Success Stories: July 10, 2024

Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: David Marker (elder) reports, “We have one visitor who has come in response to receiving House to House. We hope to start a study with her soon. We are also studying with three others in our teenage class; they are progressing well. We are planning a community event soon. We will begin sending out invitations and making personal contacts soon. We continue to send compassion cards weekly, and we are utilizing the invitation cards. Our progress board helps us to remain engaged and focusing on our ongoing work.”

Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “Several great things have happened lately. G.H. was baptized into Christ today after finishing Book 3. Yesterday, we had a wayward Christian and his family come to worship after we had sent him cards for several weeks. We plan to follow up with visits to him, hoping he will be restored soon. We had our mission meal yesterday and assigned new visits for the month. Members are hosting nonmembers in their homes, hoping to gain more studies eventually. Glory to Him!”

Central church of Christ, Saraland, Alabama: David Dixon (preacher) reports, “While preparing for PTP, I have had to give evangelism less of my time over the last week, but that does not mean Central has let it slip. We understand that we will not have the same number of contacts as we did when we first started. We know that after the initial excitement has worn off, we should be dealing with around three or four new contacts a week, and making some number of visits each week as well. That is exactly what is happening. We had our second Mission Monday this week, and I was concerned that the constant emphasis from the pulpit on evangelism for the last four months was beginning to wear on the congregation. While that may have happened for a minority of members, overall enthusiasm remains high. We had a good turnout for Mission Monday. We discussed our visits since last month, detailing which contacts need follow-up visits. We planned first-time visits with the most recent names to cycle out of the card program. We also discussed the names we were adding to the card program for the first time. In other words, the work is working. It is becoming self-sustaining. Our next step is to put more focus on wayward members. We seem to have an exceptionally high percentage of them, and there is genuine concern from the faithful in the congregation for them. We need specific training on how to concentrate our efforts on them. If we can restore just a few, God be praised!”
                                                            
West Huntsville church of Christ, Alabama: Paul Owen (associate preacher) reports, “We continue to make new contacts. I met a man named Billy at our local bank who told a teller that he had been taking his wife Jennifer to medical appointments for several weeks. When he concluded his business, I introduced myself and asked about his wife’s medical situation. Billy said she needed a liver transplant. I expressed to him that our church would be praying for her.  My wife and I ate with Billy and Jennifer this past Friday. After lunch, they drove to see where we went to church and stayed for several minutes.  Please pray for Jennifer’s health, but also pray we can schedule a Bible study with Billy and Jennifer very soon!”

Rison church of Christ, Arkansas: Keden Shrum (preacher) reports, “We have been studying with Luke for the past few weeks. We completed Book 3 on Monday evening, and Luke was baptized into Christ! To God be the glory!”

Malvern church of Christ, Arkansas (remote): David Burruss (preacher) reports, “Last week was a slower week while we were at Camp Ida. Also, a few of our compassion card team members were not feeling well. We sent 17 compassion cards. We attempted two transitional visits. The first was not home, but the second went well. The second contact will be out of town on vacation, but there is a good chance for a Bible study after the vacation.”

Lake City church of Christ, Florida: Jim Flegert (elder) reports, “Our visitor team was rejoicing this morning as one of our recent contacts visited our worship service. They had received a new mover basket three months ago and compassion cards this past month. We learned that they had called tonight and are planning on attending our VBS tomorrow night. Our deacon in charge of VBS has made arrangements this year by adding a greeter table with two of our members recording the names, addresses, and phone numbers of parents visiting our VBS. These names and information will be used to send compassion cards and invite these families in the next month to a special night set aside for them to get more acquainted with our spiritual family and us to them.”

Niceville church of Christ, Florida: Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “We had one new family visit this week. We had nine returning visitors. We had five people in Bible studies this week. I set up a new study from a benevolence contact this week. We are gearing up for VBS and had a meeting to discuss how to create contacts from VBS. This week, we mailed out 50 compassion cards.”

