Success Stories: February 15, 2023

Editor’s Note: During our travels, we meet brethren from neighboring congregations. Some travel hours to attend HTHSOE seminars. With the digital option and other resources, those in attendance can take the training back home. Dan Baum has been taking some HTHSOE principles and implementing them at the local level. The training has paid off, and this week we feature the Beacon church of Christ!

A Model Conversion
Written by Dan Baum

 Every Sunday before class, I put “Reaching the Lost” on our Power Point screen. I use the picture and a story of some person who was recently added to the church. This is a great resource. We pray for those new Christians before we begin class. I want our members to see that people are being added to the Lord’s church every week. We may never meet them in this life, but their pictures and stories serve to encourage us to keep active in our evangelistic efforts, and it has paid off here!

Alan is a neighbor to one of our elders. Recently they began sharing breakfast together at a local diner. Breakfast was not the only thing on the menu during those times together; the gospel was, too! Through their breakfast conversations over time, Alan expressed an interest in the church and started visiting. He was in a difficult time in his life as he had recently lost his wife.

When he arrived to our services our greeting team welcomed him warmly, gave him a visitor packet, and asked him to fill out a visitor card. The visitor card gave us access to his address and phone number. Our card team mailed cards to him, and the church sent him letters to encourage him to come back. Since he supplied his phone number, I reached out to him every week by phone. We got to know one another, and I asked him if he would be interested in learning more about the Lord’s church (he was at the time in a local denomination).

He agreed, and we set up a time and place to start a study of Back to the Bible. Alan caught on quickly. He was so impressed with the material in Back to the Bible because it just presented Scripture, and he wanted to donate to the School of Evangelism so others could have access to the material. Once Alan understood that the Bible is our only guide, the rest was easy! Three or four pages into the last booklet, he understood that his denominational baptism was not what the Bible teaches. He was ready to make the change. Alan was baptized “the same hour.”

His baptism came about because of a team effort with the members of the church. We are thankful to all who reached out to Alan to help him in a difficult time in his life. We rejoice with the host of heaven that he is now our brother in Christ!

Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: David Marker (elder) reports, “So far in February, we have had 15 contacts submitted, equaling what we did for the month of January. We have sent out 364 compassion cards, and the feedback has been encouraging and overwhelming. Also, from years of being active in the community, we are receiving requests for prayers. One such case was a family that attends a denominational church requesting that we come to the hospital during their son’s surgery. Our efforts are paying off, and God is blessing our work. We have had two fellowship outings, and we are using those efforts to invite our contacts. We are encouraged that more of our members are beginning to dip their toes into the water and getting more involved. That contagious effect is starting to multiply as time goes on. I have saved the best for last. This past Sunday, we had our largest turnout for the year. It was a 24 percent increase from the beginning of the year!”

Jacksonville church of Christ, Alabama: Keith Ritchie (preacher) reports, “Emmanuel said he would study more with us. He said he was confused (because of the Baptist doctrine he was brought up believing). Emmanuel got sick last week, and David and I showed him the love of the church. David took him to the doctor and picked his medicine up, and the next day I took him soup and cough drops. I pray that our efforts will soften his heart.”

Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “One of the greatest blessings is to see new converts serving. Men like Andy Muston and Tristan Johnson, who both became Christians recently, have led heartfelt prayers, which greatly encouraged all of us. Seeing things like this keeps a fire burning in everyone to stay at work! We are working with about 12 contacts currently and visiting others as well.”

LaFayette church of Christ, Georgia: Jesse Teague (deacon) reports, “We continue to promote the use of the contact cards and prayers. We met and established tentative team leaders for sending cards, but we need to develop the process for using the cards more effectively. The cards are set up on a shelf in the fellowship room for easy preparation and distribution. We had a good group for new movers and door knocking on Saturday. Karen and I visited with our new neighbors Dan and Susanne who invited us in. We talked for a couple of hours about a variety of topics, but they were open to discussing their religious beliefs, so we listened (and deferred a lot). We asked for a time we could have them over for supper. They were receptive, but they did not commit to a time yet. Curry and Lori plan to have a study with Joel (who has been visiting for a while).  Ken and Faye plan to have lunch with Casey (Danny Thomas’s daughter) to kindle that relationship.”

Rabun County church of Christ, Tiger, Georgia (digital): McKinley Pate (preacher) reports, “We continue to do all we can to reach out to the community through compassion and God’s Word. We have recently decided to change mailing routes of House to House as the one we were on had been the same route for two years. We are in the planning stages for several events this summer, and every event will revolve around evangelism. We continue to have studies, and not every study is led by the preacher. One of our members has a study lined up with a couple Wednesday. We continue to move forward and give all the glory to God.”

