for these people, but I also know that we all have busy lives and can sometimes forget who and what we have been asked to pray for. The focus of the prayer group is for each member to commit to pray every day for those who have requested prayer. From that, we will send out Compassion Cards, follow up with in-person visits, and try to get Bible studies. If the person we pray for does not live within a reasonable distance, we will check RTL to find a congregation nearby. I think this will result in several things. First, it will strengthen the prayer life of all who participate. Second, it will allow us to work with other congregations who are serious about evangelism. Third, and most important, it will provide even more evangelism opportunities.”
North Meadville church of Christ, Pennsylvania: Dick Moore (elder) reports, “We recently had our annual clothing giveaway and generated over 50 contacts. Of those, we have at least one solid prospect. Currently, members are involved in two studies. We continue to utilize the First Principles class each week and have found that including other members, in addition to new converts, is a huge benefit to all. Our compassion card team is active, and our new mover’s group is getting baskets out and prospecting for additional follow-up. We continue to struggle with Satan’s influence on the families of a few of our new converts and ask for continued prayers for us as we face these challenges with God’s help.”
Madison County church of Christ, Jackson, Tennessee: Steve Sprouse (preacher) reports, “The compassion cards have successfully brought back people that have not attended in a long time. Our attendance is higher than it has been in years. We have four studies in progress, and we continue to have visitors almost every week. Our members are working hard to work the plan, and it is paying off.”
East Main church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Brad Rowley (elder) reports, “Compassion Card Team 1 sent 107 cards, most of which were contacts from the backpack drive. We received two new contact cards last week. We had an awesome Mission Day last week with 27 members present. We are thankful to have several of our young people present, including Rett Hayes, Adam Williams, Cade Williams, Kate Boyd, Briggs Boyd, Kennsey Niece, Gabriel Ordonez, and Sladen Wilson. Ken Reese and Roger Parsons were the deacons in charge of Mission Day. We are still trying to set a date with the folks that requested a Bible study at our backpack drive.”
New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fultz (elder) reports, “Our members consistently submit new contact cards; we received two this week. Card Team 1 wrote 59 compassion cards. Members made ten follow-up visits and contacts, not counting phone calls and texts. Two Bible studies were scheduled for this week.”
Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “Joy visited again Sunday. We will be attempting to transition to a Bible study soon. Nikki’s parents continue to visit on Sundays. We will be inviting them to eat and developing a relationship. On Monday, we wrote several cards, including those who visited. On Tuesday, I met with Thomas to study more. He is still struggling with baptism. Please pray his eyes will be opened and he will obey the gospel.”
Southwest church of Christ, Austin, Texas: John Garza (regional trainer) reports, “A few weeks ago, Collin O’Nealy walked into our building searching for the truth. He loved the way the preaching only came from the Word of God, so he filled out a contact card. The next day, I called him to express my gratitude for his coming. He mentioned he wanted to learn more about the church of Christ, so I invited him to our mid-week Bible class, where he began his first study of Back to the Bible with Cody Westbrook. From there, he studied Books 1 and 2 with Alan Putnam and Chris Willcut. Finally, he studied Book 2 with Austin Cauley and me. We were flying through the verses about sin and its consequences. Everything was chatty, but as we began getting into the sections about “how I was saved” and “God’s conditions to be saved,” things began to slow down. In his words, his brain was going ‘a million miles an hour,’ as he was confronted with the truth of the gospel. He said, ‘It was a religious shock to learn I was taught wrong my whole life. I believed I was saved as a young boy simply by believing in Jesus as my Lord and Savior and asking Him into my heart. It was almost ten years later to be baptized (poured on, not immersed), but that is not what the Word of God says.’ Today, we celebrate with Collin because he obeyed the gospel and is a Christian. Now, he understands that he was baptized to be saved, forgiven of his sins, and added to the church, the body of Christ, to glorify Him through his life. Praise God!”
Granbury Street church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas: Ryan Cowan (deacon) reports, “Wednesday night a visiting preacher, JJ Hendrix, was afraid that he was running late, despite showing up 30 minutes early. He was surprised to see the parking lot full of cars! What he did not realize is that we were having our third compassion card writing since AMC. Over 300 cards were written that evening. Cody Randig and a host of ladies work hard in this weekly effort. As school starts, we hope to transition our compassion card writing to Sunday afternoons. We are one week away from visiting another six souls who will be ready for a visit from a Granbury Street member, asking them the three most important questions as we transition to a Bible study. We are also planning ‘Mission Monday.’
“I met with a fellow member, Andrew Randig, and discussed a sound strategy for how we can ‘gently’ welcome visitors, gain their contact information, and add them to our prospect list. Andrew and one of our most friendly members, Ginger Owens, work well together in this effort. Andrew and Ginger will lead a crew of members to get to know our visitors, gain contact information, and make a lunch invitation. Last Sunday, I witnessed a brother (who is hopefully on his way to being restored) open card after card during our potluck. Every card he opened was met with a smile (all of his cards were returned due to an address error!). Watching him smile was priceless! He loved every moment of it. Currently we have four Bible studies taking place. We appreciate all prayers.”
Northern Oaks church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas: Mel Hutzler (elder) reports, “A few members are studying with others. I have another Bible study with Book 2 Wednesday before services. We are also doing pre-marital counseling. The study is going well. We are preparing for door-knocking that will take place before our Gospel Meeting with Mike Bonner. We have Jesse Stuart and Raoul Ferris coming to train our members on how to do door-knocking effectively. They have learned quite a bit from AMC and HTHSOE. We have our New Movers Program, Card Teams, New Converts Class, and HTH mail out. We are moving in the right direction; hopefully, we will have more baptisms in the near future.”
Bridgewater church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (member) reports, “One of our members invited a neighbor. The neighbor wanted to know more about the church. She was contacted and a study was set up. Wade Webster, our evangelist, and I went to study with her. The neighbor who invited her came and sat in on the study. As Joyce was taught, she truly grasped that she was lost and needed to obey our Lord as the New Testament teaches. Monday after the third study, she confessed Christ and was baptized into the body of Christ. What a happy moment this was for her and all who were present. I could almost hear the angels rejoicing in heaven when her sins were washed away. I could almost hear Satan screaming in defeat. A neighbor was interested in and cared for her neighbor. She invited her and the Lord blessed us with a new sister in Christ. Joyce and Linda will continue to study Growing in Christ together, a book for new Christians.”
Graceton church of Christ, Diana, Texas: Johnny Willeford (elder) reports, “David Hammerick from World Bible Institute preached and updated us on the work we have been supporting for many years. We heard a good sermon on evangelism efforts in other parts on the world and got a boost to our efforts to continue working hard in our own community to evangelize those around us. Group A met after our first Sunday fellowship meal and devotional to sign compassion cards for ten contacts. They signed 70 cards. We are working on ways to encourage our members to continue participating in signing cards. After our zoom meeting on Thursday night, we are implementing some strategies discussed. Pray for our children and teachers this week. They all started back to school today. We continue to pray for the efforts of Back to the Bible work through the House-to-House Heart School of Evangelism.”
Central church of Christ, Martinsburg, West Virginia: Robert Veil (elder) reports, “Yesterday, our elders met with another family who wishes to place membership. We are excited about the growth of the church. Our Capital Campaign reflects our interest in personal evangelism, with a current balance now over $793,000.00.”
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