Success Stories: January 8, 2025

Welcome McEwen church of Christ: We welcome the McEwen church of Christ to the House to House/Heart to Heart School of Evangelism. The congregation is served by five dedicated elders and an experienced soul winner in the pulpit. We were impressed by their attendance on Saturday evening and their enthusiasm for evangelism on Sunday. We look forward to watching them grow.

Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: Keith Ritchie (evangelist) reports, “We had an exciting week at Glencoe with more contacts and opportunities for future prospects. The Whitacres, along with Ted and Angela Brooks, have four ongoing Bible studies. Our evangelism room has taken shape and is already being used. Terri Towe made sure we had a large map of the Glencoe area to map out our door-knocking routes. We are so excited at Glencoe, and Lord willing, we will continue to grow!”

Central church of Christ, Saraland, Alabama: David Dixon (preacher) reports, “We started 2025 with a bang! One of our teens was baptized, we installed two new deacons, and we had a host of visitors who heard the truth. It was truly an amazing day. Another door of opportunity opened when an employee at the local coffee shop initiated a conversation with us; she revealed that she and her mother are looking for a church home. The work is abounding here, and we pray that we will continue to do God’s will!”

West Huntsville church of Christ, Alabama: Paul Owen (evangelist) reports, “We had our first baptism on the first day of the new year. Robert started to visit West Huntsville a couple of months ago. Although he grew up in the church, he had neglected to obey the Gospel. After a study with Glenn Colley, he decided to put Christ on in baptism!”

Highland Park church of Christ, Muscle Shoals, Alabama: Andrew Myhan (deacon) reports, “Several families visited our worship services this week. Some of them accepted invitations to go out and eat. Our greeters did a great job. We are assigning new people to do follow-ups this week. We also have two ongoing Bible studies, and we ask for prayers on their behalf.”

Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “We began 2025 with our mission meal this Sunday, continuing to encourage all our members; they are doing a great job, and we are excited about moving forward. We have a Bible study set up with the sister of a recent convert. Also, we are renewing our study with another family who studied with us several months ago. While we need to handle their situation wisely, we never give up on anyone. To God be the glory.”

Petersville church of Christ, Florence, Alabama: Adam Richardson (preacher) reports, “Petersville had 12 visiting families at church this Sunday. Next Sunday, we will host a new members’ lunch. The group is set to contact those who came to breakfast with Santa, and our new logo is on our visitor bags and new mover baskets.”

Fayette church of Christ, Alabama: Josh Taylor (deacon) reports, “This coming Sunday will be our first Mission Sunday of the 2025. Our teams are re-organized, and we hope our movement continues to move forward from our great evangelistic year in 2024. We had good news; our first Sunday in 2025 began with a restoration. Mr. Jerry Fulmer was baptized many years ago in the church but had fallen away. One of our members was good friends with him and was instrumental in encouraging him to come back to services. Yesterday, Mr. Fulmer was restored into the Lord’s fold. We appreciate all prayers as we look forward to another great year.”

Malvern church of Christ, Arkansas (remote): David Burruss (preacher) reports, “We continue to send compassion cards, and starting January 13, 2025, we will incorporate bi-weekly C.A.R.E. visits. Also, we are in the early stages of a Bible study with someone who contacted us via Facebook.”

Rison church of Christ, Arkansas: Keden Shrum (preacher) reports, “We have been studying with a young man who has been attending with one of our high school girls. We completed Book 2 BTTB last week and look forward to getting into Book 3 soon. The young man comes from a denominational background and has struggled with some of the things presented to him, but in honesty, he has agreed with all he has seen and provided correct answers to each question. We are prayerful that he will continue the study and be brought to Christ. Care Team A met Sunday to work on compassion cards for a local man who unexpectedly lost his wife. He is now left with three children, one being less than two months old. We pray we can be of encouragement and use this tragedy to show the love of Christ through the church.”

Windsor church of Christ, Colorado: Lucas Stephens (member) reports, “This week we had two visitors; one was a member of the Lord’s church, and one was not. We talked to them at lunch and are hopeful for a Bible study. A family of three placed membership, and we were very encouraged. We also had a baptism last week. I am waiting to see if there is a picture that I can send. This was our first baptism of 2025! We are sending several compassion cards this week to visitors who are members and to other members who need encouragement. We believe 2025 will be a big year for the Lord’s body at Windsor!”

