Reaching the Lost- Success Stories

Statistics
Total baptisms (2018-2023) reported from U.S. Congregations: 3,748
Total baptisms reported from U.S. Congregations 2023: 1,403
Total Baptisms Reported from U.S. Congregations 2024: 65
Total Restorations from U.S. Congregations 2024: 4
Total Seminars Conducted (2018-2023): 240
Congregational Enrollments in 2024: 4
Remote Enrollments for 2024: 2
Student Enrollment: 140
States Reporting: 19

Upcoming Seminars
January 28-30: Buda Kyle church of Christ, Texas
January 28: World Video Bible School
January 28-February 1: Southwest School of Bible Studies
February 4-6: 9th and Main church of Christ, San Angelo, Texas

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Featured Work: Foothills church of Christ, Searcy, Arkansas

Editor’s Note: The Foothills church of Christ has had one of the most dramatic turnarounds since we began HTHSOE. Josh Alexander was a student during HTHSOE training at the Memphis School of Preaching. Upon graduation, Josh became the full-time minister for Foothills. This congregation had already gone through our congregational training but with little results. The pulpit is critical to leading a congregation in evangelistic work. Josh was just who they needed, and he ignited the flame. I asked him to write our featured article this week on some contributing factors to this change.

Two Significant Factors for Growth
by Josh Alexander

Over the past seven months, the Foothills church of Christ has rededicated herself as an evangelistically focused group of soul winners. We have had 14 baptisms in seven months, more than we have ever seen here. All glory and honor for the growth we have seen belongs to the Creator of the universe. His word has the power to cut the hearts of the sinner and lead them to salvation, which is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:15; James 1:21; 1 Peter 1:23; 2 Timothy 2:10). We have the responsibility to plant and water, understanding that it is God who gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6). We want to take a moment and share two of the most significant practices that have drastically improved our evangelistic outreach.

Number 1: Sweeping the Pews. To refocus on evangelism, we looked around during services to see if any non-Christians were visiting us. The result was quite surprising. Several non-Christians were with us every time the doors were open. Some were even volunteering for things like VBS; they wanted to get involved, yet they were not Christians. Those were our first prospects. Baptizing them was not an “if” question but a “when.” Once we identify the targets, it is only a matter of time before they obey God. Others will soon follow, if they are honest with themselves and the Bible.

Number 2: Congregational Activities. The Foothills congregation is active. We have something happening at our building separate from our worship services almost weekly. We have many opportunities for the saints to get together, have fellowship, study, learn, and grow closer to one another. These times of fellowship are amazing and essential to build us up. However, what about using our activities to win souls? We have been working on being less inward-focused as a congregation and more outward-focused.

We still have many fellowship opportunities, but we make it a point to use these events as avenues for evangelism. This practice has helped us build relationships outside of Christ’s body and resulted in several converts. This congregation already had a loving and welcoming culture, but we all needed to get organized, set targets, and execute our mission. We hope our experiences will help others in their quest to be soul winners for Jesus. To God be the glory.

Congregational Reports

Welcome Mountain Creek church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee:  We are excited to announce the enrollment of Mountain Creek into the House to House/Heart to Heart School of Evangelism. The attendance was very good. The elders are men of conviction and love for the lost. The congregation baptized nine last year and has set a goal for 13 this year.cThey are beginning the training on Sunday. Please keep them in your prayers.

Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: David Marker (elder) reports, “We are off to a good start to this new year. We have numerous visitors each week, and a couple placed membership Sunday. We are having good participation as we meet each Sunday afternoon to work on our compassion cards. We continue working on our New Mover deliveries and getting contacts from that effort. So many are working behind the scenes to ensure we have all the supplies we need for our baskets, gift bags, cards, and other things as needed. Working together and developing that mission-minded attitude has helped us to be more effective. We are encouraged by the use of the accountability board. This will be an effective tool, going forward, to help track our progress and our deficiencies. This will be used as a progress report each week.”

Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “Ice and snow did not shut down our congregation’s efforts this week. It presented plenty of challenges for north Alabama, but we were able to meet Sunday morning safely, and plenty showed up to stay after and continue our compassion card efforts.  Hopefully, this week will provide better opportunities to get out and make our visits. To God be the continued glory!”

