Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “We are seeing more and more first-time visitors, mostly due to the success of the invitation cards. This Sunday, we had some new faces. One lady said she received an invitation card at a Mexican restaurant where she worked. One of our teenagers who was eating there gave her the invitation. We will follow up, but this has been one of the more useful tools because most people are not intimidated by it.”
Farley Church of Christ, Huntsville, Alabama: Ed Linebaugh (elder) reports, “For six Sunday nights, our preacher has been teaching us how to use the three booklets. We delivered our first dozen new movers/welcome baskets around Thanksgiving, and then we sent compassion cards, bringing us into the holidays. This week, six teams of two each (2×2) will visit our new neighbors and ask each one for a Bible study. We are accepting and screening resumes for our next preacher, which will ensure whoever we hire supports our HTH program. Josh will be here for another five weeks. We appreciate all prayers.”
Monticello church of Christ, Arkansas: Josh Walker (preacher) reports, “We had a great close to the year; visitors are returning, and we are establishing Bible studies with them. Some Bible studies we have been engaged in have ended without baptisms, but others continue into the new year. One prospect spent New Year’s Eve with some members, continuing to establish a relationship as the Bible study progressed. We appreciate all prayers for progress in 2024.”
Lake City church of Christ, Florida: Jim Flegert (elder) reports, “Our congregation rejoiced today when TJ announced the baptism of one of the ladies who has been studying with him. That brings the total number of baptisms this year to 15. Our current number of Bible studies by several of our members is 15. Our current number of Bible studies by several of our members is 6.”
Niceville Church of Christ, Florida: Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “We just dropped off a bag of Christmas treats at Christian and Krissi’s house. They said they would be out of town seeing family in Alabama this weekend but would be back to church with us the following Sunday. Hopefully, they would be interested in staying for our team card writing potluck on January 1, 2024. One of our Compassion Card Leaders said, ‘You would be proud, Joe; I talked briefly while visiting a prospect.’”
New Hope Road church of Christ, Dacula, Georgia (remote): Charles Harris (regional trainer): “We recently had a baptism at New Hope Road. A family that has been away from services for over two years is attending services again. The work here is moving in the right direction. I will conduct a local evangelism seminar for our congregation in March and focus more on the Evangelism Model!”
Jerseyville church of Christ, Illinois (remote): Jake Medford (preacher) reports, “We are prospecting some repeat visitors, and we are still sending out cards. We added a few new contacts last week, and we have a few members inviting more families to join us. We pray we can show them the truth through Back to the Bible. We are working on a new monthly men’s get-together to strengthen and encourage the new Christian men to have an open forum to talk and ask questions. The ladies already have one.”
Beloit church of Christ, Kansas (remote): Dustin Dougherty (regional trainer) reports, “We are so excited about the number of baptisms for 2023. I am looking forward to the trajectory going into 2024. We are considering several plans to implement in early 2024. I received our new invitation cards, and we will use them to sow seeds in our area. I have already scheduled three speaking engagements for January and February. We appreciate all prayers for successful evangelistic endeavors. To God be all the honor and glory.”
Paintsville church of Christ, Kentucky: Zach Collins (preacher) reports, “We ended the year of 2023 on a high note! Our year concluded with the baptism of Josh Dingus, our 21st baptism in 2023. One of our elders studied with Josh using Back to the Bible! After the third booklet, Josh expressed his desire to obey the gospel. I spoke with Josh after his baptism, and he said, ‘I have never had a family. I found that in the church. Now, I know what family and friends are.’ We appreciate prayers for Josh as he begins his walk in the newness of life!”
Central church of Christ, Paducah, Kentucky: Adam Faughn (preacher) reports, “We have been organizing and preparing for the work in 2024. We have a Bible study set up for tomorrow morning. We will continue the training and execution of the HTHSOE model.”