Riverbend church of Christ, Dalton, Georgia: Austin Fowler (member) reports, “Valorie Sanders, the wife of one of our elders, has been studying with one of her best friends. She said that it has been going better than she ever thought it would go. She is covering lesson three today and requests prayers.”

Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Greg Garner (deacon) reports, “Our congregation meets on Sunday evenings to conduct the Actively Caring Teaching Serving (ACTS) workshop. The Compassion Group sent ten cards. The Youth Prison Ministry had nine girls in the class attendance and Bible study. The Practical Applications Class had seven attendees. WCOC has one Bible study.” Editor’s Note: Woodstock stands out among the congregations from training last year. They have had twenty-two baptisms. This means that they hit the ten percent goal in baptisms. So far this year, they have had five baptisms. Matt Amos serves as their preacher, and he is a motivator. The elders are dedicated, and the deacons work hard. Souls are being saved at Woodstock. We love them for the sake of their works!

Monroe church of Christ, Georgia: Charles Harris (regional instructor) reports, “Members here are starting to submit Contact Cards for souls that they have listed on their bookmarks. Our Contact List is growing. Prospecting is starting to take off. Yesterday between our morning and evening services, we had our second evangelism class. Attendance nearly doubled from last week. We have spent the first two classes referencing the seven principles of HTHSOE, focusing on how to lead souls to a Bible study. We will begin slowly working through BTTB in the coming weeks. Brethren who have never studied with anyone have recently been asking me what they can do to reach individuals in their lives. The culture here is gradually turning into an evangelistic one. It is truly a beautiful thing to witness.”

Honolulu church of Christ, Hawaii: Tagiilima Esene (preacher) reports, “We had an event for couples in the church. It was such an encouraging and strengthening event. We currently have two Bible studies in progress. The highlight of this week is that on Sunday, after morning services, Patrick made the decision to put on Christ in baptism. Patrick, his wife Chelsea, and their baby boy have been visiting with us for the past three Sundays. Our church family greeted them and made them feel welcome. We have some follow-up studies to do, and we hope Chelsea will make the same decision her husband made.”

Jerseyville church of Christ, Illinois (digital): Jake Medford (preacher) reports: “We started the video lessons today and had a good response! I need ten more Evangelism Simplified books and ten additional Recipes for Evangelism books. All I can say is, Wow! My wife made a few of those recipes, and they are fantastic! It was a great start today! We are grateful and excited for this program.”

Beloit church of Christ, Kansas: Dustin Dougherty (regional instructor) reports, “We have quite a few prospects who want to study, and I am cultivating several more. We are trying to overcome scheduling conflicts so we can get together for studies. Our attendance for worship has increased phenomenally. To God be all the honor and glory.”

Coldwater church of Christ, Murray, Kentucky: Luke Puckett (preacher) reports, “A couple of weeks ago, we studied with and baptized Gary and Amanda Clarke. This past week we finished a study with their daughter, Bella. After our study, Bella was baptized into Christ for the remission of her sins.”

Paintsville church of Christ, Kentucky: Zach Collins (preacher) reports, “We are focusing on increasing our contact lists by sending compassion cards to anyone who is added to our prayer list. The person who adds the name is the contact who will follow up with the cards. In addition, we had a Super Bowl party Sunday, and three non-Christians were present. This helped us develop contacts as well! Please continue to pray for the work at Paintsville.”

Parkway church of Christ, Fulton, Kentucky: Will Hester (preacher) reports, “Currently, we have about ten inmates at Fulton County Detention center enrolled in Bible correspondence courses. We are developing relationships with two prospects, and we hope to begin studies with them soon. We are excited to announce that in April we will have our gospel meeting with local preachers Brent Arnold (Greenfield, Tennessee), Nathan Foster (Troy, Tennessee), Corey Sawyers (Martin, Tennessee), and Tyler Alverson (Mayfield, Kentucky).  The theme is Restore God’s People. In the next few weeks, we will share the topics to strengthen relationships and spread the borders of the Kingdom!”

Edgewood church of Christ, Maryland (digital): John Wilkie (preacher) reports, “We are teaching the book Fishing for Men and have asked church members to identify specific needs of persons on their lists. We collected the lists after worship and will review the lists.”