Foothills church of Christ, Searcy, Arkansas: Josh Alexander (preacher) reports, “One of our elders has been studying with several individuals for some time. Saturday afternoon, two souls, Jim and Eddie, were baptized into Christ. We are working on building our contact base. We have a couple of events scheduled to serve as contact creators.”

Lake City church of Christ, Florida: Jim Flegert (elder) reports, “Our visitor team gathered information on two more visitors today. Our Mission Monday/Sunday team had the opportunity today to deliver gift bags to seven individuals who have recently received compassion cards. In addition, we have four new names collected from our food pantry.”

Niceville church of Christ, Florida: Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “This week, we had two studies and one baptism. We mailed 40 compassion cards. Our youth attended a youth rally in the area, and Bailey Gibson started talking to one of our deacons about being baptized. He studied with her, and she obeyed the gospel Wednesday night. Greg is working with a man who attended our Back-to-Church Sunday last week. Saturday night, we had dinner with a young couple that visited for the first time before Christmas. We invited them to lunch that first Sunday, but they could not go. They have since been back to church services a few times, but scheduling anything with Christmas activities was hard. A young couple from our church hosted the dinner; they are about the same age as our visiting couple. We believe one is a Christian, but the other may not be.  We will follow up and study as appropriate. The congregation is working to build a bond with our visitors.”

Lafayette church of Christ, Georgia: Editor’s note-David Paden has Lou Gehrig’s disease but, despite his health issues, continues to focus on soul-winning. The following note was so encouraging.
David Paden (preacher) reports, “Good morning, Brother. I hope and pray that you are doing well. I’m doing great. I’m preaching every Sunday night and scheduled to teach in the Chattanooga School of Preaching this summer and this fall, Lord willing. I finished my book on Sermons on Evangelism. Brother Paul Sain is getting it ready to print. I’ll send you a copy when he ends it. The church at Lafayette is still pushing evangelism. I’m so proud of them. I wish every congregation would see the importance of evangelism. I miss having Bible studies so much. I’m working on a way that, prayerfully, I can start studying with people again. I love you, Brother. Thanks for listening to me.

Jesse Teague (deacon) reports, “We are continuing in 2024 with writing compassion cards on the first and third Sundays after evening worship. The cards are collected and mailed out over two weeks. Typically, we have 10-15 saints working each time. We have renewed the commitment to follow up with visits after the cards are sent so we can see more fruit from those efforts.  We currently have at least two Bible studies in process (both have completed Book 1 and have committed to Book 2).  Two other prospects have studied and want to obey, but they must make some changes.  Please keep them in your prayers.”

Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Greg Garner (deacon) reports, “The Compassion Card Group created and sent seven cards last week. We had 18 in our New Convert class. The Greeter Group reported that we had one visitor this week.”

New Hope Road church of Christ, Dacula, Georgia (remote): Charles Harris (regional trainer) reports, “Andre Denton moved to the area recently. A few members reached out to him. He attended service Sunday morning. Please pray that we can study the Scriptures with him soon. We are getting ready for our HTHSOE Seminar in March. I am looking forward to seeing this small church grow stronger for His glory.”

Carrollton church of Christ, Georgia: Danny Spain (member) reports, “Bob Smith has been appointed as the overall coordinator. Neal Vines has been appointed as the contact/prospect list coordinator. We plan to begin the program on February 2, 2024. Our elders are meeting weekly to continue planning and assigning coordinators. The excitement for our new coordinators and the kickoff is growing.”

Honolulu church of Christ, Hawaii: Tagiilima Esene (preacher) reports, “We have three ongoing Bible studies. Our congregation just released the first episode of our Converted podcast. This podcast is part of our efforts in evangelism. When we read the book of Acts, we read about the conversions of many souls. When you watch the Converted podcast, you will hear the conversion stories of New Testament Christians today. We appreciate prayers for our podcast to be an avenue for souls to connect to Christ. Our new movers’ program is still ongoing. Our new converts class will soon be graduating. The highlight of this past week was when we started our men’s group and women’s group Bible study again. It is so important to have strong relationships in Christ. In evangelism, strong relationships within the church can lead to much encouragement for our new converts. We are making it our goal to invest in each other’s lives by coming together as a family as many times as possible. We appreciate all prayers.”