La Plata church of Christ, Maryland (remote): Eric Sykes (regional trainer) reports, “We had a good start to the New Year. The family of seven, who had been visiting for several weeks, decided to place membership on Sunday. We completed Lesson 3 of BTTB with the young man who was on our prayer call list. He lost his two-year-old daughter to cancer. He said he wanted to be baptized. We were about to head to the building for his baptism, but he said he wanted his wife and 18-year-old son to be baptized. He has been telling them about the Bible study lessons we have had via Zoom. He understands they need to be taught the gospel. We have scheduled a study with his wife and son at the building this Thursday. We pray that they will all come to a proper understanding of the gospel and obey the truth. We have scheduled Lesson 3 of BTTB for tomorrow with the couple we have been working with for the past few weeks. The process was delayed because they were moving into their new home. We request prayers for the successful outcome of tomorrow’s study. We sent out 36 compassion cards. We should be finished training the congregation on Lesson 3 of Back to the Bible this week. We appreciate all prayers as we continue to strive to share the gospel in our community and train our congregation on the Evangelism Model.”
Aberdeen church of Christ, Maryland: Will Brown (preacher) reports, “Last week, I began the first Bible study with a young man searching for God. We plan to continue with Book 2 of Back to the Bible this week. It is encouraging to study with people who are eager for God’s word and do not take it for granted. We appreciate all prayers for the success of this study.”
Southside church of Christ, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Freddie Klein (preacher) reports, “Since December, we have made great strides in our community outreach efforts. We are thankful to have had two baptisms and engage in multiple studies. Our regular sessions showing HTHSOE videos have been a great success, as they spark meaningful and productive discussions among our members. We were delighted to welcome visitors to our Christmas Eve Lunch, and we made it a point to visit people in the community and provide them with food. Overall, we are thrilled with our progress and are excited to continue building stronger connections with our community in the future.”
Looxahoma church of Christ, Mississippi: Blake Hawkins (deacon) reports, “One of the elders recently reviewed some of the works of the church during 2023. He listed several evangelism efforts including door knocking, compassion card writing, and visiting new movers. Looking ahead to 2024, we hope to be more zealous in our love for lost souls and to develop a culture that will involve all ages of the congregation in evangelism. What greater gift can we give our children than the opportunity to make memories of evangelizing with their parents and grandparents? There are efforts to be made by all members, and it is essential to remember the great commission was given to each of us. There is much work to do, so we must continue encouraging one another to be actively engaged. Following the afternoon worship service, the team wrote cards for the last time this year. Prayerfully, we trust 2024 will include many more Bible studies and an increase in knowledge among the brethren.”
Samford church of Christ, Steele, Missouri: Kyle Imel (deacon) reports, “We are excited to begin the new year by looking at our current efforts and making some adjustments. We may add some new coordinators. We continue to use the HTHSOE model to focus on local evangelism.”
East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “To God be the glory for all things. Roberto Gonzalez was visiting, coming to worship services, and faithfully bringing his family for a year and a half. The angels in heaven rejoiced with us when he put on Christ in baptism on December 31, 2023. What a blessed way to bring in a new year! God blessed Crystal Gonzalez to be baptized into Christ on July 6, 2022. Since her baptism, God has graciously used her as a vessel. Eleven more precious souls have been baptized into Christ within that time of a year and a half. Those numbers, plus Crystal, include the whole Gonzalez family: brother Roberto, sister Crystal, brother Kevin, and sister Jamie Gonzalez. The love of God in reaching out to the lost is effective. To God be the glory; He does all things well!”
Cary church of Christ, North Carolina: Larry Fife (preacher) reports, “On Saturday, January 27, we will have a training day and door-knocking in the afternoon. We have restructured our program to fit our needs at Cary and our surrounding community. We are looking forward to a productive 2024.”
Linville Forest church of Christ, Kernersville, North Carolina: Kelly Brown (preacher) reports, “Iris Bolton was baptized this morning (December 31). She is the sister of Linda Austin, who was baptized back in February 2023. Linda began teaching her, and then Steve Hare taught her. Rick Cooper, who teaches our new converts class, worked to answer some of her questions. She made the decision to put Christ on in baptism.”
