Success Stories: December 21, 2022

Hitting the ten percent mark is a great achievement in the United States of America. This means you were able to baptize ten percent of your total membership. The current rate of decline is just under five percent in the average church of Christ. If you baptize ten percent, then you will have growth.

When we arrived in Muncie, Indiana, earlier this year, the Towne Acres church of Christ was averaging around 70 in attendance on a Sunday morning. Since going through HTHSOE training, they have baptized seven and have three additional active Bible studies. Here is a direct report from their preacher, Mark Reynolds:

“It was a great week at Towne Acres! We had two baptisms. Kathy Butler first visited Towne Acres after accepting our invitation to our Friends and Family Day. Her mother is a recent convert and turned in her name to receive a personal invitation from the church. She received several cards from our members after her initial visit and continued to attend and study. Kathy came forward at the invitation last Sunday much to the delight of her mother and the rest of us. She brought her husband with her to worship yesterday! Unfortunately, we did not get a picture after her baptism.

“Deb Daughtery was baptized Friday evening by one our young men, Max Bradley. Deb first came to Towne Acres by invitation from her coworker who is a member here. Her son was on our compassion card list, and she felt very loved by the church. Max talked and studied with her and then baptized her into Christ (his first ever baptism). In the picture you see Deb with DeAnna, the one who first invited Deb, along with Max, the one who was a major influence in teaching Deb.”

According to Brother Reynolds, they are now averaging 80 on Sunday morning, and in the past two months, they have had 90 several times. Evangelism not only reaches the lost who are outside the church, it also helps to reach the lost who have left the church. Town Acres is just one of many examples of congregations hitting the ten percent goal in the school. We can hardly wait to share with you our final numbers as they are phenomenal. Praise God for all the souls being saved.”

Congregational Reports

Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: The elders are set to address the congregation on Sunday to present an evangelism goal for 2023. They are determined to make it a congregational approach and to focus their efforts on developing contacts from their community. We had several contacts in the pews on Sunday morning!

Bethel church of Christ, Martin, Tennessee: Brad Brewer (preacher) reports, “We continue to make plans to start the HTHSOE program the first of the year. This past week, we sent cards to unfaithful members and others who need encouragement during the holiday season. Twelve names were submitted, and the congregation sent 21 cards last week and an additional 114 this week. We hope to follow up with some of these individuals and families in the coming weeks.”

McKenzie church of Christ, Tennessee:  Chance Steen (preacher) reports, “We are getting everything in order for setting up our evangelism table. A great location in our foyer has been chosen, and now we just need to relocate a few things. The congregation is excited about reaching their neighbors here in McKenzie, Tennessee. I am looking forward to the new year!”

North Bradley church of Christ: Andy Sneed (elder) reports, “We will send cards to three more names this week. A Bible study has begun with one of our first card recipients, and two wayward members who received cards have come back to church for the first time since Covid. We believe we will see some great things very soon!”

Mid-Town church of Christ, Victoria, Texas: James Cammock (deacon) reports, “We continue to get the compassion card program up and running; the brethren are becoming familiar with it. We are working on tweaking some of the logistics specific to our congregation (adequate information on the contact card, card setup, and table and seating space). We are writing to several contacts, and we are looking forward to following up with them at the four-week mark. Immediately following Sunday worship, we prayed for our bookmark contacts. The brethren are enjoying doing this exercise on a regular basis as part of our congregational life!”

Fruitvale church of Christ, Texas: Carl McCann (elder/preacher) reports, “Our work with compassion cards continues. We continue to conduct Bible studies, and we are greeting visitors like never before.”

Highway 95 church of Christ, Taylor, Texas: Benjamin Dossey (preacher) reports, “We are continuing to walk through the Back to the Bible series on Sundays to establish the authority of the Scriptures. We have a wonderful problem currently; we have more congregational contacts than we can handle. We are planning our first round of follow-up visits to build relationships with those we have been praying for over the past few weeks.”

Central church of Christ, Martinsburg, West Virginia: Robert Veil (preacher) reports, “Our initial compassion card-writing team met for the first time Sunday evening. One of our capable seniors, a former elder, has agreed to serve as the coordinator of this effort, and the turnout for this first meeting was encouraging. Our elders selected approximately six contacts as card recipients. Five of these were local visitors to our services recently.”

