| Reaching the Lost- Success Stories
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Featured Congregation:
Church of Christ Student Center, Oklahoma Panhandle State University, Goodwell, Oklahoma
Written by Raoul Ferris (evangelist)
Our family has made the transition and moved to Oklahoma to labor with the Oklahoma Panhandle State University Student Center. We have wasted no time meeting neighbors and building relationships. We have already begun to visit local churches of Christ as our desire is to use this Student Center in two ways.
First, we want to have the church meeting in Goodwell year-round, not just when Christians are on campus. The town of Goodwell has a population of about 900 and is primarily Methodist or Baptist. The university, when in session, can seat 1,100 people. We want to lead not only the college students to Christ but the town’s people.
Second, our goal is to use the Student Center as an evangelism center that will assist the churches of Christ that surround us. The town of Goodwell is located in the Panhandle of Oklahoma, which makes several churches of Christ easily accessible within the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas. Our desire is to use Goodwell as a place to train in evangelism and to then go assist other congregations. To assist with these goals, we have been blessed to bring on two young evangelists, Isaiah and Isaac Sprouse from Dublin, Texas. They will be here for one year, interning and being mentored in evangelism. I met these soul winners a few years back on a door-knocking campaign in Itasca, Texas. Since then, they have joined us on various campaigns. We are eager to have them. Please pray for Isaiah and Isaac as they labor with us here.
Finally, the church of Christ in Guymon gave me a good contact with an incoming freshman for the OPSU football team. His name is Trae, and he is a Christian. Our family is having him over for dinner, along with his roommate. We are also having another family from the Guymon church of Christ join us. Our goal is to build up this young Christian, as he stated to one of the elders at Guymon, ‘My goal is to convert the whole football team.’ We request prayers for this effort.
Congregational Reports
Petersville church of Christ, Florence, Alabama: Adam Richardson (preacher) reports, “Petersville welcomed three new Christians last week! William, our new convert, has been talking with friends about his new life in Christ, and three of them decided they wanted to know more. He studied the same things I had studied with him a few months ago, and then we all met at the church building to talk. After about 45 minutes, they confessed Jesus was their Lord and submitted to Him in baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Pray for Tyson, Chris, and Kelsey as they are brand new babes in Christ, setting off on their journey.”
Creekwood church of Christ, Mobile, Alabama: Tucker Presley (preacher) reports, “Our VBS was a huge success last week! We had a lot of visitors, which means we made a lot more contacts! The first batch of cards is going out this week. We will continue to write to them for a few weeks and then follow up with visits after that. We still have two Bible studies going on as well!”
Cedar Grove church of Christ, Andalusia, Alabama: Joshua Holloway (preacher) reports, “We have five ongoing Bible studies. I spent the week at PTP and enjoyed the fellowship.”
Bergman church of Christ, Harrison, Arkansas: Vince Stewart (preacher) reports, “Two members from our congregation visited two new movers; they had good, long conversations with them, and they were even invited inside to chat. One of the people on my bookmark has now come up for prospecting. He is our field tech from Tyson Foods who comes out to the farm to check on chickens and such. He talked to Mom and Dad at their house, saw the current Spiritual Sword book laying out, and asked Mom about it. Next time he comes to the farm, I will approach him about it and hope to have him and his wife out here for BBQ and Bible study. Twelve compassion cards were sent last week, and more are going out this week. The congregation is beginning to get involved, and I am pleased with how things are beginning to change now. I am even bringing up every little victory and every small detail as far as the work advances, and I reported to them about Northside’s progress and success for extra motivation.”