LaPlata church of Christ, Maryland (digital): Eric Sykes (regional instructor) reports, “This past weekend was great. I finished lesson 2 of Back to the Bible with my sister, and we are scheduled to study lesson 3 on Thursday. Gail Malnati lost her husband recently. The first time I called her, she hung up on me. Then we sent her a couple waves of compassion cards. She came to worship yesterday with her son and granddaughter. She apologized for hanging up on me. I told her I understood. She asked if we could arrange for someone to pick her for worship service. One of the elders who was standing next to me said, “Absolutely!” Her son and granddaughter will be going home later on today. I believe the compassion cards might have softened her heart a little. We had two other visitors yesterday; both are co-workers of members. I am still working to start the congregational training. We have built a lot of excitement within the membership. I am on the preacher rotation. We appreciate prayers.”

Hwy 160 church of Christ, West Plains, Missouri (digital): Marvin Hatley (elder) reports, “Our congregation continues in its weekly training using the HTHSOE training materials. Congregational contacts are growing in number. Our Compassion Card group two met Sunday afternoon and wrote approximately 180 cards. A number of personal Bible studies are in the works; some will start this week. Benevolent works have also been identified and are planned for the week.”

Fordland church of Christ, Missouri: Josh Romo (preacher) reports, “We set up our evangelism table last week and appointed someone to oversee it. On Sunday, I preached from John 4. After the sermon, we passed out our bookmarks to begin collecting contacts. Our elders are working to organize a congregational plan to evangelize.”

Samford church of Christ, Missouri: Kyle Imel (deacon) reports, “We had a meeting tonight. Rance assigned responsibilities to our deacons. Tim preached the first of three sermons from John 4, and we passed out contact cards to the members. There is a lot of excitement from the leadership and members.”

Bona church of Christ, Missouri: Cory Orr (preacher) reports, “We have more contacts this month, and we are concentrating on them. We are also meeting with our members and asking them to follow up with our prior contacts and begin Bible studies with them. The congregation is getting into these opportunities. We appreciate all prayers as we seek to save the lost.”

East Flushing church of Christ, Flushing, New York (digital): Clarence Jenkins (evangelist) reports, “After worship, we continue to pray for the contacts on our bookmarks. We are watching HTHSOE training videos and sending compassion cards. A visitor with whom we are having a Bible study came to worship for the second time and was very encouraged. Among the other ongoing Bible studies, we have one happening in El Salvador. We appreciate all prayers.”

Carthage church of Christ, North Carolina (digital): Randy Chambers (preacher) reports, “We had five Bible studies conducted last week using Believe the Bible and Back to the Bible. One study is in its third week of closing; another is peeling away years of the doctrines of men, and the other three are new studies that have gotten off to a good start. We have members inviting friends and families who enjoy the teaching and fellowship. We are establishing relationships and setting up studies. I attached a picture of a Bible study being conducted by members using BTTB; the prospect is on the right. We continue to encourage the saints to trust the process and do the work that God has given us to do.”

Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (elder) reports, “I am reaching out to an elderly gentleman to do a Bible study. His wife is a Christian; however, he has never answered the call. He has been having some health issues, and she feels like he would be open to a study now. We appreciate prayers as we reach out to share the gospel with him.”

York church of Christ, Pennsylvania: Mark Raschke (deacon) reports, “Today was a great day! My ten-year-old daughter, Carolina, was baptized. I will include photos and videos. I knew already that she was at a point to understand, so Carolina has been studying Back to the Bible with the adults at church on Wednesdays. She asked me after our study this past week if she could be baptized. Because of her young age and wanting to make sure that she was not ‘just doing it for Daddy’ we did a little extra study at home. She really was ready. Conveniently, we already had family coming into town this weekend to watch the Super Bowl with us (and many of them needed to hear the gospel), so they were able to see her baptism.”

White Oak church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee (digital): Austin Fowler (regional instructor) reports, “Sunday we handed out the bookmarks to write down people to reach this year. I preached a sermon titled Save One Soul to go with it. In the next few weeks, I am going to preach the John 4 sermon from the School of Evangelism to talk more about contacts. We are excited to get more targets to try to reach and prospect over the next year.”

Madison County church of Christ, Jackson, Tennessee: Steven Sprouse (preacher) reports, “We are hoping to continue one study next week. We are still card bombing the ones involved in the other study in hopes of continuing. Due to great participation, we divided the congregation into two card-writing groups. The wife of a man we are prospecting posted the following on Facebook: ‘Ron has been getting Get Well/Thinking of You cards from Madison County Church of Christ, and he enjoys reading them.’ We are learning to be patient and work hard, knowing that it takes time to gain favor with the community.”

Bethel church of Christ, Martin, Tennessee: Brad Brewer (preacher) reports, “This week, we participated in our County Youth Series. We trained our youth (and many adults) how to use Back to the Bible. The event was well attended and well received. Many adults who attended this series had never been trained to use Believe the Bible and Back to the Bible, and they received valuable information. We have our first list of New Movers since expanding our usage of the program, and we sent out our first batch of cards to these individuals. We will continue to send cards to this group for the next couple of weeks.”