Bremen church of Christ, Georgia: Scott Broughton (member) reports, “This past Sunday we started a New Converts class with Bob Staples as the teacher. There were 19 in attendance, and eight of those are converts from the last few years.”

Rabun County church of Christ, Georgia (remote): McKinley Pate (preacher) reports, “June was a great month here in Rabun County. The Lord blessed us with a baptism in the first week of June, and He blessed us with another baptism in the last week of June.

“The last Wednesday night of June, I received a phone call from a man who said he was trying to find someone to baptize him. Of course, I responded with, “Look no further.” It was a few minutes before our Wednesday Bible class started. I had invited him to Bible Study, and he said he would attend.  As I made the church announcements at the start of the service, the phone rang again. I told the members to sit tight while I went to answer the phone just in case it was the man who had previously called. It was, and he stated that he could not find a ride. I told him that I would come and pick him up after Bible Class if he would like, and he said, “Yes.” He told me his name was Noah. He said he will be moving to the Atlanta area in a few days, and he wanted to be baptized in the same town he was “saved” in. During the drive, I asked him to explain his story to me. He stated that about a year ago, he felt that he needed to turn his life around, and that same night, he was saved. When we got to the building, I told him that being baptized was a huge deal and that I would feel more comfortable knowing that he knew what he was doing, so I asked to have a Bible study. After our research, I asked him if he wanted to be baptized, and he said yes. I asked him why, and he said that according to what we had studied, he was still lost, and he didn’t want to be lost anymore. He needed to be baptized so that he would be saved.

“I contacted Jake Sutton, the minister at Piedmont Road, and he talked to Noah since Noah was moving to that area. Noah was encouraged to attend Piedmont Road Sunday when he moved to Atlanta. We continue to look for every opportunity to show compassion and share the Gospel with others. We are still working with several prospects, and we are encouraged by their open hearts. Noah showed me that there are people out there who are starving to learn how to please God. Now and then, they will find us, but most of the time, we have to find them. We still have a lot of work ahead of us in Rabun County, and we know that God will continue to give the increase.”

Cartersville church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Charles Harris (regional trainer), “We are working through BTTB 3 as a church. This is helping me learn who is interested in teaching others. Soon, we will get together for more in-depth teaching by working through Fishing For Men, written by Bobby Bates. Our ongoing Bible studies continue to progress. One soul enjoyed the study so much that he brought a friend with him for the next lesson. On Sunday, we began our Compassion Card work with Team 1. We had 18 participants, which is over 90 percent of the group. One hundred cards were written. Our Prospect List consists of ten souls. Each one will receive ten cards this week. Next week, Team 2 will write to the same souls. Our Prospect List focuses primarily on souls in the Erring Brethren category based on our Bookmarks. Over 40 names have been submitted from the church. We will be working through those names as time continues. I have lost count of the members who have shown me their bookmarks filled with names and wondering when we will get to the rest of the categories. The desire to reach the lost in Cartersville grows each week.”

Lafayette church of Christ, Georgia: Jesse Teague (deacon) reports, “Team 1 met yesterday after evening worship to send out compassion cards. The saints at Lafayette are using this tool to reach out to souls who need to hear the gospel. We have made many visits and revisits after sending compassion cards, and although we haven’t had a new study lately, we keep visiting, tilling the soil, and sowing the seed. God will give the increase.”

Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Matt Amos (preacher) reports, “Our ACTS Evangelism Program received four contact cards. WCOC is preparing for another door-knocking campaign this weekend, weather permitting. The Compassion Cards Group created seventeen cards for delivery. Eighteen of us attended the Pre-Convert/Evangelism class. We had eleven non-Christian visitors, and we conducted three Bible studies this week.”