Harrisonburg church of Christ, Arkansas: Mark Weston (elder) reports, “We met again following services last night and prepared another 55 compassion cards to send out this week. About 16 members stayed and helped with that effort, and we continue to be encouraged by how this simple program is reaching our community and softening hearts. Brock continues to do an outstanding job with his presentation of the Back To The Bible lessons. Everyone is enjoying them and gaining wisdom and confidence as we study together. Our visitors seem to be enjoying them as well, and we know that in time they will make the right decision to surrender to Christ. We had three visitors yesterday, and they continue to encourage us with their presence. Two were Christians just passing through, and we enjoyed visiting with them. One was a former member who moved away and was just back visiting. We also enjoyed visiting with him. Things continue to progress well with our efforts here in Harrisburg. We have learned to work the program and give it time to work. Patience has done us well. Too many times we rush things when hearts simply aren’t ready! We received several more new mover names from HTH today. We will get busy on them right away. These have definitely been a great asset, and we have all thoroughly enjoyed visiting with them and inviting them to services. Tunene and I have been getting things ready and doing some more training so that we can leave in August and take a trip to Alaska. We are leaving things in good hands here. We have instructed, stocked up on compassion cards and stamps, and know that the members here in Harrisburg will continue to do a great job! That is the beauty of this program. It shouldn’t depend upon one or two individuals. It is a team effort, and the members here have really been putting forth an effort. I am so proud to be a part of this fellowship of Christians!”
Fayette church of Christ, Alabama: Josh Taylor (deacon) reports, “We have reason to rejoice. Last year, we identified two members, the Gilpins, who had not been faithful for many years. Mr. Gilpin has several health issues, so we began sending them cards. Over the past year, various people from our congregation have met with them to encourage them. Our ministers met with them last week, and after a good conversation, they both asked for forgiveness to be restored to faithful service. God’s patience is greater than ours. We are grateful for their willingness to come forward. We also have a couple who have been regularly attending with us, and we hope to schedule a study in the coming weeks. We appreciate all prayers for a successful study!”
Northside church of Christ, Harrison, Arkansas: Larry Keener (elder) reports, “Northside church has been busy. Fifty of our members attended several sessions at PTP in Branson. We also experienced a baptism that resulted from our Wednesday night evangelism class practicing Does it Matter. One of the class participants decided to be immersed as the Bible said, instead of how she had done in the past. Steve Powers’ sermon Sunday centered on our evangelistic mission. Next week, our transition team will be assigned visits. Pray for success and God to be glorified.”
Washington Avenue church of Christ, Jonesboro, Arkansas: Joshua Adams (preacher) reports, “We are very excited to begin this evangelism effort! The elders have dedicated this first week to prepare for the launch of the new programs. I am happy to report that there was a Bible study this past week with a young couple who attended the training sessions last Sunday. The study went well, and they were able to finish Lesson 1 of Back to the Bible. We are hopeful that we will have more studies in the near future.”
Concord Street church of Christ, Orlando, Florida: Billy Dickson (evangelist) reports, “Please join us in praying for our 14 ongoing Bible studies and for our new converts as they continue to grow in their faith. This past Sunday evening, we conducted a congregational training session on Transition Visits, equipping members to follow up effectively with visitors and prospects. Our Transition Team also continues to receive training each Sunday morning after services as they prepare to make regular visits. Our Sunday morning Bible class also continues its Back to the Bible training. We are currently in Week 5 of 6 and have been encouraged by the congregation’s enthusiasm as members gain confidence in sharing the Gospel and leading Bible studies. During Sunday’s sermon, our preacher, David, shared photos of celebrating the six recent baptisms the Lord has blessed our congregation with. It was an encouraging reminder of God’s work through the faithful efforts of His people and a motivation for the congregation to continue reaching others with the Gospel. We are grateful for the doors God continues to open, and we appreciate prayers as we seek to strengthen our new converts, follow up with visitors, and help lead more souls to Christ.”
Stuart church of Christ, Florida: Tom Neth (deacon) reports, “This week, we witnessed another powerful reminder that God’s Word changes lives. One of our ministers, Terry, has been studying the Bible with a young couple. He was raised in the church, while she had no religious background. As they continued to study God’s Word together, it became clear that they needed to make some important changes in their lives. Their response was a beautiful demonstration of faith and commitment. On the same day, she was baptized into Christ, and the two were married. Moments like these remind us that the Gospel not only brings forgiveness of sins but also transforms hearts, strengthens families, and changes lives. In addition to this wonderful blessing, we began two new Bible studies this week, providing even more opportunities to share God’s Word. We were also thankful to welcome two new families who visited our congregation, and we pray that the relationships we are building will continue to grow. We remain committed to the daily work of evangelism through greeting visitors, writing compassion cards, making personal connections, and encouraging members to share their faith. We are grateful for the opportunities God continues to provide and look forward to seeing how He will continue to bless these efforts. We have now had 13 baptisms this year, and we have four active studies.”
