Success Stories: February 14, 2024

Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: David Marker (elder) reports, “We have had several folks who placed membership, and we are also having an influx of visitors with children each week. We are hoping that will transition into a Bible study. We are studying with several teenagers every week. One young man who visited Sunday night came with his girlfriend and indicated he wanted us to study with her. We continue to have many meetings every Sunday afternoon to work on compassion cards. Our enthusiasm for evangelism is becoming infectious as we continue to see more and more getting involved. It is amazing to see the Word of God in action! We have been studying with several young people for well over a year, and tonight, we had fruit from our efforts as two young people put Christ on in baptism! Hallelujah!”

Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “We currently have several Bible studies taking place, along with quite a few first-time visitors yesterday at worship. Groups met yesterday for compassion cards. We are gearing up for CYC later this month, which in the past has been one of our biggest evangelism weeks because of the number of visitors who travel with us. We are prayerful a door will be opened to continue having these Bible studies and baptisms as we try to use every opportunity we can for evangelism.”

Mabelvale church of Christ, Arkansas:  Wendell Thompson (elder) reports, “Prince, Praise, and Peace Ekoh, of the Mabelvale Youth Group, put on Christ in baptism on Sunday, February 11, 2024. The Lord added them to His church and the angels rejoiced in heaven, as well as all the saints at Mabelvale and their precious mother Promise Ekoh. It was definitely a “Super Sunday” in Little Rock!!! On another note, I texted Austin Fowler to schedule the reboot at Mabelvale!”

Highway church of Christ, Benton, Arkansas: James Hutchings (member) reports, “We rejoice that we had a baptism. We sent 37 cards last week. We delivered new baskets and had a really good response. To God be the glory.”

Lake City church of Christ, Florida: Jim Flegert (elder) reports, “As of today, we have two members who are beginning Bible studies this week. Last week, our mover team had four positive responses from the mover baskets they delivered. Those four names are receiving compassion cards for the next several weeks.”

Niceville church of Christ, Florida: Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “We sent out 45 cards this week from our Compassion Card team. We have two Bible studies going at this time and one supposed to start this week. No local visitors this week. We are working on new areas of outreach for 2024.”

Fayetteville church of Christ, Georgia: David Gulledge (associate preacher) reports, “Our groups have continued to send cards every week. We have been blessed with multiple visitors lately and have sent them cards. We had our first Bible study this past Sunday; we will continue this study this coming Sunday.”

Lafayette church of Christ, Georgia: Jesse Teague (elder) reports, “We had our new movers’ door knocking this past Saturday. We usually have five names on our visitor sheets, and each team gets one sheet. We had about 45 names this past weekend. Several members usually help, but some grabbed two sheets, and none were left. We knocked on the doors of all the people on our list. We had enough good visits to add three contacts to our compassion card list and to the re-visit rotation. The elders have agreed we need to refresh our efforts this year, reminding the congregation of the need to spread the gospel and work on expanding our efforts. We will concentrate on training and the weekly use of the HTHSOE videos during Wednesday night Bible study. We had our 12-month virtual meeting with Rob.”

Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Greg Garner (deacon) reports, “The Compassion Card Group sent 12 cards last week. On Saturday, February 10, two groups knocked on doors and visited 39 homes from the HTH list. Just under 800 addresses of 1320 have been visited to date, and 22 are on a follow-up list. We had 16 in our New Convert class. The Greeter Group reported that we had two visitors this week.”

Carrollton church of Christ, Georgia: Danny Spain (member) reports, “We met with four coordinators to provide training on the process. We will be starting Compassion Cards on February 25.  So far, we have asked Dennis Gray – HTH/HTH, Joe Pace for bookmark/prospect list, Bob Smith for overall contact coordinator, Danny Spain – for weekly updates, and Neal Vines for contact cards. Joe and Dave met with the coordinators to discuss our functions and responsibilities. The elders stated that they tried to take care of everything alone last year but now have others to share the responsibilities. Dave addressed the congregation, rehearsing our responsibilities as Christians to Sow the Seed and ensuring we don’t get in the way of the gospel message. During the day, it was emphasized that everyone could not do everything, but we all had talents. Joe Pace addressed the congregation, giving detailed instructions on the bookmarks/prospect cards and encouraging everyone to come to him if they had any questions. He stated that when a life event occurs with someone on their list, they will complete a contact card with the date and contact information along with their name. Then, they would be responsible for setting up a time to visit/take food/etc. and ask for a bible study. Neil Vines advised the congregation where the contact cards were located. He gave detailed instructions on completing the card and then placed it in the box on the table in the fellowship room. He would then create a spreadsheet with that information so that we could keep up with the contact and not let them slip through the cracks.  We will be putting up the accountability board soon.  Please keep us in your prayers.”