New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fulks (elder) reports, “We continue to review the bookmarks with our personal prospects on them each Sunday morning. We pray for the individual prospects and those on our compassion card list. Members are continuing to submit four to six new contacts a week. Sunday night after worship, Team 3 met and wrote eighty-three cards. Last week we made five visits. The cards continue to get us in the door and soften people’s hearts. In the last four months, we have sent over 1,200 compassion cards. We have reached 61 individuals and touched the lives of over 100 families. In the past week, four visits were made. We are continuing to follow-up with prospects and hope to have more Bible studies soon. We have one Bible Study going at the present time. We are reaching out to a young man who has not been faithful. He has just had his leg amputated because of diabetes. He is at a low spot in his life. We are praying that he will return to the Lord through our efforts, which include calls, visits, and cards.”

West End church of Christ, Knoxville, Tennessee: Adam Wilson (member) reports, “This last week was our monthly Monday Night for the Master. After our meal, members worked on maintenance items for the building, prepared gift baskets for our breast cancer ministry, set up the compassion card table, filled Christmas meal boxes for the needy, and visited contacts.”

“My son, Owen, age ten, and I took a box for a contact named Sandra. She was not at home, but her neighbor Jackie met us at the door. She told us that Sandra had broken her hip the previous week and that she would need visits at her rehab center. She invited us into her home to get the address for the rehab facility. Jackie and I talked while Owen made friends with Jackie’s dog.

“This was our first interaction with Jackie, and she now knows that the church of Christ visits the sick and provides for the needy. She also knows that she is important to us. Please pray that our service to Sandra opens both her heart and Jackie’s to studying God’s Word. Please pray for the upcoming visits we have to more than ten contacts who have finished receiving cards. Please pray for the children who go on contact visits. May they treasure the time, service, and difference we are making, and may they seek to do the same things with their own families in the future.”

Karns church of Christ, Knoxville, Tennessee: Terry Clark (elder) reports, “Allan is currently studying with a couple whom he contacted while providing community service. He has had two studies with the couple in the past month. They are very interested. We are praying they will obey the gospel! We have made 22 follow-up visits in the past month to contacts who have received compassion cards. One of these was interested in a Bible study. We have mailed 502 compassion cards since September.”

East Main church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Brad Rowley (elder) reports, “Last week we had three Bible studies and wrote 55 compassion cards. With all strategies combined, we have seven new contact cards. We are seeing more personal contacts from our members. We had Mission Day on Saturday with 18 folks present. We had a training session with Hesitate and Back Door Bible Study videos. After the videos, we discussed evangelism. We assigned 22 follow up contacts. Some were repeat follow-up contacts. We also assigned 15 new mover baskets. We are thankful for our Mission Day, which gave us successful contacts. We decided to hold off on developing a database to administer the program. Seth Ferguson, our College and Missions Minister, will set up a trial run later. We are thankful for HTHSOE. The Lord has blessed us with a hard-working team and plenty of opportunities. We are thankful for all of our members who work diligently to spread the gospel. Mark Isenberg, one of our elders, is preparing for our new convert class, which will start at the first of the year.”

Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “God continues to work as we had a baptism this week. Jonathan Limbrick obeyed the gospel Wednesday! We continue to be at work as a congregation of the Lord’s people.”

Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “Last Wednesday, Robert Brownlee, a member who had not been attending regularly, responded and confessed his sin. Then on Sunday, his wife, Debra Brownlee, responded for the same reason. Also on Sunday, Nikki Davis visited. We had met her while door knocking during AMC in June. She is the ex-girlfriend of our new member, Dustin Munoz. She came to the Friday dinner at AMC. She has visited a few times since. On Sunday, I noticed that she had picked up the BTTB booklets from our evangelism table. I asked her if she would be interested in studying them together. She said she was. She also asked if there were any Christmas parties that she might attend. She is looking for social interaction. It just so happened that there was a young adult Christmas party that night. I introduced her to some of the young adults, and she did go to the party after our evening service. At the end of the service, before Nikki left for the party, Becky Evins, one of our members, invited her to our Monday Night for the Master gathering to eat with us (always eat) and write cards and do other things connected with evangelism. She also asked her if Nikki would like to study together after the meal. Nikki said yes to both. Please pray for this study and that Nikki’s heart will be open to the truth.”

