Is HTHSOE just a boost in the arm, or is it a cultural shift? For the Honolulu church of Christ and many others, it creates a new culture among the membership. Once the HTHSOE model becomes entrenched in congregational life, everything revolves around it, and soul-winning becomes who we are and not what we do. Conversions beget conversions as new converts become a key source of new contacts. Consider what has recently happened in our congregation.
One of our new converts last year was determined to help her family to go to heaven and invited me to come and study the Bible with her parents and sister. After weeks of basketball, Bible studies, and great hospitality in their home, we baptized them into Christ last weekend. In total, three souls came home to Jesus.
In addition, our congregation is getting closer to our VBS this year. Invitations were mailed out via House to House/Heart to Heart in May. We have a church group from the Covington congregation working with us for our VBS and scouting the grounds for future campaigns.
We are not sitting still or losing our focus. Our membership is focused on growth. Our elders are leading, and the members are working. We are a changed people looking daily for additional opportunities to bring souls to the kingdom. We have proven that growth can happen without leaving the old paths. It is simple; follow the Great Commission, and you will grow. It is an exciting time for Honolulu.
Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: David Marker (elder) reports, “We have two studies underway due to the invitation cards, and several that are participating in that endeavor. This past week, we had visitors that were a direct result of the invitation cards and the new mover gift bags. We are up about 15 percent in our attendance from the beginning of the year. We are busy planning and preparing for our backpack giveaway that will be taking place soon. Several people are working on that and are praying that this effort will create additional contacts.”
Fayette church of Christ, Alabama: Josh Taylor (deacon) reports, “We will conduct our VBS on July 9-12. We have centered our studies using Family Bible Publications. We will conduct our door-knocking campaign this Saturday. In one Bible study, we hoped to have a third study, but she had an injury to her back. When she recovers, we hope to reschedule the study. Our goal over the next month is for our special forces team to reach out to contacts from the past month’s benevolence. We hope to have that initial contact completed by the end of this month. We had a fellowship meal for the July 4 holiday on Sunday, and one of our members invited some friends to that event. We gave them a welcome bag and received their contact information. We look forward to adding them to our contact list.”
Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “We had another baptism from a member studying with a friend! We hope to share picture in the coming days. We rejoice, knowing the Lord has added another person to His church!”
Mariposa Avenue church of Christ, California: Nathan Franson (preacher) reports, “A little while ago, one of our members who works at Walmart got to know a recurring customer, and he invited her to worship. Her name is Rena Jenkin. After she visited, I began studying Back to the Bible with her. Because of time and discussions, it took us around six weeks to finish. On Sunday, July 2, she was baptized into Christ! On the third book, we hit the hour mark, and I told her we could continue the following week. She refused and wanted to keep studying, and I am so glad she did! She was right, and she had her breakthrough moment. This happens when seed planters and waterers work hand in hand.”
Lake City church of Christ, Florida: Jim Flegert (elder) reports, “With the onset of summer vacations and activities, we are still maintaining our level of compassion card writing. This area is being fed by the steady flow of contacts from our members. Presently, three BTTB studies are progressing. Our congregation evangelism effort is becoming part of our regular effort, which is encouraging to our leadership. Later this month, we look forward to our first report from HTH on new movers to our community. This will certainly increase our efforts to add to God’s Kingdom here in Lake City.”
Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Greg Garner (deacon), “We prepared for the 4th of July parade and booth. We completed service slides for the training program. Regarding our door-knocking program, our team went house to house in the Ravenwood neighborhood and completed the remaining 13 houses. To update the new movers’ basket project, 11 members delivered baskets and made four contacts. We left door hangers for those who were not home. We are looking forward to the new greeters’ rollout, pending approval and revisions. We had 18 attendees in the new converts’ class and conducted one Bible study. Regarding the prison ministry update, Larkin and Hope Cook attended a seminar at Snellville church. Many good ideas and plans are being made. RYDC is preparing permission slips for those who want to be baptized. A portable baptistery has been purchased and will be delivered this week.”
Adairsville church of Christ, Georgia: Rick Lawson (preacher) reports, “Sunday morning, July 2, after Mark Garner preached a powerful sermon about Christian hope, Camden Milton responded desiring to be baptized for the remission of his sins. Camden is the fiancé of Carly Gray and will be the grandson-in-law of Mike Smith, one of our elders. Camden studied with Mike and Steve McCaslin as well as other members of the Adairsville family. Rick Lawson baptized him. To God be the glory!”