Jerseyville church of Christ, Illinois (remote): Jake Medford (preacher) reports, “We have eight active prospects. Three individuals are on our card list, and we added another name this week. We do not have any active studies currently, but we are patiently waiting for a couple to ask. We have two more series to complete, and then we will do a refresher course on the evangelism seminar during morning lessons in March.  Our accountability board is in the front of the auditorium. We are working on a few events and contact creators for this year to be successful.”

Beloit church of Christ, Kansas (remote): Dustin Dougherty (regional trainer) reports, “We had two visitors that Keith brought with him, and he is going to begin Bible studies with both very soon. I speak next week in Marysville, Kansas. I pray that I can encourage another congregation in Kansas to become interested in evangelism and reaching lost souls. A few of the local members have been asking me about ways to reach people who are on their contact lists, so as soon as I finish teaching the book of Exodus on Wednesday nights, we will go through the School of Evangelism curriculum and teach everyone the ins and outs of congregational evangelism. We hope to implement more of the program as we look forward to a great year with evangelistic endeavors. I have been leaving info/invitation cards around the area. I made a new study group on Facebook called Mid-America Bible Study Group to have a bigger digital footprint in this area.  I just had a local police officer reach out to me tonight after I added him to the new Bible study group I started on FB. He wanted to know if I did Bible studies and when services were for him and his family.”

Paintsville church of Christ, Kentucky: Zach Collins (preacher) reports, “After services Sunday evening, one of our card groups met and sent cards to two prospects, one member, and two of our new Christians. We published an article about mechanical instruments in worship and why we refrain from their use. A local denomination member who plays an instrument in a worship setting contacted us via our website. In our conversation, he stated that he had never considered that there is no example or supporting Scripture in the New Testament for using musical instruments in worship. We invited him to attend one of our services, and he showed up for two! He attended our morning Bible Class yesterday, and his entire family attended our worship service in the evening. Please pray that God will bring something unique from this situation that glorifies Him! We are excited about furthering our discussions with this individual.”

Central church of Christ, Paducah, Kentucky: Adam Faughn (preacher) reports, “One of our studies had to be postponed due to sickness, but the prospect was eager to reschedule, so we see that as a great sign. We also learned that two of our teenagers are set to begin a study with a friend later this week, and another one hopes to start a study in the next couple of weeks with one of her friends. Further, one of our hot contacts, who had a health scare not long ago, has agreed to a study with one of our elders, and we are praying that the study will begin very soon. We hope to see our attendance numbers improve with better weather (and after a run of sickness), but the efforts of so many continue to be a great encouragement.”

La Plata church of Christ, Maryland (remote): Eric Sykes (regional trainer) reports, “We sent 25 compassion cards and added five names to our prospect list. We had two open Bible studies last week with a total of five ongoing. We finished Book 1 with a young man who wants to include his brother and sister in the Bible study, so we will start over with Book 1 to ensure all three are on the same page. One young brother who recently got married has been bringing his wife to worship, and I thought she was a Christian, until she approached my daughter-in-law with a question about baptism. Tabetha did not answer her question. Instead, she said, ‘Let me show you the answer.’ We are starting Book 1 of BTTB tomorrow evening. My wife and her cousin will begin Book 2 of BTTB tomorrow morning. We are still training the congregation on Does it Matter?  We hope to finish that training this week. While we were reviewing the process of moving names from the bookmark to the contact card, the prospect list, and the compassion card list, we found four contact cards that were never processed. I noticed we kept the contact cards and the weekly prospect mailing list in the same box. We are now keeping them in separate boxes. We added another compassion card writing team to our group, bringing us to a total of four teams. Next week, we plan to have a refresher training session about bookmarks, contact cards, and the prospect list. Seven members attended the new converts training classes this week. We have not given up on Dwayne and Reeva Young. They finished Book 3 of Back to the Bible two weeks ago.  Illnesses and several odd circumstances have blocked the path to the baptistery, but we trust our faithful God to make a way forward. We appreciate all prayers.”

Aberdeen church of Christ, Maryland: Will Brown (preacher) reports, “We received lots of snow this week. We still were able to put up our accountability boards. It makes a strong visual. We are looking forward to the positive impact the boards will make. We appreciate all prayers for the Lord’s work in Maryland.”