Eatonton church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Roderick Coney (preacher) reports, “Here are our activities from the last couple of weeks. Sorry for the delay. Sermons preached include ‘Jesus, the Politically Incorrect Evangelist,’ and ‘Quantity, not Quality.’ I also gave the congregation the contact bookmarks and the six-step process card. We had three visitors and sent them cards. We need to get a table skirt for our evangelism table.”

Peachtree City church of Christ, Georgia: Lew Foshee (elder) reports, “We continue to distribute invitation cards and are experiencing visitors each week. We believe the invitation cards are a tremendous tool for our evangelism program. We had a baptism on Sunday, and we rejoiced with our new sister in Christ.”

Honolulu church of Christ, Hawaii: Tagiilima Esene (preacher) reports, “Aloha from the Honolulu congregation! We continue to study the Bible with a total of seven souls. One study is close to the end, and this soul is very tender-hearted and near to the kingdom. Please pray for Moani, that she will put on Christ in baptism soon. Some from our congregation came together to go into our community to do door-knocking for our upcoming VBS. Please pray for our VBS this year. We request prayers that we may produce contacts, edify the church, and glorify God in our efforts.”

West Hammond church of Christ, Indiana: Robert Webster (preacher) reports, “So we sent out 15 cards last week and got four more contact cards.  Our three bible studies are ongoing, and we expect to start two more this week.  Many of our members who have never been involved in evangelism are beginning to embrace the thought that they can be involved in it in various ways.  We will finally have our evangelism table and the information board on display with the appropriate material.  I will get the pictures available by tomorrow.”

Collinsville-Troy church of Christ, Illinois: Jason Wright (elder) reports, “AMC coming to the Collinsville-Troy church of Christ has many of our members excited and reaching out. We are preaching John 4 from the pulpit. Visitors from the community dinner have been coming to services on Wednesdays and Sundays. This has been a real shot in the arm for our membership. Three studies are ongoing, and we are working to schedule four more. Our Bookmark coordinator showed the congregation the video on bookmarks and then gave a summary while they were being passed out to every member. This week, reminders will go out to our members to finish filling out the bookmarks and begin praying. Plans are being made to get the community service underway. We sent out 132 cards, with more being written as we speak. Follow up visits have started as well. The post-AMC survey is now in the hands of members. We cannot wait to get their feedback. Growth is coming to the Lord’s church in Southern Illinois!”

Beloit church of Christ, Kansas (remote): Dustin Dougherty (regional trainer) reports, “I am excited to arrive at Polishing the Pulpit, Branson, Missouri. I will be teaching about evangelism and learning from others. This is my first time, and I can hardly wait to take what I learn back to Kansas to help others reach the lost.”

Central church of Christ, Paducah, Kentucky: Adam Faughn (preacher) reports, “It was exciting to hear that one of our older men decided to be baptized last Friday evening. He had been baptized many years ago, but after studying with some of our members, he decided to make sure his calling and election. I am not mentioning his name because he did this privately and did not want it discussed publicly, but we are still very excited for him. We continue to do follow-up work from our recent booth at the county fair. Three personal Bible studies are scheduled to begin this week, and we continue to pray for more as we do more follow-up work. Doors are opening in many places, and we pray that we are walking through them. To God be the glory!”

La Plata church of Christ, Maryland (remote): Eric Sykes (regional trainer) reports, “We had a great week. We delivered nine new mover baskets and we hope to deliver the remaining 12 by the end of the week. Scheduling issues caused Sandy and me to reschedule Lesson 3 of BTTB with my twin sisters in Chicago. Pray that we can get that done soon. My cousin called and asked if we could continue our Bible study lessons. We are now on lesson two of BTTB. We sent out 26 compassion cards this week. We wrote to a young lady on our compassion card list who had a baby last week, so she is the first “new birth” prospect. The young couple that we have been working with for nearly six months called yesterday and said that they would like to be baptized. They still have some questions, so we will meet with them tomorrow. We appreciate all prayers for their obedience of the Gospel. I am super busy and excited as I prepare for AMC next week. Five members are attending our new converts’ training classes. One of our new converts has just entered lesson one of BTTB with a coworker. Since VBS, more members are stepping up and asking what they can do to help. God is good. We appreciate all prayers.”