Monroe church of Christ, Georgia (digital): Charles Harris (regional trainer) reports, “A recent convert is being negatively influenced by her family to turn away from the truth. After letting the brethren know about the situation, several have begun reaching out to their new sister. While I hate to hear of what our new sister is dealing with, I am amazed at the great response of our brethren. We are definitely changing our culture here into a soul-focused one.”
LaFayette church of Christ, Georgia: Jesse Teague (deacon) reports, “There was a Freedom Festival in LaFayette Friday. Members donated bottles of water, and these were given out along with tracts and conversations! Group 1 met after worship Sunday to send out compassion cards.”
Rabun County church of Christ, Tiger, Georgia(digital): Mckinley Pate (preacher) reports, “We continue to reach out to the community through various ways. We are utilizing House to House and recently have been informed of a resident who has requested materials from House to House. Our members filled out individual cards inviting her to come to services and thanking her for her interest in spiritual matters. Recently a waitress at Henry’s restaurant, where we have our ‘meals and conversation with Mckinley Pate’ (M.A.C. with Mac), asked me to pray for her father, who had recently been diagnosed with cancer. The members immediately began sending cards and began sending their second round of cards. Lord willing, I will go and see him later this week. We look forward to our VBS and gospel meeting later this month. We are advertising it in House to House and in the local paper. To God be the Glory!”
Beloit church of Christ, Kansas: Dustin Dougherty (preacher) reports, “Recently, a few of us got together to discuss and plan the groundwork for visitor protocol. We considered ideas for working with visitor bags. On Sunday we had five visitors! Both groups of visitors were travelers who were glad they took time out of their travels to worship with us. We have one recurring visitor, and I will reach out to her soon about scheduling a Bible study. We are busy preparing our County Fair Booth and VBS. Hopefully, being at the fair will make a lot of good contacts. We are finalizing VBS; we expect many contacts. God is great, and we are so blessed to be able to take all of this work on for the kingdom.”
Paintsville church of Christ, Kentucky: Zach Collins (preacher) reports, “This week, we held our annual OATH Conference. We had visitors coming from many places to attend, including non-Christians from our community. We had a registration table so we could keep track of names and contact info. We will send cards and call those who visited with us from VBS and OATH. Pray that we can develop new contacts from this effort!”
Blanchard church of Christ, Louisiana: Pat Cella (elder) reports, “We continue to pray for prospects and send compassion cards. We are starting our congregational training on Back to the Bible this week.”
LaPlata church of Christ, Maryland (digital): Eric Sykes (regional trainer) wrote, “We sent 28 compassion cards; six were single cards with multiple signatures. We are making great progress. Two from last Sunday returned. They said they had to come back to thank us. They have never received so many cards from so many different people in a congregation. We took them out to lunch, and they were blown away. They said they had never visited a congregation that treated them with so much “compassion.” They are members of the body, but they are considering moving their membership to La Plata since they are 35 minutes closer to where they live. We are lifting them up in prayer. A young couple who has been studying with my son and daughter-in-law online attended worship services yesterday. They are entering lesson three of BTTB. Please lift them up in prayer. The sisters took a week off last week after one of them contracted Covid, but they were able to resume the Bible study with Gail Malnati and her caregiver Katrina this week. They completed Lesson 2 of BTTB today. Lesson three of BTTB is scheduled for next Monday. God is good!”
Edgewood church of Christ, Maryland (digital): Mitchell Bennett (preacher) reports, “We are still worshiping with a sister congregation. We will be doing so until October while our building is being renovated. We currently have one Bible class in progress with BTTB.”
Southside church of Christ, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Freddie Klein (preacher) reports, “I preached the quantity over quality sermon yesterday. We encouraged making contact cards from the bookmarks. We will recap Wednesday the whole plan with a men’s meeting Sunday. The card writers will meet for the first time at 4:15 this coming Sunday. I plan to send videos to coordinators about their positions.”