Southside church of Christ, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Freddie Klein (preacher) reports, “Two studies were conducted this week. The subjects involved plan to be baptized on February 4.  As much as I would like to help them decide sooner, I am thankful for continuing the study. We finished another study this week, and another soul is close to full obedience. We have a correspondence course that has been completed, and we are connecting this contact with a congregational member who has finished the HTHSOE program. Our card-writing program continues to encourage residents and contacts.”

Looxahoma church of Christ, Mississippi: Blake Hawkins (deacon) reports, “Welcome baskets have been an effective way of creating new contacts for our card writing. Teams stayed following the worship service to write compassion cards, and we also had one of our compassion card recipients from a couple of months ago visit today for the first time. She recently lost a loved one, so we reached out to her to offer compassion and hospitality. We were happy to see her and share comfort words in person. We look forward to keeping in contact with her.”

Samford church of Christ, Steele, Missouri: Kyle Imel (deacon) reports, “One of our elders, Rance, spoke to the congregation last night. He reviewed our success last year and motivated the congregation for this year. We are sending compassion cards to four individuals. The spouse of a member has been visiting, and we will begin a study with him this weekend. A couple visited yesterday; we have been sending compassion cards to them. We plan to visit them this weekend as well.”

West Hwy 160 church of Christ, West Plains, Missouri (remote): Marvin Hatley (elder) reports, “A study using Book 3 of Back to the Bible with a prospect from a Primitive Baptist background resulted in baptism Sunday afternoon. The prospect concluded that her baptism in her early teens was not for the reasons taught in the New Testament. She benefited greatly from learning that some first-century disciples (Acts 18 and 19) had to be taught correctly and baptized again due to a lack of understanding. We rejoice with this third addition to the Lord’s church since the beginning of the year. A study using Does it Matter began on Thursday evening. The study progressed well and will, Lord willing, continue this week. Compassion Card Group 3 completed 16 compassion cards for mailing.”

Foristell church of Christ, Missouri: Rod Jackson (elder) reports, “This week we had a study with the husband of a recent convert on Wednesday. We started the study using Lesson A of Believe the Bible. The prospect attended worship on Sunday morning. After lunch, we did Lesson B. We are using these lessons before we use BTTB.  Although he believes in God and the Bible, other religious and worldly beliefs dominate his understanding of religion. During our afternoon service yesterday, we watched the video about ways to harvest contacts. We appreciate all prayers.”

East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “We are grateful to God that two visitors this past Lord’s Day have been coming to worship services consistently. We have been staying engaged with them and sharing the love of Christ with them. We had a meeting with the brethren who are leading in serving the congregation. To reboot our evangelism efforts, we went through the coordinator’s spreadsheet again. We are looking forward to the Lord adding the increase in this new year 2024. We appreciate all prayers.”

Cary church of Christ, North Carolina: Larry Fife (preacher) reports, “Sunday was a wonderful day! We had a baptism and two restorations. This Wednesday, I will begin a Bible study with a young man visiting from our community. After our morning worship on Sunday, our visitor greeting team met for training and worked through some role-play scenarios. This Saturday, we will have a congregational evangelism training day in the morning; after lunch, we will knock on doors. This coming Sunday morning during worship, I will introduce our evangelism accountability board, and on Sunday afternoon, our connect groups will begin writing compassion cards for 2024 with the contacts made on Saturday. We continue to look forward to the opportunities that God presents to us.”

Carthage church of Christ, North Carolina (remote): Randy Chambers reports, “Three planned Bible studies were canceled. We had one Bible Study conducted using Book 2 of BTTB, 2, and Book 3 is scheduled for this week. We prepared our second-week compassion cards for six wayward members and one for a family that lost a child; we will mail them this week, and for the next two weeks. We pray that these efforts will further our relationships with the prospects and open Bible studies.”

Streetsboro church of Christ, Ohio: Ralph Price (preacher) reports, “We continue to work through our New Movers list. Many baskets have been delivered. We have also seen some positive results this past week. One of our members who had not been attending returned to services yesterday. He was one of our compassion card recipients. The congregation continues to impress me with their willingness to participate in the work.”