Jerseyville church of Christ, Illinois (remote): Jake Medford (preacher) reports, “We continue to have the same visitors that are being prospected. We are still sending cards weekly, but we have not had any new developments. We are simply working and waiting for God to open doors. We know studies are coming. We are patient and trust in God.”

Beloit church of Christ, Kansas (remote): Dustin Dougherty (regional trainer) reports, “We started teaching the evangelism curriculum last Wednesday during mid-week Bible study here in Beloit. The curriculum has been well received. We will continue with it for the next few weeks and then go through the Back to the Bible booklets again as a group, helping build confidence in using the tools. We had one visitor last Sunday. Next Sunday, I will speak in Ransom, Kansas. I am looking forward to gathering with the saints there. To God be all the glory and honor.”

Paintsville church of Christ, Kentucky: Zach Collins (preacher) reports, “This was another great week for our family at Paintsville! This past Sunday, we had over 20 visitors in our assembly, including our denominational friend and his family, who have been visiting on Sunday evenings consistently for the last month. Currently, we are attempting to set up Bible studies with four of these visitors. Thus far, we have reached 20 percent of our goal for ten new Christians in 2024. We appreciate prayers for these opportunities, trusting that Bible studies will lead to conversions!”

Central church of Christ, Paducah, Kentucky: Adam Faughn (preacher) reports, “In the last two weeks, two card-writing teams met, and that work continues to go well. A few Bible studies are ongoing, and we pray for good results there. Some others have had to be postponed due to sickness; we pray that those will resume soon. We ask for prayers for our “Evangelism Fair” next Sunday evening. During this time, we will re-present the congregational evangelism model, specifically with the works we have already started and the works schedule to start soon. These efforts will allow every member to see exactly what each area of work involves and how many people are needed to help those areas thrive. We pray for good participation and renewed excitement as we continue to work on the plan.”

La Plata church of Christ, Maryland (remote): Eric Sykes (regional trainer) reports, “We completed Lesson 3 with the brother of one of our members here in La Plata. His brother lives in New York. He said he wanted to be baptized, but when the brothers from the Long Island church of Christ met with him, he said he did not want to be converted. We ask for prayers, that the Holy Spirit’s Word convicts his heart to change. We currently have five open Bible studies. A husband and wife who recently completed Lesson 3 of BTTB said they want to be baptized, but so far, they have not obeyed the gospel. We will start with Does it Matter?” tomorrow.  Three people who have recently completed Lesson 1 of BTTB are scheduled to start Lesson 2 this week.  We sent out 15 compassion cards this week, and we had two visitors. We had five people on our prospect list and six people in the New Converts Bible study classes. We completed training the congregation on Back to the Bible and Does it Matter?This week, we will start our study of Believe the Bible. We appreciate all prayers as we continue to implement the congregational evangelism model at the La Plata church of Christ.”

Southside church of Christ, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Freddie Klein (preacher) reports, “We continue to move forward with Bible studies with those recently baptized. We showed a video about organizing ways to follow up on contacts on Mondays. We also reminded the congregation about the resources available to them for evangelism. Our card group wrote cards for our new movers and a few other prospects.”

Samford church of Christ, Steele, Missouri: Kyle Imel (deacon) reports, “On Sunday we had a virtual meeting with Rob to discuss our progress as well as ways to improve our work. We will go through Book 3 with Bo on Wednesday night. We appreciate prayers for Bo’s heart to be pricked by the gospel. We are working on gaining contacts so that we can continue to evangelize our community.”