Niceville church of Christ, Florida: Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “This week was our VBS. For whatever reason, we did not have our normal amount of prospects, but I do know of two families, and we will look at the rolls this week to determine if there are more. We had two visitors Sunday. We had three studies this week and see several good prospects for the coming weeks.”
Milestone church of Christ, Cantonment, Florida: Randy Brantley (elder) reports, “We have three Bible studies continuing. This Saturday, we have another training session planned for transition visits. Floyd Shaw is the new coordinator for transition visits.”
Cumming church of Christ, Georgia: Murphy O’Brien (member) reports, “We are asking everyone to submit their bookmark contacts into the contact Google form posted on BAND. Our congregation will be using an accountability board to post our year-to-date metrics at the front of the auditorium. Next to this accountability board, there will be QR codes to the Bible study counter Google form and the contact Google form, so we can easily submit our work into the forms. Our congregation is in the process of setting up our evangelism and visitor table. The material is being mailed right now, so we are looking forward to that and praying for opportunities to use the material. We had five new contacts submitted for prospecting. We sent 60 compassion cards to ten prospects. We conducted one Bible study.”
Cartersville church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Charles Harris (regional trainer) reports, “Changing the culture into an evangelistic one takes time. In the past couple of years, thanks to the members, much progress has been made here at Cartersville. However, there is room for improvement. It is time for us to pick up the pace. I am thankful to be working with brethren who understand our mission. There have been recent updates made to the HTHSOE Student Programs. After relaying the updates to the current students, we have motivated several to put more effort into their studies.”
Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Matt Amos (preacher) reports, “Woodstock church of Christ (WCOC) and the Sunabella Assistant Living Facility devotional had approximately six non-Christians at the devotional on Sunday. There were six non-Christians in attendance at the Canton Center for Nursing and Healing devotional. We had six visitors this past Sunday at WCOC. The compassion group sent out 18 compassion cards. WCOC had seven Bible studies last week.”
Gray church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Keith Dixon (preacher) reports, “We have six prospects right now, so we are sending compassion cards. We are hoping to make some transition visits soon.”
Collinsville-Troy church of Christ, Illinois: Jason Wright (evangelist) reports, “We are praising God for the baptism of Bodie Mortland. He is a young man with faithful parents who studied with him and then obeyed this past week. He then joined our evangelism teen class on Monday. We conducted four Bible studies last week. We delivered seven new mover’s baskets. We gave out one visitor bag. We packed 48 new mover’s baskets during our SOS 3rd hour. We had some ladies come through our clothing closet and made two contacts. We mailed out 104 compassion cards.”
Columbus church of Christ, Kansas: Matt Fowler (member) reports, “Beth and I began a Bible study with Gary and Christina. They have been repeat visitors to the congregation since receiving a new movers’ basket. The first study went well, and we have the second one set up. We appreciate prayers for this study and for the Word to fall on tender hearts. Our New Convert’s class has been going strong, and there have been some great discussions and study there. Please continue to pray for our efforts.”
15th Street church of Christ, Ottawa, Kansas (remote): Brady Altic (associate minister) reports, “Sixty-six cards have been sent, and we are planning to begin transition visits this week. We are also excited to start mailing HTH to the local area and utilizing the new movers to generate contacts. Prayers are appreciated and needed for our congregation to stay steadfast in this work for the Lord.”
Central church of Christ, Paducah, Kentucky: Adam Faughn (elder) reports, “We are thrilled that Ava Woodring was baptized last Friday night at Central. Ava is from near Alexandria, Virginia, but visits family in Paducah quite often. While here, she decided she needed to be immersed into Christ, and her uncle baptized her. Upon returning home, she will attend the Falls Church church of Christ (where she attends already). On Saturday, we had a booth at the local farmers’ market again. This time, though, our workers implemented some ideas from the recent AMC, and the results were fantastic. We received 10 contact cards, each with actionable next steps, and we will be taking those steps—new mover basket, compassion cards, and correspondence courses—this week. Finally, we had three local guests—a grandmother, mother, and daughter—at worship on Sunday. We took them out for lunch, and they have agreed to begin a Bible study with one of our elders and his wife very soon. We pray those studies get underway and bear fruit. Great things are happening; to God be the glory!”