Greenfield church of Christ, Tennessee: Clint Monroe (elder) reports, “We continue to have new visitors at services each week and continue to prospect these contacts in hope of starting new Bible studies. We rejoice to announce that Hayden and Cameron Schlicht were baptized into Christ. They have been studying the Back to the Bible lessons in their Bible class on Wednesdays.”

Honolulu church of Christ, Hawaii: Tagiilima Escene (preacher) reports, “We have one member who is doing a Bible study on Zoom with a family member in Arizona. We have had meal invitations with the son of one of our members, and he is interested in the truth about baptism. Our new converts class is still ongoing. It was a blessing to see some of our new converts lead in worship. The future is promising, and we will do what we are able to serve the Lord. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.”

Aberdeen church of Christ, Maryland: Will Brown (preacher) reports, “This past Sunday, two people decided to obey the Lord in baptism. One important thing to mention is that the Lord’s church needs to answer the phone. The two souls were able to hear the gospel because someone answered the phone. The new Christians this week will join the new coverts class, which will help them deepen their faith. We are providing meals for five families and clothes for two others. We will ask the families for a Bible study. In two weeks, we plan to deliver New Year’s baskets to the new movers in our community. It is such a blessing to end the year on such a positive note of encouragement with two new Christians being added the Lord’s body. With God’s help, we plan to make 2023 better than 2022. Please continue to pray for our efforts.”

Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Greg Garner (deacon) reports, “Our congregation meets Sunday evenings to conduct the Actively Caring Teaching Servicing (ACTS) workshop (i.e., evangelism). Last week, the Caring Compassion Cards group, sent 22 compassion cards. Last night, they created 20 compassion cards. The Visitation Group visited and delivered 12 coffee stations to those who have moved into the community. The Service Group follow-up visits from HTH door knocking were scheduled, but due to rain the group stayed in and helped to prepare gift baskets for the Eastpoint children. Follow-up visits will be scheduled next week, weather permitting. The Practical Application class had seven attendees. We have one Bible study in progress.”

New Hope church of Christ, Middleton, Tennessee: Cole Wade (preacher) reports, “Our numbers are growing on Sundays. We have so many people visiting, and we are getting their information and getting to know them! Many know our members through our outreach and service activities. Several who have not been in church in a while have also come back! This has been such a wonderful blessing!”

Rogersville church of Christ, Tennessee: Ethan Tate (preacher) reports, “This past week had both a set back and a surprise. While one of our studies was postponed to another week, we had a visitor come to our ladies’ holiday party! We have a visitor card filled out for her, and we sent thank you cards to her. While organizing our classroom renovations, we sent out Bible studies for our prison ministry and made new contacts from our recent letters. Some of the letters we received expressed thanks for our help not only to communicate with them but also to reach out to help their families in the community. It is our hope that the three families we are helping will be saved through the gospel. Two have expressed interest in wanting to know more about the church, so please pray as we work with these families. God has blessed us richly in such a short time, but we pray this is only the beginning of reaping the whitened fields of harvest!”

Paintsville church of Christ, Kentucky: Zach Collins (preacher) reports, “We have been developing our theme for 2023 to co-align with the School of Evangelism in our congregation. Hopefully, our direction in 2023 will help us strengthen relationships within the church and build relationships in our community. In addition, this past week we had two opportunities with visitors, which could lead to Bible studies. One woman, who lives three houses down from my wife and me, visited our congregation after an invitation from a friend. We plan to visit her this week! Also, an old acquaintance has visited our congregation periodically over the last year. Pray that these opportunities could lead to studies and baptisms!”

Canal Heights church of Christ, Demopolis, Alabama: Bryan Cook (minister) reports, “There is a fresh push to send compassion cards to those struggling this holiday season. We announced that we are focused on people who need encouragement these next few weeks. Our organization of contact cards and lists from the contact cards has been an evolving process. This is the third iteration of that process. We now make copies of lists to distribute after services for those who are writing cards. Today we had another Bible study, which is exciting, but what is even more exciting is this is the first time this individual will be teaching Back to the Bible. We can see God working and pray that He continues to bless our efforts.”