Foristell church of Christ, Missouri: Rod Jackson (elder) reports, “We continue to lag in reaching out with compassion cards due to the lack of contacts. We are trying to be creative and expand our outreach. We have a Friends and Family Day coming up, which should help generate interest. We also have two bible studies scheduled for this week. Please continue to pray for us!”

Highway West 160 church of Christ, Missouri (remote): Marvin Hatley (elder) reports, “Two personal Bible studies progressed from last week using Does It Matter. Denominational doctrines continue to get in the way of sound words with these two studies, but both prospects continue to participate in studies. A study using Book 1 of Back to the Bible is scheduled for this Tuesday evening with a prospect who had visited a Wednesday night Bible class. Compassion Card Group 3 completed 98 cards for five prospects this week. Our Transition Thursday attendance continues to remain strong. Members encourage one another and offer support in gaining prospects and Bible studies.  We are blessed to have opportunities to share the gospel with our community. We ordered the Evangelism Board Inserts and look forward to using this to keep the congregation focused.”

East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “This past Lord’s Day, by God’s grace, I preached the sermon provided from the HTHSOE curriculum that corresponds with the CONTACTS: VISITORS training card. After the worship service, we passed out that training card to every member; we then viewed the video Contacts: Visitor Training Cards and discussed it with the congregation. We wrote compassion cards. Later that Lord’s Day during the men’s Bible study, we viewed the video Growing Church: Evangelism Trends and discussed it. We appreciate all prayers for continued growth as we apply what we are learning about evangelism.

Carthage church of Christ, North Carolina (remote):  Randy Chambers (preacher) reports, “We completed our four-week mailing of compassion cards to six wayward members. We had our coordinator and congregational meetings to plan our visits after four weeks of mailing. We pray that the meetings go well and that we may encourage the wayward to come home. We continue to pray and encourage all members to follow the plan, trust the process, and glorify God in the work! We thank God for the HTHSOE Family for their prayers and their work in the kingdom.”

Streetsboro church of Christ, Ohio: Ralph Price (preacher) reports, “We are working on six contacts with our compassion cards. Since the program started, we have sent out 954. Yesterday, we finished the first half of Believe the BiblePart 3. We recently met to schedule our transitional visits. We are praying for these to result in Bible studies.”

Greenville church of Christ, Ohio: John McGiffin (preacher) reports, “This week, the congregation training proved valuable. While I was at a lectureship, they proceeded to continue the programs unprompted from the pulpit. They had two visitors and implemented the visitor program. This brings us up to four visitors for the calendar year. They also sent out 60 cards to four new prospects. This brings us to 12 prospects and 397 cards sent. Our Bible studies remain at seven, and there is slow progress there. Our newest convert has been faithful to attend ALL services instead of once per week. We are continuing our training. We spent five weeks on Book 3, taking time to explain the charts and expand the thoughts. The congregation has received the teaching very well. We continue to push forward. We plan to have more transitional visits. Our new move-in coordinator is preparing 22 welcome baskets. Soon, we will start these visits. We hope to have a break from the bitterly cold weather soon; then we will have more volunteers to deliver the welcome baskets.”

New Concord church of Christ, Ohio: Terry Townsend (preacher) reports, “We mailed 57 compassion cards to five new contacts. We had six visitors on Sunday, and five of them have attended several weeks in a row. We have two personal Bible studies in progress. In one of the studies, the three individuals are on Book 3, and we believe they are very close to obeying the Lord.”

Sullivan Village church of Christ, Lawton, Oklahoma: Steven Hill (preacher) reports, “We continue to make follow-up visits, and we have a wonderful visitor team to welcome newcomers as they enter the auditorium. Visitor bags are ready. We fill out the contact cards and follow up with compassion cards and visits. The new movers team sets up 50 to 70 trips and gift packages for those moving into the area. The new convert class is coming along with multiple participants, and it is going very well. We have more members working, and we encourage them to keep up the good work and stay energized. We are looking forward to that first baptism of our efforts. We have already had a few families from other congregations place membership due to the work we are doing. We give God all the glory and are joyful to be doing His work!”

Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (regional trainer) reports, “This week we will start Lesson 1 with Jamie’s cousin. We have not seen her in many years, but Jamie noticed she has been posting FB posts about how she feels discouraged and has been going through a tough time. So Jamie reached out to her and met for lunch. While visiting, Jamie asked her if she would be interested in a Bible study, explaining that only God can offer the peace she seeks. She agreed, so Jamie had her fill out the survey, knowing she had no religious experience, so we would know where to begin. Based on her answers, we will start Lesson 1 of BTTB this week. On Thursday evening, we will start Lesson 1 with Doug, a friend of a member named Danny. Several months ago, Doug was shot and left paralyzed from the waist down. Later, he had to have both legs amputated. Danny has been visiting with him by phone, but he felt hindered by Doug’s condition. Then he asked Doug if he would be open to a Bible study, and Doug agreed. Danny forwarded Doug’s contact info to me, and I called him. We set up a time for Thursday evening. He lives about 45 minutes north of us in Claremore. If we get to Lesson 3, I will invite the minister of that congregation to sit in with us, and if Doug accepts God and is baptized, we hope that local congregation can help him. We appreciate all prayers for these studies.”

Union church of Christ, South Carolina (remote): Terry Hale (preacher) reports, “The cards are working great. We had one prospect reach out with appreciation after receiving cards. I can hardly wait to go to her door for another Bible Study. We keep looking into His word through Back to the Bible. Next week, we will be going to Does it Matter. Hopefully, she will open up and tell us what is holding her back.”

McKenzie church of Christ, Tennessee: Randy McAdams (elder) reports, “Ten contacts were generated for card mailout for February beginning on February 18. These names came primarily from the prayer requests that our congregation has made. This approach aims to present a spirit of love and compassion to those who are hurting or in need of comfort through prayers and just being remembered.  God bless us in our hopes to touch hearts that need to be touched.”

Brushy church of Christ, Centerville, Tennessee: Kevin Johnston (preacher) reports, “Brushy has always been an evangelist congregation, and it is encouraging to see this congregation continue to be the church of the New Testament. We have just planned the first half of the year, which will include a Friends and Family Day, a summer series for kids and adults, a family fishing outing, a VBS, and a gospel meeting. Members are collecting contacts and praying for hearts to be opened as we continue to implement the plan.”

Hillsboro church of Christ, Tennessee: Chris Sliger (member) reports, “We did not have any visitors this week, but we did generate four contacts from our New Movers program on Saturday. We now have established all coordinators for the program, and we are in the early planning stages for a Community Outreach event. The elders, preacher, and lead coordinators meet weekly to discuss program execution, and we continue to show SOE training videos to the members every Sunday during the morning class. We know that fruit will come from these early efforts.”

Mountain Creek church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Michael Tomshack (elder) reports, “Gary Massey (elder, minister) continues the lesson plan outlined by the school. We signed up for the new mover’s program from House to House and held a Zoom meeting with team leaders. Our Compassion Card coordinator met with her team leaders to assign all members to a team. Cards are being sent this week to four new contacts experiencing health issues, and our young adult/college class will begin a series to train with Believe the Bible and will move to Back to the Bible.

East Ridge church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Austin Fowler (regional trainer) reports, “Charlie and I are planning to visit this week and continue to find prospects to transition them. I am currently working on teaching the auditorium class this upcoming quarter. I am going to teach a class on evangelism to help equip our members to be better evangelists. I am excited about this and hope we can encourage all of us to fulfill our church motto this year: Disciples Making Disciples.”

New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fulks (elder) reports, “We submitted six contact cards to the compassion card writers. Greeters recorded information from two visitors, gave them visitor bags, and scheduled a visit for this week. Doug Aaron’s team met before Sunday evening worship and wrote 49 compassion cards. We assigned three new mover bags. Last week, members made three follow-up visits and contacts. One Bible study was conducted. A New Convert/Bible Learner class meets each Sunday morning. Mission Monday Meetings are held at 8:00 p.m. each week. A spreadsheet is used to track all evangelism activities.”