Looxahoma church of Christ, Mississippi: Blake Hawkins (deacon) reports, “Our preacher began teaching the congregation how to utilize Back to the Bible. After passing out study booklets to each member, he guided the congregation through Lesson 1 to demonstrate conducting a study. He included sections of the workbook we received during the evangelism training. Following, compassion card writing teams worked on contacts. Our current plan is to have teams write cards at the building immediately after worship and then place them together so one member can mail some each day so there is a steady flow to each prospect’s mailbox. We added an additional category from our bookmarks today to increase the number of prospects for card writing. We are hoping to add in the new movers soon after we verify that our revamped compassion card teams are running smoothly and efficiently.”
Iuka church of Christ, Mississippi: Robert Wimbish (elder) reports, “We are moving forward with evangelism at Iuka. We have coordinators for every activity shown on the checklist or mentioned in the workbook. Last night for our card group, we could not accommodate the volunteers; we had 18 cards to write and more than 18 card writers. Our card coordinator, Carolyn, was ecstatic. She and our card table coordinator, Cindy, have shown a level of enthusiasm that is refreshing, and contagious. We delivered our first round of new mover’s baskets. The baskets were so well-prepared by our ladies that anyone would have been happy to receive one. The effort went well, and a contact was recorded, but none of the six names resided at the addresses on the list. I will need to follow up with someone on how the names/addresses are being compiled. The number of prospects and contacts is steadily growing, and we must order more cards soon. In two weeks, we will have our first Mission Monday group meeting and make our first visit.”
West Hwy 160 church of Christ, West Plains, Missouri (digital): Marvin Hatley (elder) reports, “Three active Bible studies are going at this time. Two studies have completed Book 1, and the third is progressing to book three. Potential studies are in the works as prospects continue to be cultivated. About forty-five compassion cards were prepared by the congregation’s card group for this week’s mailing. Mentoring and the new converts class continue to progress. To God be the Glory!”
Samford church of Christ, Steele, Missouri: Kyle Imel (deacon) reports, “Samford is sending three individuals prospect cards, and a few visits will be made in the next few weeks. We have one prospect who has agreed to a study when the family returns from vacation. Hopefully, that study can begin next week.”
East Flushing church of Christ, New York (digital): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “By God’s grace, we consistently have Bible studies, visitors in worship on the Lord’s Day, send compassion cards, and prospect. Gustavo, a recent visitor, has agreed to a Bible study this Sunday; it will be done in Spanish. We appreciate readers of this report will pray that God will add the increase.”
Carthage church of Christ, North Carolina (digital): Randy Chambers (preacher) reports, “We had a busy week teaching and reemphasizing the SOE Program Principles to the congregation. We mailed visitor cards and compassion cards, as well as new converts cards to welcome new members to God’s family. We had one Bible study, using Believe the Bible, with the next study scheduled for this week. We have three additional studies this week. We had four prospects over to our house, building relationships and planning the next visit with each couple to prospect them for a Bible study. More of the congregation is embracing the new evangelism culture, but we still have not even begun to tap into our spiritual potential. We appreciate all prayers, and we pray for all the brethren working in His vineyard.”
Cary church of Christ, North Carolina: Larry Fife (preacher) reports, “We continue transitioning from our AMC campaign to being fully engaged as a congregation. We have our evangelism table set up, and Sunday night, I will begin teaching the congregation how to use everything on the table. We want our members to be as evangelistically effective as possible. We currently have two studies from contacts made during our campaign. We are also in the process of putting together our command center/evangelism room. This room is where we will have our new converts classes weekly. On Sunday, our card writers wrote 162 compassion cards to be mailed this week. We continue to work the plan, knowing that God will give the increase.”
Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (elder) reports, “We will study BTTB Lesson 3 with Linda. She has been receptive to the first two lessons. She has no background in the church but has been attending about two months with a family member and is constantly learning. Last week, we had a gospel meeting, and several members from area congregations saw our evangelism table. It opened opportunities for me to visit with them about the effectiveness of HTHSOE. Our only hope for turning the tide in this nation is for Christians to take our task of evangelism to heart. It is encouraging to read the RTL reports each week. Our prayers are with all who labor in His name.”
York church of Christ, Pennsylvania: Terry Zortman (elder) reports, “A potential contact from Helen’s HTHSOE bookmark list, her neighbor Phil, was moved to a prospect card as he had a cardiac event and surgery last week. Phil is back home now, and we have mailed compassion cards and are preparing to deliver a visitation basket shortly. We learned that Phil is a longtime co-worker of other members of our congregation, so we hope the relationships may be beneficial in developing further studies.”