Lake Forest church of Christ, Florida (remote): Brian Howard (preacher) reports, “Currently, we have three studies going on at Lake Forest. The first is with the girlfriend of one of our older members. We just finished Book 2 last night. The second is with the husband of a woman I baptized recently. She is on fire for the Lord, and it has sparked interest in her husband. Our associate minister, Josh Swearingen, conducts that study on Wednesday nights. They will be in Book 2 this week. The third study is with Josh’s sister-in-law. We have had a tough time scheduling the studies, but we plan to do Book 3 with her on Thursday. We are blessed with quite a few visitors here. I cannot stress enough the importance of updating a prospect list, following up, and asking for studies. This was lost upon me for many years of my ministry.”

Niceville church of Christ, Florida: Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “We are off to a busy start for the New Year. I have spent some time the last week reflecting on where we are, what is going right, and what is in need of help. I have several small meetings and individual meetings scheduled between now and our 2025 kick-off meeting on January 19. Each meeting will be an effort to pull our team and leaders together and to recruit new workers for the positions we need. Most importantly, next Sunday we will have our first event, a Friend Day, and we are going to have a special lesson on ‘How to Change Your Life for Eternity.’ After a fellowship meal at noon, we will invite people to a class I will teach called ‘Life Changers’ at 5:00 p.m. The ladies will have the option to attend my wife’s 12-step class. This week we are preparing and inviting people to this event. We had two visitors on Sunday night. A young lady from the community visited, and she brought her boyfriend, who is Muslim. After church, I spoke to them and set up a study with them. We had no Bible studies this week. The card team met for the first time this year. On Sunday night, Sharon Soward, a recent visitor, responded and asked for prayer. She has been unfaithful for a while and felt inspired to return to God. It is great to start Week 1 by adding one soul to the fold, which means we are on our way to a great year.”

Lafayette church of Christ, Georgia: Jesse Teague (deacon) reports, “It was the first Sunday, so Group 1 met to send out compassion cards. We had three names on the list from our last new movers’ door knocking. This time we sent cards to warm up the contacts and hope for favorable results at the next visit. Our core team will meet tonight with the elders to discuss follow-up visits and share any information on what other work needs to be done.”

Eastside church of Christ, Morganton, Georgia: Robby Eversole Jr. (preacher) reports, “Jerry Bowers, one of the elders of the Eastside congregation in Morganton, Georgia, immersed his grandson, Abe, into Christ on January 4, 2025. Evangelism starts at home. Brethren, if we save the world and lose our families, we are failures. Jerry and Betty, Abe’s grandparents, have been teaching and guiding him for many years. His faithful mother has reinforced what he learned from Bible class and with his grandparents. He has watched his mom go through an absolute gauntlet and keep her faith. He now shares that precious faith with her. We rejoice when anyone obeys the Gospel, but there is an extra special measure when it is one of our own. We want to help all the people we can to obey Jesus, but we also want to start at home and never give up. Praise God for His Son.”

Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Matt Amos (preacher) reports, “The WCOC congregation attended and hosted the Sunabella of Towne Lake Assistant Living devotional on Sunday. They had twelve non-Christians in attendance. The Prison Ministry has one ex-incarcerated student who is attending WCOC; she is a Christian who volunteers to help us. She is helping a student who was just released by providing transportation to and from WCOC. We hope to see a baptism soon. The door- knocking campaign will resume this Saturday. We are anxious to see if we find someone who wants to turn a new leaf for the new year. The Compassion Cards Group sent out fourteen compassion cards. WCOC had five non-Christian visitors at our Sunday morning service. We had three Bible studies.”

Cartersville church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Charles Harris (regional trainer) reports, “On Sunday, three souls expressed their desire to be more faithful and committed to the work of the Lord. On Monday, we baptized Kelley into Christ. Our elders have announced a theme for the year. We will focus on the spirit’s fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). We are looking forward to the study, and we hope our evangelistic efforts will be more effective.”

Eatonton church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Roderick Coney, (preacher) reports, “We continue to train the congregation in the Growing in Christworkbook; we are studying Chapter 6. We passed out five new movers’ baskets; two who received baskets said they would visit. We reached out to a new contact. She is interested in visiting with us. We sent out four compassion cards.”