McKenzie church of Christ, Tennessee: Chance Steen (preacher) reports, “We began collecting contact cards Sunday. I reviewed everything we learned from John 4 with the congregation. Our elders had a meeting with our team leaders and alternates (for the card program), explaining to them in detail how everything will work. Everyone is excited for this much needed change!”

Old Jefferson church of Christ, Smyrna, Tennessee: Bob Horn (preacher) reports, “We continue to work on organizing our room to make it more workable. I asked a young man who needed community service hours to help me one evening. His dad came with him, and we talked casually. Before they left, we asked them to visit and bring the whole family. There is a potential study with this family with four children, and they live near the building. After Wednesday Bible study, one lady asked all who were there to put their heads together and think of names of those who have not attended recently.  It is great to see them speaking evangelism. I do not know where it may lead, but it is fun to watch them wake up and have the energy to try.”

West End church of Christ, Knoxville, Tennessee: Adam Wilson (member) reports, “I am not sure who is sending more cards at this point, our congregation or the contacts we are praying for! Three thank you cards came in this week expressing gratitude for the encouragement (cards, prayers, and visits) we are bringing into their lives during such challenging times. This weekend, members submitted their 16th and 17th contacts of the year. With reheats, our writers have lovingly prepared 690 compassion cards. I can only imagine the number of prayers that have been said on their behalf. Last week’s dinner and study was postponed due to illness, but we still hold out hope for that meeting. Four visits were conducted last week. Although no studies were scheduled, one contact visited this Sunday, and another asked for us to arrange rides to church for her. God is good! Prayers are welcome.”

East Main church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Brad Rowley (elder) reports, “We had a total of nine new contact cards. We had two Bible studies, and our compassion card team wrote 68 cards Sunday. We are excited to report that David Brown, Tim Hayes, and Cecil Morris have new Bible studies in process. Seth Ferguson is working with one of our college students. We had an awesome Mission Day Saturday with 21 people attending. Judy Smith attended her first Mission Day; she enjoyed the training and fellowship, and she had an opportunity to deliver new mover baskets. Several of the follow-up visits and new mover baskets were very positive. Mark Isenberg continues to teach the new converts’ class.”

New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fulks (elder) reports, “We ask members to submit contact cards for those who have had events in their lives that might warrant an attitude of compassion. We also include others we know (friends, families, and neighbors) in that same situation. We have congregational prayer specifically for those we are prospecting. Our members have been very consistent in completing and submitting new contact cards. Card Team 2 met after services on Sunday evening and completed 59 compassion cards. Last week, four members made a total of seven follow-up visits.”

New Hope church of Christ, Middleton, Tennessee: Cole Wade (preacher) reports, “We have been studying ways to create a more welcoming environment, and we continue the culture change of our congregation! This past Sunday, we had over 90 people in our small building, and we will be meeting with some of our new converts soon to talk about how things are going in their lives! We have also added a new family to our contacts, and we are looking to spend time with them soon!”

Rogersville church of Christ, Tennessee: Ethan Tate (preacher) reports, “This past week, one of our members has been studying with a friend, and he requested more materials to study. We made a small packet of materials with tracts to help them in their studies. We pray this effort will lead to a study with Back to the Bible. We are also putting together Valentine Evangelism Packages to send out to those we have been cultivating. We pray this will be a blessing to all who receive these!”

Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “On Saturday, I took Charles, a new convert, with me to deliver new mover baskets. The first stop we made was at the house of a woman we had given a basket a few weeks ago. She had lost her husband a couple of years ago, and she lost her brother just over a week ago. We offered our sympathy and for almost an hour, we listened to her talk about the struggles she is having with her family. She has struggled to unpack her belongings (including clothes) since she moved into this house a few months ago. I offered to help her. She thanked us and said she would keep us in mind.

“There was at least one other good contact we made with a couple to whom we delivered a basket. Randall and Becky just moved here from near Dickson, Tennessee. Randall attended Burns Church of Christ. Becky is not a Christian. We had a good conversation with them for about 20 minutes.

“On Sunday, we had a few visitors. One family visited who are members of another congregation in the area, but they are considering placing membership with us because of activities we have for their children. On Sunday evening, one of our members brought a friend with her. She was there to hear Jeff Phillips conclude the training of Does It Matter? She heard a great explanation of the plan of salvation. The seed has been planted. She stayed afterward for our Super Bowl party, so we had an opportunity to prospect her then. On Monday evening, we met to write compassion cards to visitors, new movers, and erring members.”