Spring Creek church of Christ, Hickory, Kentucky: David Morse (elder) reports, “Greetings from the Spring Creek congregation. We are excited that we had a family of four from our local community as visitors this week. We are picking them up and bringing them to worship services on both Sundays and Wednesdays. We hope this will be an opportunity that leads to Bible studies in the near future. We continue to write compassion cards each week. Our leadership group meets on Wednesdays before services to discuss our evangelism efforts. Our numbers for the week include the following: Visitors – 26, Prospects – 15, Cards – 2,516, Bible studies – three, Baptisms – five, Baptism Goal – seven.”
Carriage Oaks church of Christ, Bossier City, Louisiana: Andrew Wynne (preacher) reports, “Last Wednesday night, one of our Compassion Card teams met to write cards to prospects. The turnout was very encouraging. We also conducted training on new movers bags. We have 28 to deliver in our community. Yesterday, July 19, I preached from Matthew 22 on the parable of the wedding feast. Afterward, one of our deacons came before the congregation and asked us if we are selectively choosing the people on our bookmarks, or are we trying to get the truth to as many as possible. It was a great reminder to plant, don’t pick. Yesterday afternoon we conducted training on what to do when visitors walk through our doors. We continue to have ongoing Bible studies with new Christians and non-Christians. We appreciate all prayers for our efforts.”
Gonzales church of Christ, Louisiana: Ben Vallery (deacon) reports, “The Gonzales church of Christ signed nine cards this week. We have seven studies that we pray lead to baptisms in the near future – one was reported to be very close. We continue our New Converts’ classes on Sundays and Wednesdays.”
Aberdeen church of Christ, Maryland: Will Brown (preacher) reports, “I was given the opportunity this past weekend to speak at the Mid-Atlantic Lectureship 2026 (MAC) in a teen session. The subject I spoke on was ‘How Do I Do a Bible Study?’ I taught a group of 20 teenagers from several Maryland churches who were interested. It was wonderful to speak to a small, packed room. I taught them that we must plan when doing Bible studies, and that it is best to use a Bible study method. I showed them Back to the Bible. I taught them to defer questions and to ask boldly for the Bible study. I pray a seed was planted to seek the lost among their friends and classmates. We continue to work towards Vacation Bible School this month. We door-knocked this past Sunday between worship services and were well-received by people in our community. I believe the House to House, Heart to Heart mailer was a success and the reason for the positive feedback from the community. We continue to have several visitors each week. We are encouraged that our city of Aberdeen, Maryland, continues to grow as people move to the area, giving us the opportunity to reach more people. Our congregation has grown numerically by two families who are new to our area and were looking for a church home. We appreciate prayers for our VBS efforts to lead to reaching lost souls. We continue to praise God for blessing our congregation with growth and energy.”
Waldorf church of Christ, Maryland: Eric Day (member) reports, “At Waldorf, we had three visitors with us at worship. This week, we are introducing the next stage of our Outreach Program. I created a New Movers Basket Drive and worked with everyone to gather supplies and shared homes that were recently moved into. After an HTH lesson on ‘Quantity, not Quality,’ we will build new movers baskets with our members. Everyone is excited and eager to work. We appreciate all prayers as we do our part to reach out to everyone!”
La Plata church of Christ, Maryland: Eric Sykes (regional trainer) reports, “All is going well here in La Plata. This week the saints wrote 95 compassion cards. We had four visitors. We delivered four new mover baskets. We added eight prospects to our HTH/HTH Newsletter recipient list. Sandy and I completed Lesson 3 of Back to the Bible with one of our prospects, and she said that she wanted to be baptized. Before we took her to the baptistery, we went through ‘Counting the Cost’ with her. Everything went well until we asked her the final question: ‘After you are baptized into Christ, where do you plan to worship?’ She said that she would pray about it and ask God which church she should ‘join’? We asked her a couple of questions and went over sections of Lesson 2 of Back to the Bible. We concluded that we should study more with her to help her understand about the church that Christ built and bought with His own blood . . . and promised to save. We appreciate prayers for her understanding and our study with her.”