Bremen church of Christ, Georgia: Scott Broughton (evangelist) reports, “We had two baptisms this past week, Wes and Lindsay. They had been attending services for about a month. This brings our total for 2024 to 14 baptisms. We also had 15 individuals place membership this past year.”

Collinsville-Troy church of Christ, Illinois: Jason Wright (elder) reports, “This past week has slowed down a bit. Services were canceled on Sunday due to snow and ice. We did send out 139 compassion cards, and New Movers’ baskets are ready for delivery. We delivered food to a family as a direct result of a previous contact. We hired a part-time evangelist. Our goals for 2025 are to continue to sow the seed and make a difference in our community. We will grow!”

Judah church of Christ, Bedford, Indiana: Joe Moon (preacher) reports, “We did not have services this week, due to bad weather. We plan to have a workday this Saturday to make an area for our evangelism table and build shelves for our materials. Our ladies plan to use the time to shop for visitor baskets. We plan to start compassion cards next Sunday as well.”

Highland Village church of Christ, Bloomington, Indiana: Mark Stauffer (elder) reports, “We sent 106 cards and have 21 prospects. We made several attempts to visit prospects but did not find anyone at home. Our first Mission Monday is scheduled for January 13. We are presently snowed in and under a travel advisory.”

Lagrange church of Christ, Indiana (remote): Wayne Poe (elder) reports, “We had a visitor yesterday, and she had some questions about why we do certain things. It was good to try to help her, and we hope she will come back. We also helped someone with benevolence, and we have the address for this person, so we will send compassion cards soon. We are looking forward to the new year and really getting the program rolling.”

Beloit church of Christ, Kansas (remote): Dustin Dougherty (regional trainer) reports, “We were not able to have service yesterday due to ice, severe winter weather, and blizzard conditions. But that did not stop the spreading of God’s word. I sent daily Bible readings with questions to contacts who accepted the invitation on January 1, 2025. So far, 16 people are receiving the text updates, and several are responding to the questions sent. During downtime from ice treatment and snow removal at work, I had time to reach out to some members we had not seen recently. I am trying to strike up a conversation and encourage them. On January 19, we will have a congregational meeting to introduce several new evangelism tools. We will also review our current tools. We are hitting the ground running to start the new year. To God be all glory and honor.”
Central church of Christ, Paducah, Kentucky: Adam Faughn (preacher) reports, “It was interesting that we spent much of this past week encouraging new converts. We also had one Bible study with Karen, and we pray that our third study will occur this week (weather has been an issue over the weekend). We also had to reschedule our fifth study with Austin, due to the weather. Our new converts’ class began Sunday morning. Due to poor weather, our worship attendance was about half of normal, but our new converts’ class was very well attended, which is very encouraging to us! It was also encouraging that one young lady who had suspended a Bible study with one of our ladies reached out a few days ago; she wants to restart the study in the coming days. We pray that it occurs!”

Samford church of Christ, Steele, Missouri: Kyle Imel (deacon) reports, “We reassigned roles last night during our men’s meeting. We also cleared our evangelism board for a fresh start for 2025.”

La Plata church of Christ, Maryland (remote): Eric Sykes (regional trainer) reports, “We had a great week in the Lord. We baptized Angel Estrada last week, so he is our brother now. Angel studied with brother Tony Johnson. Seven people attended our New Converts Training Classes, and nine attended our Video of the Week training class. Six brothers attended the training class for future leaders and coordinators. We had nine visitors this week. They are visiting from a congregation in D.C. Their broiler is being repaired. I spoke to their minister, and he is interested in learning more about the School of Evangelism. I am arranging a time to meet with their church leadership later this week. We currently have three open Bible studies. Two are scheduled to use Does It Matter? on Wednesday afternoon, and one more is scheduled for tomorrow, using Lesson 3 of BTTB. We appreciate all prayers as we continue to strive to spread the Gospel in our community.”

East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “After worship service, we watched the HTHSOE YouTube video, ‘Contacts: Texting the Text.’ Our metrics thus far for January are two visitors, ten prospects, and three visits. We have several Bible studies on pause for various reasons. We are looking forward to continuing to reach out to the lost, that souls may be saved. We appreciate all prayers.”