Streetsboro church of Christ, Ohio: Ralph Price (preacher) reports, “We are still working through the Back to the Bible studies on Sunday mornings. We will finish Book 3 next week. Our elders have handed out assignments to members who volunteered for various areas of the work. They will prepare our Visitor Bags and New Mover Baskets. We started sending cards on November 12. As of the end of the year, we sent 642 cards. We have one man from the community who has been at every service and has heard every lesson from Back to the Bible. He came to our New Year’s Eve party last night. We have high hopes that he will obey the gospel. We have restored one brother to our compassion card list. We will conduct several visits soon.”
Greenville church of Christ, Ohio: John McGiffin (preacher) reports, “Sunday after AM services, we conducted our first transitional visits. We have visited six people. Many were not home, so we will try again during the week. We have several ongoing Bible studies and are hoping for results soon. We presented a baptism certificate and an Amazon Tablet to a recent convert. Being handicapped, it is easier for him to download and read the Bible from a tablet. He had been faithful in attendance and is currently going through a new convert course, Growing in Christ, by Bobby Bates. We had two visitors on Sunday. We do not have visitors often. We did not have visitor bags ready at the time. That afternoon, we prepared ten bags. We will provide gift cards to Bob Evans so members can take visitors to lunch. We will start backup training with the congregation this coming week.”
New Concord church of Christ, Ohio: Terry Townsend (preacher) reports, “Great news! The young man who talked to me privately last Sunday has decided to obey. We will baptize him tonight at 8:00. His name is Logan; he is in his late 20s (unchurched). He has been dating one of our young ladies. I have been preaching the lessons from Back to the Bible on Sunday mornings; they have a great impact! To God be the glory! I am including two texts from members:
I cannot think of a better group to share this with for a little encouragement. Our quality inspector to my office and said, “I just wanted to share this with someone who would appreciate it. I am so excited to get my son one of those kids’ Bible; he is five. He loves getting into the stories.” We spent about ten minutes discussing his past churches. He was Catholic, then changed to Baptist because he did not agree that babies need baptism. He wondered if that is wrong, what else do they teach that is wrong? He then went to a Baptist church that turned away from Baptists and called themselves “the church on the hill.” He is from Pittsburgh. For the last five minutes of that conversation, we talked about our church and the youth programs and everything in general. He is excited to teach his son about Jesus and ensure he is saved from hell. I told him we are a conservative church straight from the Bible, and I think he is going to come to check us out after he talks to his wife. He was nervous because his arms were tattooed from his younger life, and I told him that does not matter. We look forward to seeing where this goes.’
‘Ruth Snook (a contact from our Thanksgiving dinner) calls me once or twice a week. I am going to her house today with soup, beans, and cornbread. She attends Grace Bible Church in Cambridge (Baptist). Since she mentions God a lot, I asked her if she would like to study the Bible. After reading the material Rob gave us, I realized I needed to earn the right to ask her, so today, I am going to eat with her and get to know her better. She lives a few minutes from the church on Rough & Ready Road.
‘She is having car trouble, so I offered to pick her up for Sunday night service and then a get-together for New Year’s Eve. I mentioned that we do not worship with instruments, and she had heard that. I appreciate all prayers for a Bible study eventually.’”
Lake Milton church of Christ, Ohio (remote): Mike Bisson (preacher) reports, “We have completed our sermons from John 4 and from Back to the Bible. We sent 14 cards last week and made two visits. We are continuing the training and execution of the HTHSOE model.”
Sullivan Village church of Christ, Lawton, Oklahoma: Steven Hill (preacher) reports, “Sullivan Village is ready to do even more evangelism is 2024! We are seeing some visitors and have new contacts that we will begin targeting. We are looking forward to the next new movers list and the possibility of bringing a newcomer into our family. I am still preaching about evangelism, focusing on Paul’s efforts at the end of Acts. May God richly bless all the churches out there doing evangelism and seeking to win souls for Christ! To God be the glory!”
Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (regional trainer) reports, “God has blessed our congregation in so many ways. The last quarter of 2023 started great with the HTHSOE Advanced training in October. We rounded out the final ten weeks of the year with nine baptisms. Two of those came right before Christmas. Dustin finished Lesson 3 of BTTB and recognized what he needed to do. He said he knew he had family that would like to see him be baptized, but he recognized the urgency and said he would not take any chances. He wanted to be baptized immediately. We were studying in the church library, so we took him into the auditorium. Within ten minutes, he entered a covenant relationship with God through the waters of baptism! Chris and I finished Lesson 3 of BTTB at a local coffee shop two days later. Chris had been ‘baptized’ many years earlier in a group setting as an outward sign of an inward faith after having been ‘saved’ by inviting Jesus into his heart. During the Lesson 3 study, he realized that if he had been saved before baptism, he could not have been baptized to be saved (1 Peter 3:21). He looked up and said, ‘I’m not saved, am I?’ I told him not according to what we just read. So, we packed up our study materials, left the coffee shop, and headed to the church building, where he was saved according to the Scriptures through baptism. He reported for work twenty minutes later and told everyone what had happened. Yesterday, he brought a friend to church, and we are working toward scheduling a Bible study with him. God has truly blessed us!”
Union church of Christ, South Carolina (remote): Terry Hale (preacher) reports, “We are training members every week. A couple of studies have been delayed by the prospects, one for a transplant and the other due to radiation treatment. We request prayers for Linda and Dene.”
New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fulks (elder) reports, “We had one new contact and one visitor from the community. Several New Mover Bags were assigned for delivery.”
Chapel Hill church of Christ, Tennessee: Matt Jones (deacon) reports, “Our official start date is this Sunday. All coordinators for the various areas have been assigned and have begun working on establishing their teams. We had a specific coordinator meeting to review responsibilities that fit into the model. Our evangelism table supplies have been ordered and will be ready before our start date. We will have a readiness meeting this Thursday to make sure everything is/will be in place by our start date. Looking forward to getting things in motion soon!”
Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “We ended 2023 on a good note. We had several visitors on Sunday. We are prospecting them and will be attempting to set up Bible studies in the next week or so. One of our new converts, Daniel, had not attended our services for weeks. One of our deacons, Alan, and I visited him on Thursday. He was at the services Sunday. We are getting him more connected with church members and the work of the church as well. Our goal for 2024 is to focus on the abundant hot prospects in our congregation. We have several spouses of members who either visit our services regularly or have shown openness to visits and possibly to studies. We are focusing on our erring members. We hope to rescue many of them this year. May God bless our efforts as we serve Him.”
Freewill church of Christ, Gainesboro, Tennessee (remote): Andrew Scott (preacher, HTHSOE graduate) reports, “We are about halfway through the Believe the Bible booklets. The brethren have enjoyed the training and continue to produce contacts. We set up a Bible study for next week with a contact and hope to have two more in the coming weeks. We have had several restorations in the past two months, and we give God the glory for our efforts. We are excited about the recent purchase of our new baptistry. It is a smaller portable baptistry that will accommodate us well. After some modifications to the stage and floor, it will be ready for us to use. We will be completely self-sufficient and will not have to worry about driving to another church building. Each Wednesday night before Bible study begins, we devote some time to focus on evangelism by singing Back to the Bible by Paul Mays. We pray for all names on everyone’s bookmark. We continue to plant and water and watch God give the increase. We pray that countless souls will be saved in 2024.”
New Hope church of Christ, Middleton, Tennessee: Cole Wade (preacher) reports, “We have a lot of people we need to visit who are sick and shut-in right now due to the winter season. We continue to send cards as we look forward to the work in 2024. Our goal is to develop Bible studies with the few!”