Aberdeen church of Christ, Mississippi: Jonathan Hagar (preacher) reports, “WE HAD TWO BAPTISMS THIS SUNDAY—husband and wife, Tom and Jennifer Jermea. Tom came forward in response to the invitation, and Jennifer asked to be baptized right after service. It was a glorious day to see two souls added to the Lord’s church in one day here at the church! I was so happy that the church got to see Tom’s baptism in service. It was a great encouragement for the church to see the work that we are doing! We hope it will encourage others to get more involved. I am excited to make their NEW MEMBER SPOTLIGHTS and present them with their newly engraved Bibles from the church. We had five visitors this past Sunday morning to see the baptism, which was so good for them! On Sunday evening, a member said that the visitor she brought wanted to study baptism after seeing the baptism that morning. She has a Catholic background. I have a study scheduled with her on Monday at 10:00 a.m. I also have a Bible study planned for Wednesday with a mother and daughter! One of the elders, Todd Wilemon, has a Bible study scheduled with his neighbor on Wednesday also. It is a great day when we have to coordinate Bible studies at the church building because we have multiple studies happening at the same time! LOVE IT! We appreciate all prayers for these Bible studies. And there is more great news! Our New Convert’s class has grown so much that we are having to move them to a bigger classroom! SO AWESOME! We had our Card-writing Sunday this past week, and so the teams are busy sending out those cards. The door-knocking team went out this past Saturday to do the transition visits and to hand out the new mover gift bags. We are working away over here!”
Concord church of Christ, New Hampshire (remote): Terry Hale (evangelist) reports, “We appreciate prayers for a Bible study we have scheduled. We hope to have a new brother. Our training classes are being rescheduled for a time and day to fit everyone’s schedules better. Our New Convert class is very productive. Some of the new converts are already bringing studies and participating in studies.”
Oak Forest church of Christ, Goldsboro, North Carolina: Dennis May (elder) reports, “This Sunday we had two visitors. One was a new visitor, and we were able to give her a visitor’s bag and receive her contact information, as she is new to the local air base here. The other visitor had been here several times, and she is a Christian. We had four new families added to our Compassion Card group today. This afternoon the Compassion Card group wrote 82 cards. The elders have asked our coordinator of the Compassion Card groups to make sure we have a list of the members who should begin making visits. We will ask these folks to begin making the visits before the end of this week. We hope this will help us begin to have some new Bible studies. We appreciate prayers for our efforts to develop our work and for an increase of new Christian’s brothers and sisters.”
Glendale Street church of Christ, Newton, North Carolina (remote): Dayle Taylor (minister) reports, “Prospects: Bible studies continue with David’s relatives, Fred and Connie, as well as with co-worker Jerry Smith through Back to the Bible. Additional studies are underway with Terry Benton, Donald and Quanda Davis, and Tyrone Parson. Our newest member, Herman Bines, who recently attended with a friend and has expressed interest in a Bible study. New Converts: Our new converts, including Herman Bines, continue to attend worship services and Bible classes faithfully and are actively involved in the congregation. One convert who was baptized in March this year has attended worship only three times. We are encouraging her grandmother to continue serving as a positive example and source of encouragement. Restorations: A restored brother who has struggled with attendance in recent weeks is being encouraged to return to regular worship and Bible study. This effort has been supported by one of our new converts, Lee Wilson.”
Abilene church of Christ, Statesville, North Carolina (remote): Gary Dull (elder) reports, “We are still getting organized and finding out what works for our little congregation. The elders have appointed Jacque Pettit to spearhead the work and keep it organized and moving forward. He is making sure that we all understand our jobs. Along with visuals in our building, we now have a room where we meet early on Wednesday nights. He goes over our material and our mailing list, and we mail out cards on Wednesday.”
East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “We had our Vacation Bible School last Saturday with three visitors out of the 50 invitations sent and flyers given out in the community. Last Lord’s Day, we had four visitors in our worship service. Our metrics thus far through and for July are three baptisms and seven visitors. We appreciate all prayers.”
Alkire Road church of Christ, Grove City, Ohio: Tony Dunnagan (member) reports, “Our congregation had 11 visitors, and we were able to obtain two contact cards. We sent 46 compassion cards and have scheduled to assemble 30 new mover’s baskets on August 2, 2026 and deliver them the following week. We are working on the list for the transition visits. We appreciate all prayers as we are having VBS this week and hope to have visitors from the community.”