Greenfield church of Christ, Tennessee: Clint Monroe (elder) reports, “We are sending out compassion cards to people on our February New Mover list. The teen class continues to study the Back to the Bible series. We continue to try to generate more contacts.”

Corinth church of Christ, Portland, Tennessee: James Parker (elder) reports, “We had a baptism last Lord’s Day following the worship service! I think Steve has been talking to him as well as his fiancé and her family who are all members at Corinth. Two weeks ago, we lost the wife of one of our elders; she had cancer that was only discovered recently. Her brother, who was a wayward member of the church, as well as his son both promised us that they were going to be restored when they returned home.  The daughter of the elder has been dealing with cancer and treatments for over two years. She is doing well at this point, for which we thank the Lord! I talked to her husband, and he promised me he would be there the following Lord’s Day and keep coming! He is Catholic, but he has been here for the last two weeks, and he promised to do a study!”

Bargerton church of Christ in Lexington, Tennessee (digital): Robert Pruett (member) reports, “We started Lesson 1 today. Each person was given a workbook and Back to the Bible books. Several members commented afterwards that they enjoyed the video and were looking forward to Lesson 2. Our evangelism table is now ready with materials for all. Wednesday night, a young man came forward and was baptized into Christ. Along with Lesson 1, the baptism created a great buzz and excitement going forward.”

Lackland Terrace church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas (digital): Greg Campbell (preacher) reports, “Several personal Bible studies are scheduled for this week. We had no new baptisms this week, but we pray they are coming soon!”

Southwest church of Christ, Austin, Texas: John Garza (preacher) reports, “First, I would like to express the exciting news about the baptism of Nicole Ruiz. She studied through all three booklets of Back to the Bible with Lauralee Simmons and Katie Herzog, and she fully understood the truth and the importance to be baptized right away. She made the decision to put on Christ in baptism and to be added to the Lord’s body. Concerning current Bible studies, we have two that continue weekly, and a new study starting Wednesday. Lord willing, her husband will join as well. Concerning our evangelism prospects, we have four in the works. We hope to have more Bible studies soon.”

Northern Oaks church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas: Mel Hutzler (elder) reports, “It was wonderful to see two Bible studies going on at the building during Bible class. We had three studies scheduled, but one person did not come. We have several more going on outside of services. Card writing and the new movers’ program are moving along like clockwork. We have several prospects, and no visitor escapes without giving us contact information. Quite a few members are involved in the work. We offer gift bags and focus on forming relationships. As time goes on, we find new and creative ways to tie everything to evangelism. We look forward to more baptisms and more people placing membership.”

Fruitvale church of Christ, Texas: Carl McCann (elder) reports, “We are working on prospects and new movers, and we even have a couple of hot prospects who seem very interested in knowing the truth. As our work continues, we regret that the completion of two Back to the Bible studies ended without a commitment from the student. We rejoice, however, that the seed was sown, and we pray that further efforts may produce a positive outcome.”

Schertz church of Christ, Texas: Jay Stewart (elder) reports, “This week Schertz held a congregation-wide fellowship meal to thank everyone for their hard work and to prepare for more work in 2023. We rejoice that we had one baptism this week. His name is Sam Walkup. Our new brother has medical issues and will mostly be worshipping with us online. Our door-knocking training session will be in mid-March followed by a Saturday of canvassing our prime HTH distribution area. This will also serve to get the word out for our April 16-19 gospel meeting with Glenn Hitchcock. Our preacher search is going well; we have a good prospect interested in the position.”

Midtown church of Christ, Victoria, Texas: James Cammock (deacon) reports, “We continue to write compassion cards to a range of contacts. We are having visitors every Sunday as our congregation’s reputation grows. We are mindful to visit with them and add them to our compassion card contact list. We had our first youth devotional of the year. The lesson was entitled, Do’s and Don’ts of Evangelism. We looked at three principles of soul winning: Defer, Do not Debate; Show, Do not Tell, and Plant, Do not Pick. We pray that the lessons are encouraging our young people to be prepared to share the gospel effectively.”

Highway 95 church of Christ, Taylor, Texas: Benjamin Dossey (preacher) reports, “Saturday, a small group got together and delivered welcome baskets to those new to the area. Our area has a sizeable influx of people to the community, which gives us a great opportunity with the new movers’ work.”

Central church of Christ, Martinsburg, West Virginia: Robert Veil (preacher) reports, “We had a baptism last week, John Morris, III, who is the grandson of one of our faithful members. Also, one of our recent converts brought his lady friend to the services Sunday, and she heard a fundamental Bible class and appropriate sermon. These were very well received.”