Linville Forest church of Christ, Kernersville, North Carolina: Steve Hare (elder) reports, “We had a great weekend here at Linville Forest church of Christ. On Friday night, Matt baptized a couple into Christ! He had started talking with them a year ago. That conversation did not lead anywhere until about a week ago. He told Matt that his church was preaching once saved always saved. He asked Matt what he thought about it. He said he saw a lot of contradiction between what the preacher said and what the Scripture said. He then called the next week and asked if baptism was essential for salvation. Matt said, ‘Absolutely! Let’s study!’ And God was glorified after that! Praise God, who gives the increase.”

Sanford church of Christ, North Carolina: Brian Hall (preacher) reports: “As 2025 begins, we are excited about the wonderful opportunities God has prepared for our congregation. To begin our new year on the right footing, the men gathered this past Saturday for our annual men’s prayer breakfast. Each of the men who attended led the group in prayer. Each focused on a particular area of concern for the congregation. Evangelism was one of the major focuses for our men. Several of our younger boys were also in attendance for our prayer breakfast. In addition to the prayer breakfast, we recently restarted our new converts’ class. We praise the Lord for all He is accomplishing with our congregation!”

New Concord church of Christ, Ohio: Terry Townsend (preacher) reports, “We had a baptism yesterday as we started out the new year. I hope to study with two gentlemen this week. Both started attending our services mid-2024. Both were raised in denominations, but they did not believe they are saved. I plan to walk each of them through Back to the Bible. I feel confident that both will do the right thing! I challenged the congregation on Sunday to win one soul to Christ in 2025 (One Goal-One Soul). I re-introduced the prospect cards to them. A couple of new contacts were submitted on Sunday, and we should have a new round of compassion cards sent out to them within a week!”

Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (regional trainer) reports, “We started the new year in a great way. After I had gone through Back to the Bible with Ethan, he recognized what he needed to do, but as a young man of 21, he was conflicted because his dad is a member of a Baptist congregation, and his mom attends the Assembly of God. On Sunday, he invited both parents to worship services with him. When I saw them there, I changed my sermon and preached one along the lines of Lesson 3 of Back to the Bible. Ethan decided that it was time to do what the Scriptures commanded and was baptized. After services, his dad started asking me a lot of questions about baptism and our way of worship. He said that he was baptized as a teen, but after hearing the sermon, he questioned whether he was actually baptized scripturally. I asked him if we could go through the same study I had gone through with Ethan. He said he would be open to that. I asked him if he saw something different than his current beliefs during our study, would he would be open to changing what he believes. He said he would, if I could show him something different in the Scriptures in proper context. He lives in Owasso, Oklahoma, about 30 miles north of us. I will reach out to Brother Dan Schnell, the minister in Owasso, to be my silent partner in the study so he can build a relationship with Paul. We also installed a new elder Sunday, Brother Robert Coberly, and a new deacon, Brother Perry Boggs. I am excited about what 2025 holds. The energy is good among the congregation, and I look forward to the work ahead!”

Union church of Christ, South Carolina (remote): Terry Hale (preacher) reports, “We had two really good studies. We finished Book 1, including the understanding of authority in religion and knowing what law we live under. Book 3 studies have slowed to a crawl with some resistance. I did see today that the deacon in the Baptist doctrine saw it. I am scheduled to study with him again the following week. I appreciate all prayers for him as he learns. Finally, today was a good day. During the first study with a lady, she had asked Jamie and me if we believed in the Ten Commandments. My response was, ‘It’s in the Bible, isn’t it?’ She said, ‘I like you.’ At the end of Book 1, she said, ‘We don’t live under the Ten Commandments.’”

New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fultz (elder) reports, “We had four visitors from the community on our first Sunday of the new year. We had eight new contacts submitted, and we wrote 30 compassion cards. We made three visits and had two in our New Converts class.”

Cookeville church of Christ, Tennessee: Jonathan Medley (deacon) reports, “We added two new prospects to our list this week. One is a visitor who lives near the building, and the other is a relative of some members whose mother recently passed away. We used the new compassion card process for the first time with these two, and it worked well. We found out more about the young lady who has been walking to our building and visiting on Sundays. Her name is Diana Williamson, and she returned for Sunday night services the first time this week! She is Catholic, but she is visiting us because she does not have a car right now. Some of us went to see her Saturday, but it turns out she lives in an apartment complex, and she did not tell us her apartment number. She gave us her apartment number on Sunday, so we will start checking in on her and sending her compassion cards.”