New Hope church of Christ, Middleton, Tennessee: Cole Wade (preacher) reports, “We had several new teenagers in our teen class Sunday, and we were able to study the gospel in class. We focused on why Jesus had to die and be raised to save us. I had about 30 minutes to teach at least four visitors in our class about the gospel! I am setting up a study with a close friend, and I am excited to see what comes of it! We continue to teach love and service as ways to prepare souls to receive the gospel. We will be visiting several people who are sick and in need of company and encouragement!”
North Bradley church of Christ, Cleveland, Tennessee: Keith Wilson (preacher) reports, “I am the pulpit evangelist here at North Bradley. About four months ago, the elders appointed me as the card coordinator for the congregation. We recently set up a Bible study due to the evangelism cards. The individual appreciated the cards so much that he saved several in his keepsake box. We hope to study Back to the Bible soon.”
East Main church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Brad Rowley (elder) reports, “Last week, East Main received eight new contacts. Mark Isenberg and Joe Hurt had three Bible studies involving four new folks. Our compassion card team wrote 64 cards. We started sending cards this week to past members who are not attending a faithful congregation. After two weeks of cards, we will visit them at home. One of our deacons, Chris Taylor, has provided some church software we are considering. We created an evangelism group for active contacts. We create the contact with name, address, phone, and relevant information. We can add notes, assign tasks by email or text, and receive feedback from the completed task. If this software works, it will save time and hopefully make our evangelism efforts more efficient.”
Old Jefferson church of Christ, Smyrna, Tennessee: Bob Horn (preacher) reports, “We have delivered some new mover baskets and plan to follow up with an invitation card to those addresses. It is encouraging to see so many congregations and their efforts in this work.”
Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “We are still helping those who are recovering from the tornado in March. The reputation of the church is being spread in our community. On Wednesday, I studied with Thomas using Book 1 of BTTB. He was so humble and thirsty for the truth. I offered to study again on Friday. He agreed. We went through Book 2. He consumed it like a sponge. We have scheduled the third study for July 17. I think he will be ready to obey the gospel that day. We will take a group to AMC Texas this Saturday, and then we will take a group to Honolulu to help the church with their VBS.”
New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fulks (elder) reports, “This week we had five contact cards submitted. We had three visitors from two families on Sunday. The greeters gave visitor bags and got their information. Card Team 1 met after Sunday evening services and completed 81 cards. Members made six follow-up visits and contacts. Several new mover basket assignments were made and delivered. We have four individuals in various stages of progress in the Back to the Bible Lessons. We also reach out to specific members to include them in assigning visits and follow-ups.”
Bargerton church of Christ in Lexington, Tennessee (digital): Phillip Gaither (member) reports, “We continued through the website steps. We finished our fourth week of cards to our first prospect, who is in assisted living after a terrible car crash. We plan to visit him this week. The congregation started reviewing the Believe the Bible workbook.”
Dellrose church of Christ, Tennessee: Mike Hovis (member) reports, “We discussed visiting four couples who have been receiving cards. We have volunteers who will make those visits. Group 1 prepared cards. Jerry preached a good lesson on the man who had the legion of spirits cast out by Jesus. He noted the good example the man would be to those who knew him as he told the people of his area about what Jesus had done for him. Jerry made the application that we should be doing the same.”
West End church of Christ, Knoxville, Tennessee: Adam Wilson (member) reports, “Another member of our youth made the right decision to obey Christ last week. We rejoice with the Ellis family as we welcome Abby to the Kingdom. I love that the youth of our congregation are growing up during a time of such focus on evangelism and soul-saving; we hope that this is something they strive for the remainder of their walk. As we approach the first anniversary since AMC came to Knoxville, West End is evaluating ways to better reach our community. We have realized that extending our time with a visitor who has joined us for worship is more effective than a follow-up card, call, or even a visit because we might not get a second meeting with them. Breaking bread is a particularly good way to build a relationship. Roby Ellis is the coordinator of Visitor Follow-Up and Lunches, and he has 15 families (room for more!) who have volunteered to take visitors to lunch. He will assign two families per weekend to be on a mission to take a visitor out to eat. We hope that this schedule leads to two or more lunches per weekend and numerous studies, conversations, and memberships after that.”