New Concord church of Christ, Ohio: Terry Townsend (preacher) reports, “We had a successful Family Bible School two weeks ago. Several young children attended from our community. Each student who came and filled out a registration form will receive a card in the mail. We did have one family move into our area recently and place membership with us this past week. I have been out visiting some of our members who have not attended services in a while, hoping to encourage them to come back. We have several, and my prayer is that we can say/do something to relight a spark in them!”
Marietta church of Christ, Oklahoma (remote): Chase Green (preacher) reports, “We had a family that we have placed on our ‘the few’ list who attended worship yesterday morning. We had helped them with some groceries, and they had attended every night of our VBS. We also had two sweet neighborhood children who had attended our VBS show up to worship all on their own. I was walking out of my garage the other day and heard another neighborhood child singing part of the Fruit of the Spirit song from VBS: “Gentleness and self controooool!” It was music to my ears! While we have been away, the congregation has been very busy sending cards to 26 contacts we made, and this already seems to be showing results (the one family attended worship with us yesterday). All hands are on deck, and the work is proving itself very quickly! I told the congregation recently, ‘Evangelism works . . . if we put in the work!’ I think we are ready to work in Marietta, Oklahoma!”
Barnes church of Christ, Alva, Oklahoma: John Bellah (evangelist) reports, “We rejoice with Cody who put on Christ in baptism on Sunday after studying with Randy Warner. Cody is a friend of Bobby who was baptized by Randy a few weeks ago. This confirms that new Christians are great contact creators! We have had several visitors lately who have been added to our list for compassion cards and a few visits left to be made.”
Grove church of Christ, Oklahoma: Juan Jarmillo (preacher) reports, “So far this month, we have sent 76 cards to our prospects. We are also planning to move our Thursday visitation day to another day of the week to work with our members’ schedules. This week, we are sending cards to five prospects, and we are still encouraging some of the youth to help out on visiting prospects. We appreciate all the prayers and may the Lord bless us all!”
Guymon church of Christ, Oklahoma: Chandler Henderson (evangelist) reports, “Last week one of our virtual Bible studies resulted in a baptism; Holley Noland was added to the Kingdom. We have several ongoing Bible studies. We wrote cards to the recent convert, and we made more contacts in the community. We have our VBS this weekend and hope to make many contacts through it. We also have Keno Shrum coming to do follow-up training with House to House, and we look forward to having each of our teams strengthened and better equipped to start doing more outreach.”
St. Andrews Road church of Christ, Columbia, South Carolina: Jamie Byrom (preacher) reports, “This past Saturday, we had a community backpack giveaway. This resulted in getting twenty contact cards. We continue to have three in our New Converts’ class.”
McKenzie church of Christ, Tennessee: Chance Steen (preacher) reports, “Our evangelism work continues to yield fruit. We have recently had two baptisms, Miranda and Kiley.”
Birdwell Chapel church of Christ, Tennessee: Kerry England (elder) reports, “VBS was a big success! We used a new format with the students moving through different stations: lesson, skit, and a combination of snacks and crafts. The children really seemed to enjoy it. We also had dinner before VBS both Friday and Sunday evening, with lunch and games after Saturday morning. This provided us time to fellowship and get to know our visitors! This coming Saturday is our second backpack drive. We are giving away backpacks packed with school supplies. The students will be coming into our youth area to meet our youth, see the facilities, and receive their backpacks. There is also a food giveaway, as we try to reach out to the community.”
Rome church of Christ, Lebanon, Tennessee (remote): David Oxley reports, “We have three new prospects to send cards to this week. We will also meet for our New Convert’s class on Monday.”
Soddy church of Christ, Soddy Daisy, Tennessee: Joe Mallory (preacher), “Vacation Bible School was such a blessing. We welcomed many visitors and have begun to make contact with some of those we met on July 4, hosting the community. We are looking forward to getting to know them and sending compassion cards to our new friends. By the end of this week, Care Teams 2 and 3 will have sent nearly 50 compassion cards. One Bible study (Believe the Bible) continues this week. We request prayers for the precious souls who will hear the Gospel of Christ!”