Ocoee Street church of Christ, Copperhill, Tennessee: R.E. Vann (elder) reports, “We continue with our compassion cards and plan our first transition visit next week with our new movers. A couple made a brief visit with them, offering fried pies and apple bread. Never go empty-handed! This week, we had nine nonlocal visitors and moved another contact over to our Love Our Neighbor list (Prospect List). We now have four prospects receiving cards.”

Hebron church of Christ, McMinnville, Tennessee: Derrick Stiles (preacher) reports, “We had another good week at Hebron as we prepared 60 cards to go out in the compassion card program. On Sunday night, we discussed the ‘Power of an Invitation’ to help us refocus on evangelism in the new year. Next week we will be discussing steps to follow up with past recipients of compassion cards. We appreciate all prayers for our work at Hebron!”

Rivergate church of Christ, Madison, Tennessee: Doug Tooley (preacher) reports, “We had four baptisms on Thursday that came through the ministry of Sue Crain and two others who work with incarcerated young ladies. They are not allowed to take pictures. We had two visitors yesterday. The sketchy weather threw us off a little. One visitor is a repeat, and the other just moved. He took my number and said he was going to call to talk.”

White Oak church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee (remote): John McGiffin (preacher) reports, “This past week, the leadership met and discussed how we are going to approach 2025. Our emphasis will be on evangelism, but we need the balance of being spiritually fed. We are planning to schedule monthly fellowship events and monthly community outreach. Many seem to focus on social media platforms. Once we have completed and scheduled door knocking, new movers, and we will fill in with other activities like a trunk or treat. We will be setting goals for the year. So far, we have scheduled a Gospel Meeting, Trunk/Treat, Family and Friends Day, and a Thanksgiving Basket giveaway. Once complete, I will share that calendar. Sadly, one of our prospects passed away. Some members are contacting the family to see if we can still reach them.”

Hillcrest church of Christ, Springfield, Tennessee: Tim Taylor (associate preacher) reports, “We are continuing to follow up with the 45 families that we contacted within our food giveaways. We are working to meet their prayer requests and additional needs. We are praying that we can also meet their spiritual needs.”

Mountain Creek church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Michael Tomshack (elder) reports, “This weekend, the elders will convene for our quarterly planning session, commencing with the annual meeting to establish priorities for the upcoming 10, 5, 3, and current years. These priorities will encompass goals for baptisms and restorations. We will also explore strategies to enhance the integration of new Christians who originate from diverse life backgrounds, socioeconomic status, and physical and mental consequences of their past lives. Given our congregation’s demographics, with an average age exceeding 50 and members with demanding schedules, welcoming new Christians from worldly backgrounds who require time to establish new social circles as they transition from their previous lives presents a challenge. When individuals sever ties with their former friends, we require members who are committed to studying, sharing, and relationship-building with the new Christians, which cannot be achieved solely through Sunday worship assemblies, classes, group lunches after worship, or Wednesday night Bible studies. New Christians also have varying work schedules, providing them with additional time to engage in Christian activities. Unless we accommodate new Christians, we risk losing them to the world or to denominational mega-churches that offer connections with a diverse array of groups. While the truth of God’s word remains steadfast, we must simultaneously foster a sense of belonging among new Christians beyond the conventional assembly times. Our Keepers Program boasts exceptional leaders who are instrumental in this endeavor. Ultimately, this program’s success hinges on our membership’s time commitment to integrate new members and provide them with the necessary time to deepen their roots in Biblical principles of living.”

West Fayetteville church of Christ, Tennessee: Steve Jefferson (elder) reports, “Good morning from the West Fayetteville congregation. With our first Sunday of 2025 completed, we are returning to our normal schedule. Many of our members are dealing with sickness. We were still able to have Compassion Card Team 1 send out 80 cards to five contacts. Team 1 did a great job, despite being short with only 15 members to help. The elders and preacher will be meeting Tuesday to discuss our weak areas and how we can improve the process for our congregation.”

Blackman church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee (remote): Brian McCord reports, “We had a baptism last night! He is the adult son of a member that attends Blackman, and he has been going through Back to the Bible with his parents. He made the decision and obeyed the Gospel last night. In other news, we have our evangelism table set up and started going through Back to the Bible with the congregation yesterday. We will start our evangelism meetings soon and try to get people identified for their jobs. Eric will also start the sermon series soon for the kickoff with the congregation.”