East Main church of Christ, Tupelo, Mississippi: Barry Kennedy (preacher) reports, “We are excited to see things moving forward here at East Main. We continue to teach the Back to the Bible booklets on Sunday mornings during worship hour (as well as in some Bible classes). The elders teach the “Believe the Bible” series in the auditorium class. We are also trying to have regular meetings with coordinators to help promote training and keep up morale and accountability. We started last Wednesday with our first compassion card writing session, which did not disappoint! It was great seeing the family at East Main focusing on the main mission of seeking the lost! Pray for our efforts to evangelize and glorify our great God in Heaven!”

West Hwy 160 church of Christ, West Plains, Missouri: Marvin Hatley (elder) reports, “We are so blessed with several studies that continue to progress with members engaging friends and coworkers. One study began Book 1 of Back to the Bible last week, but they had to delay finishing due to a timing issue. Lord willing, that study will continue after Polishing the Pulpit. Another study progressed to Book 2 of BTTB, scheduled for this evening. The prospect in this study had experienced denominational teachings as a youth, but he seems receptive to Bible answers to questions. A third study is also scheduled to finish book one BTTB this evening. The prospect in this study has been willing to engage in Bible studies for quite some time and has even visited the congregation, but he struggles with his denominational background. We are blessed with opportunities. To God be the Glory!”

West End Blvd church of Christ, Cape Girardeau, Missouri: Jared Scaggs (preacher) reports, “We had a great start to our VBS. We contacted people in the community. On Wednesday night, a man named Philip visited us. After I talked with him, he expressed interest in a Bible study, and we set one up for the beginning of this week. He came to Bible class and worship Sunday as well. We appreciate all prayers for this Bible study and contact.”

East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “By God’s grace, we have over 80 compassion cards to be sent out incrementally this week. We still have several ongoing Bible studies. We are also preparing for our VBS next week, praying that it will be an evangelistic event. We appreciate all prayers.”

Greenville church of Christ, Ohio: John McGiffin (preacher) reports, “Recent preachers trying out have stated they desire to work with the congregation due to the “fire within the church at Greenville.” This is mainly due to the treasurer who keeps reminding us that we need to increase our contacts and our bookmarks. He is eager for more names for compassion cards. I will be speaking at the Polishing the Pulpit in Branson. One topic is evangelism in a small congregation without elders, and the other is about techniques that are working. In short, we need to trust the process and the model. Then our efforts will proceed well. Our current focus is to replace the pulpit minister due to the imminent departure of the current minister to another work in another state. The congregation has reached out with the prodigal focus. This has resulted in six people returning regularly. Two other couples have started attending after several years of absence. This seems promising as our average attendance has declined from 41.5 to 35. The past two Sundays have seen attendance at 56 and 46, respectively. It signifies that reaching out to prodigals can lead to low-hanging fruit.”

New Concord church of Christ, Ohio: Terry Townsend (preacher) reports, “We start our Family Bible School today (Monday-Thursday), and we are expecting a good crowd of visitors from the community. The names and addresses of these individuals will be recorded, and they will immediately become contacts. Several new visitors came to our Sunday service this week, including friends of ‘visitors’ who have been attending regularly for several months. Another elderly brother and sister have been coming in recent weeks because they have grown frustrated with denominationalism. Today they brought a relative to services. Welcome Bags were given to those who visited this week, and cards will be sent to them. A man and his wife who attended our Friends and Family Day were back on Sunday. We followed up with them via a personal visit last week. The woman is a Buddhist, and he is denominational, but neither has attended anywhere for many years. They both said they like the simplicity of how we do things and talked like they would be back. They have invited me back to their place for some authentic Thai food. I plan to be back in their home soon. Great news! Two young adults attending our services since December were baptized Sunday afternoon. They are both juniors in college. Both had been previously baptized in denominations but came to an understanding that it was not correct. Both of them expressed interest in helping with our Family Bible School, and we immediately found a place for them to get involved. I continue to be amazed by the number of visitors showing up at our assemblies (many of which were not previously contacted). It is somewhat overwhelming to think about all the work that still needs to be done, but we will get it done with God’s help and the collective effort of many faithful brethren! To God be the glory!”