Chapel Hill church of Christ, Tennessee: Matt Jones (deacon) reports, “We continue to work the process. This week will begin the first round of visits to those who have received compassion cards. We continue to be encouraged by new visitors each week. Each visitor has received a visitor bag from our visitor greeting team, and the team has been collecting contact information to add them to our compassion card list. Our new movers’ program is gearing up to begin in the next week or so. We hope there will be more to come on that in the next report. Our new converts class will officially begin this coming Sunday morning. We still have several ongoing Bible studies, and this past Sunday, two individuals obeyed the gospel and were baptized into Christ! To God be the glory!”

East Main church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Brad Rowley (elder) reports, “The East Main compassion card team wrote 36 cards. We delivered two new mover baskets and had one follow-up visit. We have nine people in ongoing Bible studies. One of our new converts started a new Bible study with his family. We held our Mission Day on Sunday, including lunch, and 55 people were present. We watched our new evangelism videos and discussed how they can be used. This meeting was also focused on our visitor/greeter strategy. We are still in the process of training and rolling out our new invitation cards. We pray these invitation cards will involve more members and create more contacts. Seth Ferguson, our campus minister, started a Bible study at one of the public buildings on the MTSU campus. Our prayer is that these studies will encourage other students to join us. To God give the glory!”

Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “We have five Bible studies going on currently. One of our newer converts, Cody, is conducting two of those. He is studying with both of his parents. We had several non-Christian visitors on Sunday as well. We wrote several compassion cards this week to our prospects. One of our deacons, Brad, is about to finish teaching a quarter-long class on evangelism. He has been using much of the material from the HTHSOE curriculum in the class. We are promoting the bookmarks and the contact cards because we know that without contacts, we can have no Bible studies or baptisms. Our gospel meeting is coming up the first week of March with Mark Posey speaking. We will promote that and encourage all our members to invite non-Christian friends. We appreciate all prayers for our efforts.”

West End church of Christ, Knoxville, TN: Hector Cortez (evangelist) reports, “In January, we have enjoyed seeing Mike, David, Riley, Stephanie, Kayden, and Kynzleigh be born spiritually. This is a fabulous way to start the year. We want to be better at seeking and saving the lost, so we are focused on changing our current culture to an evangelistic one. It is a challenging task, but it is possible. Week by week, our elders are motivating the membership to generate contacts. This can be exhausting, especially when there seem to be no results, but changing the culture requires effort and perseverance. Along with this initiative, we are making special efforts in the areas of visitors, meals, compassion cards, visits, new movers, and evangelistic table. We know these initiatives are worthy of work but need committed members to execute them. This is part of the change we desire to experience, and we are working to make it happen. We believe in the mission that God has entrusted to us, and we are motivated to be part of the Great Commission.”

Crosby church of Christ, Houston, Texas (remote): Jon Wheeler (elder) reports, “A mother and daughter were baptized Friday night after going through the Does It Matter study. The mother had been previously baptized by pouring but knew that was not the baptism in the Bible. During the survey, we used the Gospel Reenacted companion chart to explain immersion baptism. On Sunday morning, she was at church for Bible study 45 minutes early with her baptized daughter and three other children! While her young children were in class, we began a New Converts class. We were also excited that a mother and daughter who had been away for years were present again. A follow-up with them is planned by one of the ladies. We also had five additional visitors. Sixteen compassion cards are being mailed this week. God is blessing us!”

9^th and Main church of Christ, San Angelo, Texas: Bryan Braswell (elder) reports, “We are meeting again at 4:00 p.m. to organize. We kicked things off with a lesson on John 4 by Mike Bonner. We handed out the prospect cards to everyone this morning. Mike preached on the HTHSOE model from Ephesians 4:11-16 on Sunday evening to help the congregation understand how everyone can be involved.”