Riverbend church of Christ, Georgia: Austin Fowler (member) reports, “On Wednesday, one of our boys, Asher Gass, was baptized into Christ. This was our 24th baptism this year. We are continuing our compassion card ministry to reach out to the lost. This week, I have been in Palenque, Mexico, to attend and speak on their lectureship. This congregation is only 12 years old, and it has done some great things over the last few years. We were able to encourage a lot of the brethren during this trip. On Saturday, I met with all the preachers to hand out and explain how to use Back to the Bible. They asked some questions about it, and the brethren were excited to be able to use this material. One preacher said, ‘This will help me stay focused and not chase rabbits on my studies.’ On Sunday, I preached on three of the principles of a soul winner. It was a great crowd! I also handed out House to House in Spanish and gave copies to the preachers. They immediately started reading them! I look forward to seeing how much good they do now that they have a method.”

Southwest church of Christ, Austin, Texas: John Garza (preacher) reports, “Wednesday, we rejoiced with the angels for Jerry Amaya’s decision to be born again by being baptized into the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Now he has been added to the kingdom and body of Christ. We must be sure to do all that we can to make him a part of the family and encourage him to live a faithful life in Christ to the glory of God! According to Phyllis, Brandon and Dawn Colvin have finished book two of Back to the Bible. There were some small hiccups that were set aside for the moment, but clearly, it is a battle to uproot false religion. They will begin book three tomorrow. Therefore, we will keep this study in our prayers! Dee Greyson has finished book three with Vicki Rodriguez, and she understands the gospel, but she has a lot to think about. If Vicki does not contact Dee before the holiday is over, Dee will suggest further study with her. Please pray for Vicki as she counts the cost of discipleship. Pray that she makes the decision to put on Christ in baptism. Steven Petroski and I studied with Mayra Ruiz and Simeon Rodriguez last Wednesday and Sunday. They understood the authority of the Scriptures, the revelation of Scriptures handed down from the Father, to the Son, to the Holy Spirit, and to the apostles and other Christians who wrote it down for us. They agreed we are under the New Testament today. To God be the glory. As a special mention, this study was also made possible because Rachel and Nita Genduso watched their seven-month-old baby, Genesis, while we studied. There will be another study this week.

“Finally, we remember those who have helped in leading the recent converts to salvation in Christ. They are continuing studies, just as Christ commanded after baptism to “teach them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20). Therefore, we continue to keep the new converts in our prayers as they grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“As I close, I would like to encourage everyone to take some time today and look at your list of people who are not in Christ. Pray that there will be an opportunity to teach them soon and make the effort to do just that. May each one of us look for the opportunity to plant the seed or to water it for the glory of God.”

Northern Oaks church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas: Mel Hutzler (preacher/elder) reports, “Enrique Sanchez was baptized recently by Anthony Castillo. We continue to visit homes from our new movers’ program. Card teams are going well, and we need to make sure we get all information from visitors. We hope to have more training opportunities in the near future.”

Shertz church of Christ, Texas: Jay Stewart (elder) reports, “This week the Schertz congregation held a Friday night fellowship. It was enjoyable, and some members brought extended family members to share time with us. We began a new Wednesday adult class with the topic “Growing and Maturing Spiritually.” Several key points emphasize the need for being more evangelistic and sharing the gospel as a requirement to become a mature Christian. Our compassion card names continue to circulate through our work groups, and we continually call the congregation to bring more names forward.  It is slow going, but we believe we are making progress.”

East Flushing church of Christ, Flushing, New York (virtual): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “We continue to reach out to those who have not been worshipping at the building. We are glad to see three more members worshipping with us again. A person stopped by after worship service and expressed her desire to have a Bible study. We gladly accepted and scheduled a study this week. Please pray for that effort. Our prayers are with you all. To God be the glory.”

Monroe church of Christ, Georgia: Charles Harris (preacher) reports, “We gave everyone an Evangelism Model card and briefly introduced the Evangelism Model to the congregation. One deacon introduced our plan for card-writing groups. We are calling them Care Groups. We look forward to officially begin our evangelism program on January 1. In the meantime, two studies are ongoing. One person became interested because of cards received; the other came through benevolence.”

Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (preacher) reports, “We had a gentleman visit us yesterday for worship service. He told me he is Catholic, but for the past few weeks has been visiting other churches. He said he enjoyed the service and lesson immensely. I asked him if he would be open to a Bible study, and he said he absolutely would. Based on our conversation, I doubt he is an active Catholic; he seems to be looking for something else.  He asked me to contact him this evening to schedule the study. Prayerfully, he will have an open mind.”