Streetsboro church of Christ, Ohio: Ralph Price (preacher) reports, “We currently have seven people on our compassion card list with another set to be added next week. We had a visitor yesterday who recently moved into town and decided to visit us due to our HTH/HTH mailings. We wrote down his information and invited him to lunch (which he declined) and put him on the compassion card list. He seemed enthusiastic about his visit and said he would return; he hopes to bring his wife. We pray that things will go well there. We also had a young lady (age 14) visit yesterday. She had attended a church camp where my daughter was a counselor. She lives in town and wants to be baptized after her week at camp. She is concerned about how her parents will react. We are meeting with her on Wednesday; then I will know more about her situation after we talk. Also, one of our members asked her mother if she would like to do a Bible study, and she said yes! That study will be starting either tonight or tomorrow. A lot of good things are happening right now.”

Cheyenne church of Christ, Oklahoma (remote): Nathan Brewer (member) reports, “We began painting rooms beside the baptistry last week, and we purchased towels and clothes to use during and after baptisms. The congregation watched two brief videos on ‘transitioning’ with prospects.”

Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (regional trainer) reports, “On Monday evening, Houston and Clayton studied with a mutual friend named Bob and his girlfriend Jackie. He was not ready for a formal study, but he wanted some questions answered. They visited with him about his questions. Houston answered some questions and deferred others. But through the visit, Houston explained that he had a three-part study that would build a firm foundation if Bob would be interested in going through it. Bob agreed that he would, so they will schedule BTTB Lesson 1 next week. On Friday evening, after attending a funeral for a friend, Garrett’s mom started asking him some questions about salvation and what we believe. She is a member of a denomination. Garrett asked her if she would sit down for a study so she could understand it properly. She said she would, so he is working to schedule BTTB Lesson 1 with her. We will be headed to Polishing the Pulpit this week. I look forward to visiting with brothers and sisters from other congregations and hearing about their evangelism efforts! We appreciate prayers for safe travels for all who will be attending!”

Sullivan Village church of Christ, Oklahoma: Steven Hill (preacher) reports, “Things are going well at Sullivan Village! We are continuing the process of installing elders and praying for good leaders. I studied Part 1 from Back to the Bible with a young man on Saturday, and he wants his girlfriend to join the studies. We hope their hearts will be receptive to the gospel (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). We are maximizing our outreach efforts on the east side of Lawton and hearing from several about its impact. To God be the glory!”

York church of Christ, Pennsylvania: Mark Raschke (member) reports, “Now that we have dates set for our final worship service in our current building (August 11) and our first worship service in our new building (August 18), we have started making letters and flyers to send to all the prospects and contacts on our lists. We are including members, former members, those who have fallen away, those who have received cards from us, friends, family, and neighbors. The goal is to “pack the building” one last time before we move, and then we will have an open house at the new building. In the meantime, we are continuing with conversations and studies with prospects we have already been pursuing. Shortly, we will also be looking to start a new church website, get new church business cards, and update our HTH mailing lists with information about the new location.”

Union church of Christ, South Carolina (remote): Terry Hale (preacher) reports, “We had a great training class on closing the study. Also, we gave a visitor bag to a visitor, based on her contact information. We will be sending her compassion cards very soon.  Visits and studies last week were moved to this week because of so many going out of town.”