Forest Hill church of Christ, Germantown, Tennessee: Scott Cain (preacher) reports, “Harley, Diana, and their toddler-age son Remy first visited on the Sunday of the HTHSOE seminar, having been invited by Harley’s college classmate, Walker Cain. After their first visit, they could not return for a month because of health issues. Once health allowed, they came back, we enjoyed dinners together. They had a strong interest in learning more about the congregation and the Memphis School of Preaching, but they could not start a study that evening because it was nearly Remy’s bedtime. We scheduled another dinner and a first study for later in the week. After a few preliminary questions, it was evident that they had questions about salvation, but that discussion needed to be preceded by a discussion of the evidence for God and the validity of the Bible. We opted for a study series that seemed best to fit their questions and needs. They were honest and objective; by the end of the first study, they were nearly giddy over studying God and the Bible in a logical and organized way. They were out of town visiting family the next week, but once they returned, they were ready to learn more, more, more! Most folks usually have plenty to chew at a pace of one study per week, but with Harley and Diana’s situation, it was best to study several times the week they returned. By the afternoon of Sunday, December 24, we were examining what it truly means to call upon the name of the Lord: they were both baptized that evening, and Harley is making plans to attend the Memphis School of Preaching in the future.”
Hillsboro church of Christ, Tennessee: Chris Sliger (member) reports, “On December 16, we knocked 19 more doors for our RTL program (16 new movers, three knocks). Of those nineteen, nine were not home, so we will try to see them next month. Four of those we met were good contacts, so we sent cards. One of the four agreed to study with Roy in January. Overall, we have seen a lot of potential in this program, and we know that this community is ripe. We are sure that 2024 will see good growth.”
Sevierville church of Christ, Tennessee: Kevin Ruiz (elder) reports, “Rob—We are happy to report that, at the end of October, we were blessed to add a new sister in Christ, a young woman who has moved to our area from Jamaica and who completed the Back to the Bible program with one of our elder’s wives. We also had one precious soul restored to our number after her long period of unfaithfulness. She is now studying the Back to the Bible program as a refresher course. We have been blessed with several local visitors who are now studying with us, four students currently studying. In addition to these continuing studies, we have three prospective studies that will, prayerfully, begin in the next few weeks. Two of our converts recently completed their Growing in Christ (Sunday morning classes) and The Beginning of Our Confidence (Wednesday evening classes) studies and were presented with certificates of completion. One of those new converts is now assisting one of our elder’s wives in teaching the Back to the Bible program to another woman she encouraged to study the Bible. So, seeing our newer converts actively evangelizing and learning to teach others is exciting. Three or four of our members who learned of our new converts’ classes have begun attending those classes as well, realizing that they need more grounding in Bible basics that they didn’t receive after their conversions years ago, so that has been another unexpected but very positive outgrowth of our new converts’ classes. We hope to add more new converts in 2024 and pray that God will lead us to more lost souls searching for the truth. Thank you for the resources provided by your good work!”
Southwest church of Christ, Austin, Texas: John Garza (regional trainer) reports, “We begin our new year with a few studies that are continuing. We have made additions and modifications that we hope will work better for our congregation. To start the year, we will redo our contact bookmarks and teach how to evangelize. Certainly, we are looking forward to this year of being soul winners.”
Northern Oaks church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas: Mel Hutzler (elder) reports, “We had another baptism. Last Sunday, Steve Bolton was baptized into Christ for the remission of sins. He recently had back surgery, but we made sure his baptism would be smooth and easy. It went well, and he was relieved and joyful after it took place. We appreciate so many of our members for getting involved in evangelism and for God continuing to give the increase.”
Canyon Lake church of Christ, Texas (remote): Jesse Stuart and Raoul Ferris (evangelists) reports, “We took advantage of the holidays, knowing that some families would be gone while others would be home. We used the new movers’ method and connected with four contacts. We set up a Bible study with one who is dealing with domestic violence. We have learned that door knocking leads us to people in all sorts of predicaments, problems, and concerns, but we know Jesus is the solution. We continue to work with the evangelism model, work with our new converts, and review our efforts to spread the gospel.”