Carthage church of Christ, South Carolina (virtual): Randy Chambers (preacher) reports, “We were blessed to be able to have fellowship over a meal with one contact, and we also conducted two Bible classes. We have a total of four classes within the congregation. One contact that we visited after the fourth week of mailing cards was unavailable, but we will visit again this week. We had a good Mission Monday, and we continue to mailcompassion cards and make new movers visits. One family took a new movers family out for a meal and reported they had good fellowship as they are building a relationship.  We ask for prayers for all members to stay engaged with the mission. We pray that all is going well with the brethren everywhere. It is encouraging to hear about the success throughout the brotherhood! We thank God for all of you!”

Coldwater church of Christ, Kentucky: Luke Puckett (preacher) reports, “This past week we made make two good contacts through our Thanksgiving giveaway. They were contacted with cards and then phone calls. Both expressed gratitude for the help, and both stated they were interested in Bible material to learn more about the church. Our plans are to do in- home visits with them this week.”

St. Augustine Road church of Christ, Valdosta, Georgia: Ted Okolichany (member) reports, “We had another baptism at the St. Augustine Road congregation last night after studying Back to the Bible. This was the second baptism in the last month, though I did one study in Tallahassee, and the baptism was at Timberlane. Both were among the most challenging prospects I have ever encountered, and I have done a few. I am so thankful that I learned about Back to the Bible at AMC Rome. When I return home, I will sit down with my 82-year-old Catholic mother and do this study. Prayers are appreciated.”

Chase Park church of Christ, Huntsville, Alabama: Pat Cowden (preacher) reports, “We have several visitors who are coming regularly, and we have asked them to have Bible studies. We currently have four studies ongoing. The flu and Covid have slowed us down, but we are pushing forward. Two members are studying with a cousin with no assistance from me or the other ministers. This is one of the goals of local evangelism—to have members confident enough to conduct studies on their own. They are excited, and so is the person who is studying with them. We are near the end of our study with a sweet lady in a local nursing home. Pray that these have open hearts and will obey the gospel.”

Stafford Road church of Christ, Phoenix City, Alabama: Daniel Welker (preacher) reports, “A week ago, I studied with Bri and Ben McLendon as well as Randy Paggett (Bri’s Brother). At the end of the study, I told them the eunuch asked Phillip, ‘What doth hinder me to be baptized?’ Then I asked them, ‘What hinders you from being baptized?’ They said, ‘Nothing!’ We went to the building, and they were baptized. Ben’s dad, a member of the church, met us for the baptisms, and afterward Ricky McLendon made it known that he wishes to identify with the congregation at Stafford Road because he wants to be a good mentor for his son. Tonight, I am teaching book two with a friend of mine from college. Ricky has an ongoing study with a friend who is a taxi driver. We are a congregation of 30 and have had six baptisms using HTHSOE strategies!”

Church of Christ, Katy Texas: Melanie Whitman (member) reports, “I wanted to send you wonderful news. The young lady we have been studying with put Christ on in baptism on November 13.  We are thankful for the materials from SOE that are helping us lead lost souls to Christ. May God be glorified as we teach others from His word.”

Lackland Terrace church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas: Greg Campbell (preacher and SWSBS student) reports, “Lackland Terrace Church of Christ in San Antonio has 35 people receiving compassion cards right now. Recipients consistently display gratitude! Some have been visited by members, and the visits were good. This coming Sunday, we will complete the preaching of Back to the Bible! Both guests and members have been greatly edified. We recently had one baptism. Lastly, the Lackland Terrace community will begin receiving HTH in January!”

Rabun County church of Christ, Tiger Georgia: McKinley Pate (preacher) reports, “Last Sunday, we had a fellowship meal following services, and members invited those on their evangelism bookmarks. We had great attendance including some who are currently studying and others who have received cards. We hope to have more studies soon. All in all, we are using every resource available to evangelize. One more week in 2022, and then we will move forward in 2023!”

NOTE: These reports are from Christians and congregations enrolled in the House to House/Heart to Heart School of Evangelism. These emails are sent to teach and provoke one another to remain focused on the mission of Christ. Each week, we share several reports and highlight one with more details. We hope you enjoy reading them.