West End church of Christ, Knoxville, Tennessee: Hector Cortez (evangelist) reports, “One of my plans for this year was to participate in one of the evangelistic campaigns, but my health has not allowed me to do so. At West End, we continue the effort to reach the lost. We recently celebrated some baptisms and are currently in the middle of our VBS. After this, we will hold the back-to-school fair at the end of the month.  We have had eleven baptisms this year!”

New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fulks (elder) reports, “We had eight visitors from the community. The members submitted two new contacts. We wrote twenty-five compassion cards and an additional twenty-two cards for the Short Mountain Bible camp campers. We have one ongoing Bible study and continue with our new converts’ class.”

Madison County church of Christ, Jackson, Tennessee: Steven Sprouse (preacher) reports, “We have prepared our new mover baskets. We will deliver them this week. These gifts are how we prospect the contacts. We appreciate prayers as we continue to be evangelistic.”

McKenzie church of Christ, Tennessee: Randy McAdams (elder) reports, “We have no big changes to report. We sent out our first cards yesterday for July. We have five contacts right now, and two are non-members. We plan to implement the suggestions about reaching out to the bereaved and new births.”

East Main church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Brad Rowley (elder) reports, “With our members working in Murfreesboro, our Bible camp, and our mission trip, June was a fantastic month. For June, we had 15 contact cards, 137 compassion cards, five follow-up visits, 21 new Bible studies, five ongoing Bible studies, and nine baptisms. To God, give the glory! The baptisms include Roosevelt Easley, Matthew Robinson, Kate Morris, Thailyn Whitaker, and Audrey Massey. From the mission trip, we had four more saved souls: Daisey, Marcus, Carlow, and Madeline. We received our college ministry Invitation Cards from the printer. Our new website will be complete sometime this month. We will be handing out flyers this Saturday, July 13, to advertise our backpack drive. East Main has had 19 baptisms and 54 people in Bible studies for the year.”

Celina church of Christ, Tennessee: Daniel Burton (member) reports, “Compassion Card Team 1 has met for the first time with twenty-five in attendance. The attendance rate was a great success in Week 1!  We are seeing people that have not been active step up and say that it is time for no more excuses. The amount of effort the coordinator put into the Compassion Cards is truly astonishing. The result of such an excellent job brought successful results! Also, yesterday, we had those who wanted to help assemble new movers’ baskets. It was a success and a great time for fellowship. On Sunday, we had new visitors in the crowd. We had six visitors, including children. With action from the body of Christ, the results are amazing. To God be the Glory! The tone and mood are now different at Celina church of Christ, and we are grateful. An evangelism train is coming, and it is time to get on board. Tonight is the third Bible study with one precious soul. We are praying without ceasing in this matter. The teacher is prepared and doing a great job. The student has a receptive heart. It is our prayer that tonight he will be baptized and added by the Lord to His Church like those in Acts 2:47. We appreciate all prayers for the efforts of Celina church of Christ.”

Stoney Creek church of Christ, Elizabethton, Tennessee: Mike Blevins (elder) reports, “We have four studies ongoing, though one is on hold. The table is set up, and groups are in place. Kris explained the process in detail, including prospect cards and the congregation list. He did an excellent job presenting. We are working.”

Hillsboro church of Christ, Tennessee: Scott Evans (member) reports, “Follow-up visits were made to a few of our contacts to whom we have sent cards. Team B meets this week to send cards to our new movers and the ones on our contact list. We will be starting our 2024 Summer Series with a different speaker each week on Wednesday night. Our speaker this week is Bill Watkins, and his subject is “Walk by Imitating a Christ-like Example.”

Hillcrest church of Christ, Springfield, Tennessee: Tim Taylor (associate preacher) reports, “Mishelle Frey, the erring Christian who has been visiting with us, has placed her membership at Hillcrest, thanks in great part to a concentrated effort by several of our members and implementation of our SOE programs! Our Visitor Greeting Coordinator has developed an email template he uses weekly to give a snapshot of their efforts and progress with prospects. I will attempt to add a picture of it to the end of this text. Our final Compassion Card group meets this week, bringing about our first Mission Monday for follow-up visits. We are praying for positive outcomes!”