Greenville church of Christ, Ohio: John McGiffin (preacher) reports, “We put up our Accountability Board. I have yet to post the numbers. We currently have eight ongoing Bible studies. One is scheduled for Book 3 of Back to the Bible. We are conducting our second transitional visit this week.  We are starting a third round of prospecting with the Compassion Card ministry. After the follow-up at the three-month meeting, people seemed to be recharged and excited as we continued our efforts. We are having some difficulties getting members to fill out the contact bookmarks.  We will continue to push. We will try to call folks out to check the lists individually. The weather has limited our visits as it has been quite frigid.”

New Concord church of Christ, Ohio: Terry Townsend (preacher) reports, “We sent 61 compassion cards and delivered seven New Movers gift boxes. A family of four had been visiting us for the last four weeks; they brought a guest on Sunday. We are setting up a Bible study with them. Another Bible study is set to resume with a family of three this Friday. Our new converts class is going well, with three to five students attending.”

Lake Milton church of Christ, Ohio (remote): Mike Bisson (preacher) reports, “We currently have four prospects. We sent out 26 Compassion Cards. We appreciate all prayers.”

Sullivan Village church of Christ, Lawton, Oklahoma: Glenn Brennan (elder) reports, “We are continuing with the card writing. This week, 100 cards were sent out. Visits are being made, and there is more to come. Our new converts class is progressing very well. We are getting ready for a second round of new movers. We are still averaging four visitors per service. With the weather we have had for SW Oklahoma for the past two weeks, I commend our membership for the work that has been done.

Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (regional trainer) reports, “This week, we finished a round of sending compassion cards. I visited with a young man with a denominational background who has been attending with us off and on. We discussed doing a Bible study, and he seemed interested, but he is starting a new job this week. We will visit later this week as he learns his schedule. We also plan to reach out to an elderly lady who is a neighbor of a member. She has been sick lately, so we are sending cards and planning a visit. We sent cards to a former neighbor of a member who now lives in Florida but is moving back to Coweta as soon as his house sells. He contacted his former neighbor Mike, one of our elders, and was amazed by the cards. The overwhelming love he felt from the compassion cards moved him to tears, and he said he would be visiting the congregation as soon as he returned. I pray God continues to bless the work of all congregations doing their part to carry out the Great Commission!”

York church of Christ, Pennsylvania: Mark Raschke (deacon) reports, “Despite the cold and snowy weather, we had a bigger crowd than we have had in recent weeks. This included members, regularly attending prospects, and frequent visitors, as well as out of town guests. We gave an annual evangelism report before services to ‘brag’ about the number of cards, gift bags, visits, and studies that the congregation has accomplished together. After morning worship, we had a brief visitation meeting to discuss which members would visit which prospects’ houses before the end of February.”

Union church of Christ, South Carolina (remote): Terry Hale (preacher) reports, “We received names of two more prospects yesterday, and we will begin mailing cards to them next week. I am having a great study with a lady. People in the community have reached out with contacts for us. What a great day to be working for the Lord.”

Forest Hill church of Christ, Germantown, Tennessee: Scott Cain (preacher) reports, “The Forest Hill congregation’s involvement in evangelism continues to flourish. As of last count, at least six Bible studies were either already in progress or scheduled to begin within days. Perhaps the best indicator of the congregation’s evangelistic commitment occurred on Tuesday, January 9, when the first Connecting Compassion meeting was held. This is the same concept as Mission Monday or Transition Tuesday, but the name Connecting Compassion was chosen to stress that the compassion cards are merely a first step to open doors of opportunity for personal connections between these souls and the church. It was hard to know what sort of involvement to expect. The Outreach List (Prospect List) included 28 families receiving cards for at least four weeks.

In preparing for the event, we emphasized the attendance of Bringers and Teachers, allowing the Bringers to give relevant updates for any contacts that they had submitted, allowing the teachers to hear those updates, and ultimately allowing for a more coordinated effort in visiting these souls. They came. The Bringers came. The Teachers came. Seventy members came, and they all contributed to the effort. The involvement the volunteer attitude boggled the mind and swelled the heart. Some recalled specifics about worship guests that no one else knew, and other unexpected volunteers sprang on the opportunity to be involved in making visits to turn compassion cards into congregational connections.