Buda-Kyle church of Christ, Texas: Ronnie Scherffius (preacher) reports, “The Buda-Kyle church of Christ began in our work and training in Congregational Evangelism. Deric Merz, one of the men on our evangelism team, presented and explained the Bookmarks to the congregation. We passed out 70+ cards for contacts. This evening, we had our first training class. Ronnie Scherffius, another man on our evangelism team, taught the Making It Operational class, providing an overview of the congregational model of evangelism. There were 33 in attendance for this class. All feedback for our new work has been positive. Everyone is excited and looking forward to finding a place in the work of God!”

Southwest church of Christ, Austin Texas: John Garza (regional trainer) reports, “During the Lord’s invitation Sunday, Steve Pozo went forward to obey the gospel of Christ. He and his girlfriend, Austin, were recognized through the effective visitor prospecting. In short, when they first visited the congregation, they were welcomed by our loving congregation who made a point to know them. When I returned from being away that Sunday, I noticed the contact card, and in my weekly email update to the congregation, I asked who met them and could give me more information. While I had many members contact me, Steven Petroski gave me the most details about them, including where they worked at a food truck just down the road. I grabbed a couple of new movers’ bags (gifts), even though they were not new movers, and Alex Simmons and I went to meet them and express thanks for worshipping with us. They appreciated our gesture of kindness, which led to talking about spiritual topics. During that time, they wanted to know what I thought about other ‘churches,’ I responded with, “That is a great question. I can tell you what ‘I’ believe, but that would not do you any good. Would you be willing to sit down and study God’s word with me so that the Scriptures can answer that question?” They replied that they would love to.

“During the first two books of Back to the Bible, they were amazed at the simplicity of God’s word and things they never knew or considered. They were enlightened! Last week, we started the final book of Back to the Bible, but we only covered the first half because they already understood what was required of them. Therefore, during our Sunday lesson, Cody Westbrook preached a powerful lesson titled, ‘For This Hour I Have Come’ (John 12:20-28), and as Steve listened intently, he responded to the invitation. He said, “The Word compelled me to come forward and obey Christ.” Therefore, yesterday, we rejoiced with him in obeying the gospel. This led to Austin’s desire to finish our Bible study today and deal with some personal things that hindered her from obeying the gospel. After much discussion and dealing with them with the Scriptures, we finished Back to the Bible Book 3, and she was convinced she needed to be baptized for the forgiveness of her sins and added to the Lord’s body, His church. Therefore, we rejoice with her today! All of this is great news, no doubt! But to top it all off, because they lived together before being married and obeying the gospel, they have decided to live together no longer until they are ready to marry. One of our elders and his wife, David and Elaine Hopkins, have agreed to let Austin live with them till then. Truly, the body is many members, but we all work together to make known the ‘manifold wisdom of God,’ as we are all one in Christ (Ephesians 3:10). To God be the glory.”
                                                                                          
Northern Oaks church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas: Mel Hutzler (elder) reports, “Raoul Ferris came down from Canyon Lake to give us extra training on delivering the gift baskets more effectively to our community. He did an astounding job. We have a few studies at the moment, and the cards continue to go out. We had a few more who placed membership. Our visitors have increased lately with more opportunities to have Bible studies. We hope to prospect them and other contacts soon.”

Graceton church of Christ, Diana, Texas: Johnny Williford (elder) reports, “The Graceton congregation continued training to evangelize our community with the supplemental material Believe the Bible. Group A met before Sunday evening services to sign 71 compassion cards for 12 individuals. We were blessed with two families visiting with us today; it was the second visit for both families. Our monthly family game night is planned for Friday evening, and we hope to have visitors who have been visiting our services this past month. We ask for prayers for those of our congregation fighting an outbreak of the flu and Covid in our church family.”

Canyon Lake church of Christ, Texas (remote): Jesse Stuart and Raoul Ferris (evangelists) reports, “While we were studying with Chris Whittington, a new converts study, his mother Julie Whittington was in the class. Mark Perkins was leading the new converts class that reviewed baptism when Julie Whittington realized what she needed to do. Because Julie lives near Taylor, Texas, we were able to connect Ben Dossey from the HWY 95 church of Christ for her. This is an amazing turn of events for this family because we taught Eric and Kayla Tealer, who brought Chris Whittington, Kayla’s cousin, who brought his mother, Julie. Now Julie is requesting prayers for her sister in Midland, Texas, and we hope to connect her with the church there.  This week we presented the third study of BTTB to a man who completely understands what he must do but wants to speak with his son first before obeying the truth. We had lunch with him the following day, and he brought up the subject of baptism on his own. He told us that no one had ever explained these things to him and that he needed to spend more time studying.