Mountain Creek church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Michael Tomshack (elder) reports, “We rejoice with the angels as we have a new brother in Christ. Gary Massey (Elder/Minister), studied with Michael for several weeks through Back to the Bible. Michael realized his immediate need for baptism last Monday at 5:00 o’clock. He began visiting us a few months ago after seeing Gary’s sermons online. The greeters welcomed him with a gift bag, and the Compassion Card Team leader sent him a visitor card. Each Sunday, many members greeted him, calling him by name. This is another example of the entire congregation being involved in bringing a soul to Christ.

“We have several members who are gifted with name recall. This may seem like a small gift; however, calling a returning guest by name greatly impacts a person’s life. It shows we care enough to remember. Historically, I have not been one to remember a name at the first meeting, but I remember their face. With that limitation, when we began the School of Evangelism process, I created an iPhone Reminder list of guests with a descriptive word. Then, as guests arrive before classes and before worship, I glance at the list as a reminder. Two guests said they were surprised I remembered their name. Technology can be useful.”

Hebron church of Christ, McMinnville, Tennessee: Derrick Stiles (preacher) reports, “We had another great week at Hebron! On Sunday night, we learned how to apply Contacts to Prospects to our Compassion Card program. Also, we took a congregational survey, which will be used to establish coordinators for each program moving forward. Two Bible studies are underway, and I hope to start another one soon! We appreciate prayers as we are becoming evangelistic focused for the future.”

Rivergate church of Christ, Madison, Tennessee: Doug Tooley (preacher) reports, “We had two young ladies from our youth group who were baptized this past Monday night. I think I sent this last week but did not see it on the report. We had two more baptisms from the women’s prison ministry Sue Crain’s involvement. Recently, we have incorporated HTH methods into this work. We had two visitors on Sunday, and we made two visits last week. We have been sending around 184 compassion cards, and we have had 17 visits, 24 visitors, and 17 baptisms since our seminar in March.”

Chapel Hill church of Christ, Tennessee: Matt Jones (deacon) reports, “This past week was another week for rejoicing. We added two new sisters in Christ! One was from our youth, who completed some additional studies after our camp. The other was a young woman with whom Isaac had recently studied. Our new converts class is starting to fill up! We still have several ongoing Bible studies that we pray will result in more people giving their lives to Christ. We have around eight additional visits that will be made shortly. Also, we have started our efforts to follow up with those who visited during our recent Vacation Bible School. There is much work to do, and everyone is staying busy as we work toward reaching the lost!”

Natalia church of Christ, Texas: Jim Word (elder) reports, “Barbara moved to Texas in December 2022 and was attending a recommended church but did not feel like they were teaching the truth, so she started researching churches in the area. She was searching for one that was only teaching and preaching God’s Word and God’s Truth. She read our mission statement and started attending the Natalia church of Christ. She said she was ‘overjoyed’ because we ‘speak God’s Word.’ My wife and I asked if she would be willing to do Bible study with us, and she said yes. We scheduled the first study on July 1. It went well, and she agreed to do the second study on July 3. That, too, went well, as Barbara is searching for truth, so we set a time for Friday, July 5, for the third study. At that time, she realized that her previous baptism was not according to Scripture, and she wanted to be baptized for the remission of her sins and be added to the Lord’s church. She was baptized on July 5. Just before her baptism, she asked for copies of the studies to have Bible studies with her sister, who still lives out of state. We gave her the studies and agreed to pray for her and her sister.”