Wheeler church of Christ, Texas: Garrett English (preacher) reports, “We are still writing cards, making visits, and praying for Bible studies in this new year. The elders are beginning to teach a new converts class on Sunday mornings, which should bear fruit.”
Granbury Street church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas: Ryan Cowan (deacon) reports, “We have had a fantastic experience in Granbury Street’s evangelism efforts, starting with the honor of hosting an AMC in July of 2023. This event provided us with valuable tools and methods to kickstart our evangelism efforts, for which we are eternally grateful to Rob and his team. However, this great beginning presented some additional challenges. One particular challenge has been reconnecting with everyone who answered their doors during that memorable week in July and received our compassion cards. We have been privileged to send numerous compassion cards to these contacts and have been actively seeking ways to meet them again at their doorstep. From our own time limitations to the difficulty of ‘catching people at home’, this has been a challenging task. To overcome this hurdle, we realized we needed a new approach to reach these ‘cold contacts.’ Over the past few weeks, I have identified approximately 15 families at Granbury Street who would be willing to help with personal visits. I have transferred the prospects’ names from a digital spreadsheet onto individual index cards, along with a brief explanation of why we had initially sent them cards. Alongside each index card, I have created a one-page summary outlining the successful transition of a contact into a study using the ‘three-question’ technique. Additionally, I have included some essential guidelines, such as the importance of visiting as a male/female pair and always bringing something along to give the prospect (cookies, HTH/HTH publication, DVD, etc). We are optimistic that this new approach will assist us in reconnecting with the growing number of contacts awaiting further personal contact.”
Graceton church of Christ, Diana, Texas: Johnny Willeford (elder) reports, “As we look back on this past year, our congregation chose to become known as a church of God’s people dedicated to evangelizing our community. Thanks to the efforts of Rob and his family, along with House to House, we are slowly but confidently making the changes in our church body. Yesterday, Group A met to write compassion cards for three people with 16 cards. Many of our members were visiting family for the holidays. We had two families visit our morning services. One family is looking for a church home, and it was their third visit with us. We are praying that they will decide to become part of our congregation. They have two small children. Our new mover’s group will deliver welcome baskets to 13 to 15 new contacts this week. Our mission Monday group continues to visit compassion card recipients and the mover contacts. We will continue to pray for a successful year with the HTH group and all who teach God’s word.”
Itasca church of Christ, Texas (remote): Justin Hopkins (preacher) reports, “We watched the first four lessons. The men decided to move the remaining lessons to Wednesday nights. We have one visitor who started coming at the beginning of December. One of the men studied with him, and I am scheduled to study with him when I return home from Africa. Over the holidays, I visited Southwest. I like the simplicity of their evangelism table. I plan to redo ours and make it more focused. I need to order a few correspondence courses that go through the Bible. We have an old contact now in prison who has asked for study material. I thought that would be good for her.”
Crosby church of Christ, Texas (remote): Jon Wheeler (elder) reports, “Our New Movers baskets program is active. We are working through 125 New Movers for December. We had 25 New Movers on one street, which is not typical, but it helps us with deliveries. Our members get excited when they have a discussion, especially when someone plans to visit. We use door hangers for those who are not home. A family we saw on Sunday said they were new in Crosby and were looking for a biblical church. I understand she was told they had found it! A Happy New Year’s message was sent to a member who had not attended in years. She responded to the message immediately, and we asked her to return Sunday with her children and welcomed her with hugs and smiles. May the Lord bless our work in 2024.”
Bridgewater church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (deacon) reports, “Last year, we had three baptisms, and all three are still faithful in attendance and growing in the faith. Last Sunday, our evangelist, Wade Webster, preached a lesson to encourage the congregation to be faithful in finding prospects and following up with them after they receive cards. One card team will meet to address compassion cards next Sunday evening. We are still having visitors and receiving contacts from some of our members. Austin Fowler, who works with HTHSOE, visited our congregation last Sunday. It was good to meet him and get suggestions for our work.”
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