West Sparta church of Christ, Tennessee: Justin Turney (deacon) reports, “Our VBS went great last week. We have not looked at all the results yet, but I believe we gained at least five contacts and hopefully more!”
White Bluff church of Christ, Tennessee: Shamron Jackson (elder) reports, “We had 14 visitors Sunday morning. We do not have the visitor count for Sunday evening yet as our VBS started. No cards are being sent out this week. We have a couple of new Bible studies this week. We have had several families place membership that have been recipients of compassion cards who had moved into the area but were already members of the church.”
Freewill church of Christ, Gainesboro, Tennessee (remote): Andrew Scott (preacher) reports, “We had returning visitors yesterday and sent out more compassion cards. We rejoice with Jeff Hall as he responded to the Lord’s invitation and was restored. This was a monumental step for him as he had been out of the church for several years. God bless us all.”
Chapel Hill church of Christ, Tennessee: Matt Jones (deacon) reports, “We had another encouraging week. One of the young men had been studying with his parents and another member. He made the decision to obey the Gospel. We rejoice with his decision to follow Christ.”
Southern Hills church of Christ, Franklin, Tennessee: Fredrick Klein (preacher) reports, “We are thankful for the many opportunities the Lord continues to provide. We are following up with families who visited during VBS. We are also grateful that a new couple has recently placed membership with our congregation. That is two couples in a month who have placed membership with us. In addition, we are restarting our New Movers program to welcome families who are new to our community and introduce them to the work of the church. We appreciate prayers for God’s blessing with these efforts to open doors for His Word.”
Mountain Creek church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Michael Tomshack (elder) reports, “A single mother who noticed our VBS sign last month decided to attend, bringing her children as she resides very close to the building. Subsequently, we have been sending cards, and she attended one of our Connect Groups after being invited by our Greeters leader, Deena Hixson. Yesterday, one of our Young Professionals invited her to the Young Professionals Connect Group, and she attended, although she was unable to stay long. She has not attended worship assembly, but this may be an example of meeting the needs of an individual during a stressful period of life through a more relaxed introduction to members, which fosters a sense of trust and demonstrates that people care about her and her children. This may lead to the study of the entire Bible. She does attend a denominational church.”
Rivergate church of Christ, Madison, Tennessee: Doug Tooley (preacher) reports, “Last week, we had three visitors on Wednesday night for our Summer Series. We had six visitors on Sunday morning and two on Sunday night. I took some time on Sunday morning to remind people how the prospects work and that they need to be from our area. On Wednesday afternoon of last week, our youth minister met one of his friends. The young man had a background in the church but had never made the decision. After some conversation about why he had not, he decided not to wait.”
Roanoke church of Christ, Texas: Caleb Rutherford (preacher) reports, “Roanoke is still experiencing the ripple effects of having hosted AMC. We continue to get both repeat and new visitors to our services. We are beginning to prospect and follow up with our “hot” contacts from the week of AMC. We have identified 118 souls who have either requested a Bible study or are looking for a church home. It is safe to say that we will be busy for quite a while, and thanks be to God for that. This past week, several from Roanoke were blessed to attend PTP in Branson. I had the opportunity to speak at one of the HTHSOE’s meet-and-greets. I had the privilege of talking about our experience of being enrolled in the SOE, as well as our experience with hosting AMC. There were over 30 present for that meeting. During PTP, one of the young ladies in our youth group made the decision to obey the Gospel. We rejoice with her and her decision. That brings our total for the year to eight.”
San Saba church of Christ, Texas: Justin Bell (preacher), “Things are going great in San Saba. We have 14 prospects, three transition visits to make this week, and one ongoing Bible study. Lord willing, we will have more Bible studies this week after we make our transition visits.”
Colleyville church of Christ, Texas: John Garza (evangelist) reports, “With it being the summer and all of the different events taking place, the church at Colleyville has slowed down a little, but it is okay. We have a couple of acts of compassion available, and we hope they will lead to Bible studies. Additionally, we are working deeper on the new convert aspect, and it is going well. Showing genuine love and concern by reaching out to those who need help has done wonders.”