Graceton church of Christ, Diana, Texas: Johnny Willeford (elder) reports, “Our 4th of July hotdog and firework fellowship was a great success. Several families visited with us and enjoyed the fun and fellowship. In the past few weeks, my granddaughter and a friend of hers have obeyed the gospel and put Christ on at baptism. Our Bible studies with the Shavers have been going very well. They have been attending services for a month now. Three families have received new mover baskets the past couple of weeks and attended Sunday morning services. We had six families in all visiting with us this past Sunday. Our Compassion Card Group A will send 129 cards to 16 new contacts this week. Our annual gospel meeting will start next weekend, and we are trying to reach as many people in our community as possible by inviting them to attend. We appreciate all prayers.”

Granbury Street church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas: Ryan Cowan (deacon) reports, “One-hundred-degree heat, PTP, and family vacations have made this summer busy! Even with all this, we have continued our weekly card-writing efforts. We have an average of about eight members each week who write compassion cards. Some of our contacts are from last summer, and some are more recent. Bible studies are still taking place, but there is some delay due to the fourth study. A signup sheet has been made for our September 20 evangelism event as we continue to organize and prepare for this good work.”

Buda-Kyle church of Christ, Texas: Ronnie Scherffius (preacher) reports, “Buda Kyle is making progress! On Sunday, we went through the Back to the Bible training classes. We had a young couple visiting, and now we have Bible studies set up with them this week.”

Wheeler church of Christ, Texas: Garrett English (preacher) reports, “My study with a hot contact was moved to this week. I appreciate prayers for this soul to be open to God’s Word. We had nine children at our VBS this week and continue to establish relationships. We will follow through after the summer and ask them what they think about the church of Christ.”

9^th and Main church of Christ, San Angelo, Texas: Bryan Braswell (elder) reports, “As of yesterday, we have six studies ongoing, presented by six different members within 9th and Main. Many folks have been traveling due to summer trips and Bible camps. We continue to farm new contacts and follow up with existing ones.”

Bridgewater church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (deacon) reports, “Recently at Bridgewater, 16 of our congregation went out and put door hangers on about 600 doors. The next Sunday, one of the recipients of a hanger came to church services with us. He speaks mainly Spanish. We have a few Spanish families who are members of Bridgewater, and one of them sat with him. He requested a Bible, and we gave him one. He returned last Sunday. While hanging the hangers on the doors, one of our members was told of another Spanish-speaking woman looking for a church. We have her address and will visit her. The Spanish-speaking brothers and sisters have a class in their language on Wednesday evening. Our evangelists, Wade Webster, Jim Avalos, and two of Wade‘s daughters, went to Mexico for a week of preaching, teaching, and encouraging the brethren. One of our visitation teams will meet Sunday evening to sign cards to our prospects.”

Southwest church of Christ, Austin, Texas: John Garza (regional trainer), “We have two Bible studies that are progressing, and they are going very well. From one of them, we got another study set up with Amanda’s husband after he visited the church with her last Wednesday. This past Sunday, we had multiple visitors, and after a meal with them, we set up three Bible studies.”

West Side church of Christ, Salem, Virginia: Jeff Durham (elder) reports, “We completed Back to the Bible Book 3 and discussed ‘How to Close a Study’ during Bible class. For the morning lesson, one of our members presented a message from 1 Corinthians 12 about how EVERY member has a place in the Lord’s work, especially in the command/responsibility to teach the lost. The elders then introduced using the Contact Cards to begin the formal outreach to our prospects using Compassion Cards. The evening lesson focused on the resources available on the Evangelism Table and how the Compassion Cards are designed to let people know we care about them and are praying for them, which we hope will lead to Bible studies. After services, our members joined to write 50 compassion cards, ten each to five different individuals.”

Eight Mile Rock church of Christ, Bahamas (remote): “The angels rejoice once again as we introduce our newest sister, Felicia Barbes. She was baptized into Christ on Sunday. Sister Felicia completed Bible studies with my wife and decided to follow our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Please pray for her and her husband, who is not a member. We are working to reach him next!”