Chapel Hill church of Christ, Tennessee: Matt Jones (deacon) reports, “We had our all coordinators meeting last week to reflect on 2024. We discussed things that worked and things we wanted to do differently going forward. We also plan to poll the congregation for the various areas of work to see if they have a desire to help in different or additional areas. We look forward to a good year ahead!”

Rome church of Christ, Lebanon, Tennessee (remote): David Oxley (elder) reports, “We are continuing our study of the Back to the Bible series on Sunday morning with Book 3. We are currently working on two prospects. We will resume our advanced class this Tuesday.”

North Jefferson church of Christ, Mt. Pleasant, Texas: Kris Groda (preacher) reports, “We may have another baptism today. I talked to a guy that has been coming for a while. I encouraged him to get with Jeff and take care of business today! Jeff is going to have lunch with him and study. I am on my way to MD Anderson with a family from here. We appreciate all prayers. The work is going well.”

Eisenhower church of Christ, Odessa, Texas: Allen Weakland (preacher) reports, “As this new year begins, the Eisenhower congregation remains committed to the mission set before us. We reinforced this commitment this past Sunday from Matthew 25. Our focus was to become prepared for our Lord’s return. We would appreciate prayers for Sebastian and Melissa. They have been visiting us for quite some time now. Sebastian just finished the third book from Back to the Bible, and I was just informed that it looks promising. After Sunday evening services, Melissa requested a Bible study, which will begin shortly. Both of these young adults came seeking the truth, and we are overjoyed with their response to the truths of God’s word. May God be praised and give the increase.”

Fruitvale church of Christ, Texas: Carl McCann (elder) reports, “This last week we had a New Year/Fish Fry party at a member’s home for the congregation. It was the perfect opportunity not only for the members to have fellowship but also to invite some of our prospects so they can build relationships with members. We had seven community visitors, three of which are in current Bible studies. We currently have seven ongoing Bible studies. We finished Book 1 with Linda Moon, whom we met door-knocking; she loved studying and wanted to learn more. We continue to work on the model by sending compassion cards, doing follow-up work, and having Bible Studies.”

Free Will church of Christ, Gainesboro, Tennessee (remote): Andrew Scott (preacher) reports, “We are so thankful to be a part of the School of Evangelism and see the growth that comes from God’s blessing. We are off to a great start for 2025. One of our members brought a family friend with him to services yesterday; she enjoyed the services and was overwhelmed with love from the members! (They know their training very well.) She returned for Sunday evening services, and we will shower her with cards this week. We hope to take her out to eat next Sunday. I will use the transition questions. If all goes well, we will begin Back to the Bible. I have postponed our training until next Sunday due to members being out for sickness and the weather. The training cards, new bookmarks, and invitation cards are ready to go. May God bless you all. To God be the glory!”

Roanoke church of Christ, Texas: Caleb Rutherford (preacher) reports, “We had a great week. The elders decided that the prospects we are going to start with are ‘the unfaithful.’ We also decided to start with only five prospects to get our feet wet, and then we will increase that number in a few weeks. On Sunday, I preached the sermon entitled ‘Quantity Over Quality,’ and then, in the evening, Mike Drennon taught a training session on compassion cards. When that training session concluded, everyone moved into the fellowship hall, where Mike had previously set up tables with cards on them, and he did a brief demonstration and walk-through of what the compassion card process would look like. Mike also met with all of the compassion card coordinators, along with the elders and preachers, and did a brief walk-through of the whole process and what their responsibilities are going to be going forward. There was good discussion and feedback. Next Sunday, we will start writing cards! Excitement is in the air among our members, and we are ready to get this process going.”

Colleyville church of Christ, Texas: John Garza (regional trainer) reports, “We expect 2025 to be a great year to serve the LORD at the Colleyville congregation! We have eight Bible studies taking place. Three of them are on Book 2. Most of the others are in Book 1, but they will begin Book 2 soon. We have four prospects who are receiving our cards, and last Sunday, we had a Christian place membership with us because she felt loved at the congregation, and it felt like home to her. She looks forward to worshipping with us.”