“One contact is a middle-aged man with cancer.  When one sister mentioned that he is scheduled to undergo a Gamma Knife procedure, another remembered that a local Christian sister who had undergone this procedure just over a year ago might be a great point of contact. It was beautiful to see the collaboration in identifying needs, assets, and candidates. Another contact is the wayward daughter of faithful members, and her parents specifically requested compassion cards for their daughter and son-in-law regarding a death in his family. In discussing the best way to move forward, her parents made it known that the wayward couple are both polite but resistant to being pushed or forced, so a slower approach is necessary. We have set our minds and hearts on them, but it will take patience and careful timing to do it right. The first Connecting Compassion meeting was a tremendous encouragement, and we continue to pray that God will give us an increase as we plant and water.”

Brushy church of Christ, Centerville, Tennessee: Kevin Johnston (preacher) reports, “Thus far, we are in the organization stage in planning and making preparations to send compassion cards and putting together an evangelism table. The elders, deacons, and preachers have met, and there is a sense of being overwhelmed, but we are optimistic about carrying out the plan. We are working toward making it all happen step by step with the intent of doing it right. The elders and preachers meet on Tuesday evenings to assign members to teams and establish coordinators. We appreciate all prayers and support, and we are praying that souls will be brought to Jesus.”

Hillsboro church of Christ, Tennessee: Shelby Moorman (preacher) reports, “We did the congregational survey on Sunday. We downloaded it from the HTHSOE website. We are already making assignments; bookmarks and videos will be discussed on Wednesday night. The lessons are well received so far, and the congregation is excited.”

East Ridge church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Charles Cochran (preacher) reports, “On Wednesday, I studied with Donald. He contacted us through the HTHSOE website. He is a member of the Pentecostal Evangelistic Outreach Church. We went through Book 1 of Back to the Bible. It went fantastic! We will begin Book 2 this coming Wednesday.

“On Thursday, we visited a man who requested material on the HTH website. We visited him a month ago to give him a Bible Correspondence Course. We have not heard from him, so we checked on him. He said he lost it and would need some help going through it. We told him we just happened to have some little booklets we could go through with him. We are returning on Thursday to do Book 1 with him and his wife. In addition, Sunday night, Zach responded to the Lord’s invitation and was baptized!”

New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fulks (elder) reports, “We had six contact cards submitted. Elders, their wives, team leaders, and the preacher took 24 compassion cards home to write. Last week, members made two follow-up visits and contacts.”

Chapel Hill church of Christ, Tennessee: Matt Jones (deacon) reports, “Many coordinators have had a kickoff meeting with their teams. For several areas, like new mover and visitor greeting, we are working toward getting cost numbers together for baskets and bags and ordering supplies. Isaac finished Week 3 lessons and training. We have utilized the training cards in addition to the training lesson. Our compassion card teams continue to meet weekly and primarily write this month to some of our less faithful members and several new visitors. We are approaching our first round of follow-up visits from our cards and will be working through the proper process. We continue working hard to ensure this gets started on the right foot!”

McKenzie church of Christ, Tennessee: Randy McCadams (elder) reports, “We continue to send out weekly contact cards as Group 3 will be meeting Sunday for assignments. We have initiated a new contact plan by placing contact cards in all pews of our worship hall and the classrooms, making them available and more noticeable. We are continuing to work toward getting more contacts by keeping the evangelism initiative in front of the congregation.”

East Main church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Brad Rowley (elder) reports, “Four people were in new studies last week as well as four ongoing studies. Our compassion card team wrote 42 cards.  We completed one more follow-up visit and delivered three new mover baskets. We had one new contact card from last week. We are excited that we have four more people scheduled for new studies next week. We completed our accountability board and mounted a monitor (see attached picture) above our evangelism table. We currently have three slides in the PPT: 2024 targets, last week’s numbers, and what we are working on. We will also use the monitor to train members on new tools. We completed our What Must I Do to be Saved video that will be utilized on our website. We completed one training video for our members. To God, give the glory!”

Graceton Church of Christ, Diana, Texas: Johnny Willeford (elder) reports, “Our Mission Monday group will meet this week. Tonight is our next round of home visit assignments. We have six new contacts from the New Movers group. Groups A and C met Sunday to sign compassion cards for seven contacts. They will send 119 cards this week. Scott, our pulpit preacher, finished a three-week lesson Sunday on using Does It Matter and supplemental materials from House to House. We restarted our monthly game night and fellowship meal Friday night with a chili cook-off. A family visited with us for that. Sunday, two families visited for the morning service.”