Rogersville church of Christ, Tennessee: Ethan Tate (preacher) reports, “We visited erring members (they need evangelizing too!), and we had one member who repented and has been restored to God. We thank God for this step, but we ask for prayers as we continue to help him maintain his faith to grow and to continue our efforts to reach the hearts of dozens of souls who need to be restored. We are having a final study with the Taylor family this week. Many of the members are excited and anticipate the family to obey the gospel, and we appreciate all prayers for this family.”
Hwy 95 church of Christ, Taylor, Texas: Benjamin Dossey (preacher) reports, “Our evangelistic efforts are ongoing. Our first study with Amy, Thursday went well, and we are looking forward to the second study this Thursday. VBS is two weeks away. We have had community members reach out asking about further details, which is a great opportunity for us to build relationships with those in the area.”
Northern Oaks church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas: Mel Hutzler (elder) reports, “We are happy about the recent baptisms and our class for new converts, which we call the New Foundations Class. This class is held on Sunday mornings, and we have an evangelism class on Wednesday evenings. We have a few Bible studies going on with prospects from our community. VBS is just around the corner, and we are going door-to-door this Saturday to promote it. We hope to use VBS for evangelistic purposes. Our Summer Youth Nights are ongoing every Friday; we have several Bible camps going on. Our teens just finished Servants Academy. We will continue adding evangelism to everything we do.”
Bridgewater church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (member) reports, “We are pleased to announce that we had another baptism last evening. Victoria came, and our evangelist, Wade Webster, studied with her, and she was immersed into Christ and His church. We are beginning a new converts class, as we now have two new members. We are putting into practice some things we learned at our evangelism seminar. We are developing our contact list. We will meet Sunday evenings to send cards and look forward to developing other aspects of the work. God has blessed us with several new families recently, and they will be active workers for Christ’s kingdom. We appreciate all prayers.”
Southwest church of Christ, Austin, Texas: John Garza (regional trainer) reports, “Even with a busy summer, we have had multiple studies. A few have not gone according to hopes and prayers, but we have not given up. I am looking forward to next week’s AMC in Cleburne, Texas.”
Graceton church of Christ, Diana, Texas: Johnny Willeford (elder) reports, “We continue to visit those who have received compassion cards. We have received warm welcomes from those individuals. Our second Mission Monday training went well. We are focusing on those that need to be restored to Christ’s church. Some have been going to a denominational church; others have stopped going anywhere. We are sending out compassion cards to fourteen individuals this week. We had a couple of new visitors Sunday and they stayed for our first Sunday fellowship meal afterward. Scott presented his second lesson on Back to the Bible training, and we received several positive comments. We continue to remind members that they have the ability to do Bible studies with others if they will follow the process. VBS planning is continuing. We will be hosting the summer youth series in a few weeks. We will be praying that the American Mission Campaign is a great success.”
Central church of Christ, Martinsburg, West Virginia: Robert Veil (preacher) reports, “We conducted an evangelistic VBS during June 11-16, and we developed 41 new contacts! These were mainly visitors from our local community. We mailed personalized letters to each, with a copy of the tract, What Is the Church of Christ?” available through Lifeline Publications. This is a great evangelistic tool. This process is designed to generate additional Bible studies.”
Austin Fowler (regional trainer): It was a great week in Peru! The preacher had several appointments for us during the morning and afternoon. We visited some unfaithful members, those struggling with a particular issue, and some non-Christians. Our Uber driver, Jamie, volunteered to drive us around all week, although he was not a Christian. He had been visiting the church for a few weeks. While we were doing Bible studies, he realized his baptism was invalid, and he needed to be baptized. He was baptized on Thursday night! We studied with Pablo’s landlord’s daughter. After going through Back to the Biblewith the congregation, she responded to the invitation and was baptized. We started several other promising Bible studies, but time did not allow us to finish; however, Pablo or Alberto will follow up with those contacts. I went through Does It Matter to demonstrate how to do a Bible study. On Thursday through Sunday night, we had the Evangelism Seminar. The church at Calleo attended! The building was packed every single night. They took notes, asked great questions, and had much energy! I am excited to see what comes from what they learned through the seminar.”
NOTE: These reports are from Christians and congregations enrolled in the House to House/Heart to Heart School of Evangelism. These emails are sent to teach and provoke one another to remain focused on the mission of Christ. Each week, we share several reports and highlight one with more details. We hope you enjoy reading them.
For additional HTH speaking appointments, go to:
https://housetohouse.com/house-to-house-speaker-schedules/
Recent Comments