“We continue to look through our past contacts to send cards to those with whom we feel we are connected in one way or another. We continue to seek more studies. We did some yard work with a prospect by cutting dead limbs from her yard, removing limbs from her roof, and mowing her yard. We will return next week and approach the follow-up questions with her again. We were also able to assist the Northern Oaks church of Christ with their new movers’ baskets and teach them how to use them. We were able to help point the elders of the Shenandoah church of Christ into furthering their use of the evangelism model after they attended the meeting at Buda Kyle church of Christ. We also taught them how to use the new movers baskets to area preachers from the greater San Antonio, Texas, area. To end the week, we joined the brethren in La Vernia, Texas, for their door knocking, which gave them many contacts.”

Wheeler church of Christ, Texas: Garrett English (preacher) reports, “More members are getting involve with writing compassion cards. We have ages two to 80 in this picture. We keep watering the good soils. The ladies held their annual love supper, which brought new contacts in, and they will reach out to them with cards and in other ways. If there are good prospects, they will let me know, and we will begin the process from there. We have an upcoming weekly Bible study in March concerning the end of time. We are inviting many of our neighbors. This will generate many contacts for us; it has brought us a majority of our baptisms in the past four years! Also, the young lady who asked about baptism has completed Book 1 of BTTB. We hope start Book 2 this week.”

Granbury Street church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas: Ryan Cowan (deacon) reports, “My wife and I have established a routine for following up with individuals who have received cards from the Body. We find encouragement in being regularly involved in the Lord’s work. Recently, we had the privilege of delivering a new mover’s basket to a family just a few blocks from our church building. The recipient was taken aback by our thoughtful gesture and expressed gratitude for the items in the basket. We took the opportunity to welcome him to our community and provide directions to the church from his residence. Additionally, we discovered that this new mover had a newborn baby in his family. It was delightful getting to know him and his family better. I am confident our interaction left a positive impression of the Lord’s church in Cleburne.”

Windmill church of Christ, Texas (remote): Eric Tipton (preacher student, BTSOP), reports, “One of our Bible studies was rescheduled to next week (general study of baptism). Another study was conducted this Sunday afternoon (BTTB 2), and another study will occur later this week (Believe the Bible). We have written a cumulative 356 cards over the past two weeks, which is the most we have been able to muster thus far. We have ten teams who will transition these prospects on Sunday, February 18. We are calling it Sent Sunday since the sun is still setting too early for us to manage Monday or Thursday.”

Itasca church of Christ, Texas (remote): Justin Hopkins (preacher) reports, “Ruben was baptized on Tuesday. He has already started studying through “Growing in Christ” with one of the men. Yesterday I gave him a prospect bookmark and asked him to think about people he knows who might want to learn what he now knows. Last week we mailed out 66 compassion cards. We broke our 54 contacts into four groups so that we would have more manageable bites. Yesterday, Jason handed out cards to send to the third group of contacts. On Wednesday, he will assign the last group. We are praying for our contacts by name in the assembly. On Friday, a few brothers and I discussed ways to address some problems we were having with unity. God’s plan works. Starting Saturday, we have all been working together in peace. Yesterday, we started our gospel meeting with Raoul and Jesse. One of our contacts asked for a ride to services, but when we showed up, we were informed that they were visiting family. We will try again next week. Two members brought someone with them Sunday night. Two more contacts will be added to the compassion card list, and we will visit these contacts soon. As our meeting continues this week, we will be doing more follow-up work on our contacts during the day. We are praying for open doors, honest hearts, and the courage and wisdom to speak as we ought.”

Charles Harris (regional trainer): “A brother in Christ contacted me last week; he wanted help to set up a Bible study with a friend. Thankfully, a study has been scheduled. I am looking forward to hearing about the progress.”