Southwest church of Christ, Austin Texas: John Garza (regional trainer) reports, “Last week was spent moving toward implementing more of the visitor’s program, which is needed very much. On Sunday, we had a total of 14 visitors. They were all from the community, and we know that a group of them were the result of the new movers’ program because last Friday, we door-knocked and delivered new movers bags. Along with all of these great works, we have multiple Bible studies ongoing, and a few more will begin this week. To God be the glory!”
Northern Oaks church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas: Mel Hutzler (elder) reports, “Jerry Ray, friend of Anthony, was baptized today. We appreciate Anthony for studying with him. I conducted his wife’s funeral not too long ago. Before and after that funeral service, he has been visiting with us. He received a warm welcome from our congregation from the start. Anthony and his wonderful wife kept inviting him to attend and continued to show hospitality. He received compassion cards. When a congregation plants and waters, it makes it easier for evangelism to take place so God can give the increase.”

Canyon Lake church of Christ, Texas (remote): Jesse Stuart and Raoul Ferris (evangelists) reports, “We were blessed to have another visitor come as a result of door-knocking. We are reminded that sometimes you must wait a while for a visit from someone you prospected. We first connected with this particular person back in August of 2023. We wrote her compassion cards and even assisted her with a clogged garbage disposal. Sometimes it takes a while to see fruit from our efforts. Most of our door-knocking was halted this week due to poor weather conditions. We were able to go out and attempt some follow-up work and benevolence. We continue to work on the model daily, and the congregation is growing in many ways, both in number and strength.”

Wheeler church of Christ, Texas: Garrett English (preacher) reports, “We continue sending many cards to those facing surgeries/recoveries and losses of loved ones. I will resume a Bible study with a denominational preacher this Thursday. I will visit a widower who stayed with us two weeks ago on Friday. I will ask him about his thoughts on the church of Christ. We are sending him a card as well.”

Granbury Street church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas: Ryan Cowan (deacon) reports, “As the Body of Christ, we are currently focused on actively cultivating warm connections through our daily interactions. To achieve this, I am ensuring that all members have bookmarks readily available, and that they understand whose names should be on the bookmark and how those souls might benefit from compassion cards or acts of service. We are prayerful that this effort will bring about more warm contacts than those souls we contacted in July of 2023.”

Crosby church of Christ, Texas (remote): Jon Wheeler (elder) reports, “On Sunday, we had eight visitors. A family of five were first-time visitors who had previously worshiped at a church of Christ across town. Our greeters did a good job of making them feel welcome. Two others were returning visitors. Another was a visitor who had received a new mover basket.  She said she had been reading the Bible. We gave her two Bibles for her family and set up a Bible study for Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. Four couples delivered 26 new mover baskets on Saturday. Again, they came back talking about how good it was to meet and invite people to visit us. As a result, two more couples want to be in the group that delivers baskets! Charlie, our pulpit minister, gave a timely and encouraging lesson about how Jesus talked to people of all backgrounds. We must not expect everyone we evangelize to be like us in skin color, social, and economic standing. We must teach them the Bible and let it transform them to be like Jesus!”

Bridgewater church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (deacon) reports, “At the Bridgewater congregation on Sunday evening, group two met to write compassion cards to contacts and visitors. We also took pictures that are included in this B report. We continue to have visitors, so we are thrilled about this and pray that we will soon add to the Lord’s church as we should.”

Windmill church of Christ, Texas (remote): Eric Tipton (preacher student, BTSOP), reports, “The John 4 sermon was completed Sunday along with a lesson over compassion cards in the evening. We got our first congregational contact from the bookmarks Sunday, and the congregation was treated to the restoration of a brother. One prospect recently finished BTTB Book 3 and Does It Matter, so we expectantly and prayerfully await her decision to follow Christ. We continue to have two active Bible studies.”

Itasca church of Christ, Texas (remote): Justin Hopkins (preacher) reports, “The men have decided that those who are paying attention to the videos could watch the last lessons on their own. I think getting a regional trainer to come by might be good. I had a visit with Ruben on Tuesday. He has been visiting for a while. One of the members has gone through all three books of BTTB with him and is now studying Does it Matter with him.”

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.

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