Howe church of Christ, Texas: Aaron Alsbrook (preacher) reports, “We kicked off our congregational evangelism effort Sunday to ‘stir one another to love and good works!’ In the morning, we studied the first 12 verses of John 4 to encourage one another to ‘seek and save the lost.’ At the end of our worship, we introduced the Bible Bookmark and asked every member to place ten names on it. One of our elders then led us in a word of prayer for our contacts. On Sunday evening, we discussed how to add names to the Bible Bookmark and reviewed the Evangelism Model. We walked the congregation through the School of Evangelism website and placed the plan in front of them for the quarter. We placed our evangelism table in the foyer in the morning and explained that we were going to go through every step of the HTHSOE model, and that all of the material we used would be on the evangelism table in the auditorium to use. We look forward to changing our mindset so we can look at people as the souls God created mankind to be.”

Wheeler church of Christ, Texas: Garrett English (preacher) reports, “The elders have goals this year to make more efforts in restoring the unfaithful. My wife and I plan to make a visiting day each week to visit contacts and try to transition into Bible studies, but we are primarily going to focus on asking nine hot contacts to study with us.”

Bridgewater church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (deacon) reports, “We had several visitors at our services Sunday, and some will be added to our prospect list. At our evening service, we had a response asking for prayer.”

Granbury Street church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas: Ryan Cowan (deacon) reports, “We are anxious to continue our evangelism efforts as we start the new year. We have several contacts from our summer campaign who are ready for another in-person visit. Over the next several weeks, we will do our best to reconnect with these prospects personally. To help facilitate this effort, I will meet with those personal workers who want to gain confidence in our ‘cold contact’ efforts. We are excited for this coming year and look forward to building upon the Lord’s blessings of our prior work.”

West Side church of Christ, Salem, Virginia: Jeff Durham (elder) reports, “We used our first Sunday of the new year to launch our Blueprint 2025 theme, PREPARED. Our morning lesson focused on God’s plan from the beginning to prepare mankind for the coming of the Messiah, Jesus. The Patriarchs, Law of Moses, and the Prophets all pointed to the day when the Savior would redeem all mankind for their sins. Galatians 4 was the springboard for this lesson, since in this letter, the Apostle Paul informs the Judaizing teachers that salvation is for ALL people, including the Gentiles. We will continue to help each member be PREPARED, the second ‘E’ being ‘Evangelism,’ using the various attributes of this acrostic to grow spiritually and carry out the Great Commission to teach, baptize, and teach.”

Culpeper church of Christ, Virginia (remote): Dave Calvert (elder) reports, “I am sharing an edited portion of an email sent from our minister to our congregation on Monday, December 30, 2024:

‘I received a call from Clayton about noon. Clayton said he wanted to be baptized so his sins could be forgiven. He knocked on another church building door to be baptized, but no one was there. It is the providence of God that of all the churches he could have called; he chose the Lord’s church at 1600 N Main St. After a brief conversation on the phone, we invited Clayton to the church building, where we had an in-depth discussion about the Lord. We discuss Scriptural baptism, the one true church, and the need to worship God with the saints. This conversion reminded me of Izzy, who insisted on being baptized. After a long talk, we read the account of the Ethiopian Eunuch, and Clayton was asked if he believed that Jesus is the Son of God. With his understanding of God’s word and good confession of faith, Clayton was scripturally baptized into Jesus Christ for the remission of sin. I showed Clayton the picture board and said this is your new church family. I told Clayton you would look forward to meeting him; he said he would be there on Sunday.’

Not only was Clayton there on Sunday, but he also brought his daughter with him. He was also there on Wednesday night. Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah! Some of our members took him and his daughter to lunch after church to show the love from Clayton’s new brothers and sisters.”

Williamsburg church of Christ, Virginia: Jim Bishop (elder) reports, “This week, Williamsburg church of Christ is in the process of scheduling a follow-up with Book 2 of Back to the Bible.” Sickness and bad weather have hampered this effort; however, we are moving to set these studies up. The Compassion Card Group 4 prepared cards for mailing. We are looking forward to our next door-knocking on January 18, and we have been making contacts with this effort. We continue to review the videos prior to Wednesday evening Bible study. Plans have been formulated to reenergize and continue momentum in the process model.”

Eight Mile Rock church of Christ, Bahamas (remote): Tavaro Hanna (preacher) reports, “Our congregation of nine Christians wishes everyone a happy soul-winning new year. We are trying to motivate some of the brethren to move prospects to the next step, hoping this year, everyone will be in ongoing Bible studies. My wife and I are in studies with several people, including the sister and husband of a new convert. Please pray for these studies to continue to go well.”