Northern Oaks church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas: Mel Hutzler (elder) reports, “We have many contacts coming in from other states. Once people hear that evangelism is taking place and heavily practiced this is the result. We are following up with the visits and sending them cards. We hope to have a few more families placing membership and another baptism soon. The New Convert’s class continues to do well and is ongoing. Our college-age group is growing by the baptisms and has become very strong. Our entire youth group is growing strong in the Scriptures. Cards are going out and making sure we don’t miss a single visitor which is a priority. VBS is taking place this Saturday, and we have plans to make it evangelistic as well with inviting many from the community.”
Bridgewater church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (deacon) reports, “Our New Movers Team met last night to send cards and invitations to 28 families that have moved into our area. We had a game night, and some of our new converts were present. A family came with us, and we are trying to schedule a study with them.”
Wheeler church of Christ, Texas: Garrett English (preacher) reports, “My wife and I studied together with the woman who asked about her baptism. We studied Lesson 1 of Back to the Bible, and she was very receptive so far! The plan is to study again this week with Lesson 2. I also studied with a young man about baptism, and he is considering the commitment and the cost, but he understands it and could decide any day.”
North Jefferson church of Christ, Mount Pleasant, Texas: Davin Whatley (associate minister) reports, “Sunday was an amazing day! Shane and Owen finished Back to the Bible with Aarav and Nirav who obeyed the Gospel yesterday! We are thrilled, and the boys’ grandparents (who are members of our congregation) could not be happier. Aarav and Nirav live around Little Rock, Arkansas, so we want to help them find a sound congregation for worship. I am so thankful for Shane and Owen sharing the Gospel with their friends. They encourage our adults and remind us that our youth can be great evangelists as well. Reach Team 3 met yesterday and wrote 56 cards. Wayne, a gentleman who was paralyzed in 2023, visited us after we wrote him cards. While he is still mad at God, he said he is thankful for the church and the love that we have shown. We look forward to visiting with him more, and, we hope God’s love will become more evident to him as we try to be vessels of it.”
Stratford church of Christ, Texas: Chad Thies (preacher) reports, “We had two visitors this week, and we added them as prospects. We also made two transition visits. We had two Bible studies as well.”
Seagoville church of Christ, Texas: Kodie Martin (evangelist) reports, “We have a good update! After being postponed for weeks, we were finally able to continue our study with Trinity, a young lady who had come to our church. We hope to finish Book 2 soon. We also hope to begin other studies soon. We are getting organized for our school supplies drive, and it is looking good for us to meet our prospect goal through that event. We will also be working to visit our VBS visitors this Saturday to begin prospecting them.”
Eisenhower church of Christ, Odessa, Texas: Allen Weakland (elder) reports, “I write with great news. Caleb York has been a Christian for about four years. His own conversion was the result of our studying Bobby Bates study series. This young Christian man has grown immensely- as a result, he was appointed as a deacon several months back and Monday morning he was able to baptize his mother into Christ. Please realize this all started with our seminar with Back to the Bible. It works!”
Centerville Road church of Christ, Garland, Texas: Alan Stevens (elder) reports, “The ongoing study was delayed this week due to illness. An initial study with one of our visitors from last week was held this week. Prayers are requested for softness of heart within this young man. Plans were also outlined this week for a fall neighborhood outreach event. The plans are focused on incorporating opportunities for contact generation. Transition Thursday is scheduled for this week.”
Williamsburg church of Christ, Virginia: Jim Bishop (elder) reports, “This week we continue to make and distribute lunches to the children in a nearby apartment complex. The apartment complex manager works with us to ensure efficient distribution to the children in need. We are also providing back-to-school supplies for the community. The ‘RAP’ (Reading Assistance Program) has approximately 36 children in the program. We have a number of volunteers from the congregation. This program has introduced the city of Williamsburg along with many of the public and private schools to the Williamsburg church of Christ. We have a professor from the College of William and Mary, and she has added four reading specialist interns to assist each week. We pray for opportunities to reach families and students with the Gospel message. We pray for the Lord’s church to grow and for all mankind to seek His will.”
Note: These reports are from Christians and congregations enrolled in the House to House/Heart to Heart School of Evangelism. We send these emails to teach and provoke one another to remain focused on the mission of Christ. Each week, we share several reports and highlight one with more details. We hope you enjoy reading them.
*To view our HTH workers’ speaking appointments, go to
https://housetohouse.com/
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