Success Stories: June 18, 2025

Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: Keith Ritchie (evangelist) reports, “We had quite a few visitors. A family of four placed membership with Glencoe, and plans were made for more door knocking. Lord willing, VBS will bring more families and contacts—one contact at a time and one soul at a time. To God be the glory!”

Fayette church of Christ, Alabama: Josh Taylor (deacon) reports, “We had our mission Sunday last Sunday evening. June and July are our busiest months of the year. Our biggest upcoming event is our Vacation Bible School. We have continued to work to develop each of our activities to ensure an element of evangelism is molded into them. VBS is one of our largest activities of the year to bring young people outside of the congregation to us. Our mission Sunday included a few contacts with health issues; as we try to reach out to them, we look forward to working with them. Please continue to pray for our success!”

Central church of Christ, Saraland, Alabama: David Dixon (preacher) reports, “Our New Converts class has become our adult Bible class. The New Converts class was outgrowing our room, so the elders decided to bring the New Converts class into the main auditorium and just make it the adult Bible class. We are doing a book-by-book overview of the Bible, so it is information that any Christian might find beneficial, but now we have new Christians side-by-side with seasoned Christians in an attempt to develop some relationships among them. It is a fresh change to our Bible class program. Sadly, tragedy has struck the Saraland community. A young mother was killed in a boating accident this weekend. One of her children was seriously injured. The family is a member of the Azalea City congregation but has ties to Central. We are mourning for the Sherman family, and praying that the Lord’s will be done.”

Cedar Grove church of Christ, Andalusia, Alabama: Josh Holloway (preacher) reports, “We officially start our compassion card ministry this week. We look forward to implementing the techniques we have been studying. We have had many visitors this week. As we mentioned last week, Ms. Nina, whom we contacted because of a recent move to the area, has been visiting services constantly, attending and bringing grandkids to our VBS, and studying the Back to the Bible study. This past Sunday, she brought three visitors with her to worship. We are so excited for her as a prospect.”

Hartselle church of Christ, Alabama: Justin Smith (preacher) reports, “Our summer is dedicated to training with the School of Evangelism. We have dedicated Wednesday nights as ‘Training Nights,’ and so far, they have been well attended. Each week, our membership is becoming more aware of their role and how they fit into the congregational model. On Sundays, we have been mentioning the bookmarks and encouraging daily prayer for the names on the list. This week, a member came up to me in sheer excitement; she wanted to introduce me to their family member. ‘I have been praying for her, just like we have been talking about, and this week she came to me to talk about her faith!’ Now we are praying for a Bible study for her. It was rare to have these kinds of conversations before the seminar; now they are happening EVERY WEEK. There is a shift in the culture of evangelism at the Hartselle church of Christ, and it is all for the glory of God!”

Highland Park church of Christ, Muscle Shoals, Alabama: Andrew Myhan (deacon) reports, “We are planning for an outreach for our upcoming VBS, which will be in July. We also received good feedback from one soul who received cards. We had one Bible study planned last week, but we did not get the results we wanted. Please pray the contact will be more willing next time.”

Hatton church of Christ, Town Creek, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “We are blessed to see the unity of our congregation and the way people continue to work together in our effort. This past week, Marlon Rutherford was baptized into Christ, making his calling and election sure, and Brook Corsbie asked for prayers to be restored. So much good is happening.”

Petersville church of Christ, Florence, Alabama: Adam Richardson (preacher) reports, “We had a good VBS last week, and our numbers increased each night. We are still collecting the information from those who attended to see if there are new contacts. On Father’s Day, we had four visiting families, one of which just moved to Florence and knows very little about the church. One family has expressed an interest in placing membership, but they do not know what that means. We are trying very hard to set up a study with them. Compassion cards were signed, but I did not know the total in time to report numbers.”

Creekwood church of Christ, Mobile, Alabama: Tucker Presley (preacher) reports, “We had several visitors yesterday. Viktoria, who was baptized into Christ a couple of months ago, came to worship for the first time yesterday and brought her boyfriend with her! We have a great opportunity to reach him. Another woman on our prospect list came yesterday as well. We continue to send compassion cards each week. We have great participation with that. We currently have one Bible study going on right now.”

Mountain Home church of Christ, Arkansas: Joshua Adams (preacher) reports, “This past week we celebrated another baptism! Brady Lance, son of one of our members, decided to be baptized in Christ. While not one we brought to Jesus through our specific evangelism efforts, it highlights the value and importance of being a congregation that not only values evangelism but also has it as a part of its very culture and identity. Never underestimate the impact that talking about the Gospel can make and the great encouragement that people give their lives to Jesus can have on the unsaved in the pews. As people watch others come to Christ, it spurs an internal dialogue about one’s own faith and relationship with God. I will also share something that tickled me today. One of our deacons had to drain the baptistry to do some work on it, but he excitedly assured me that he would have it refilled by tonight. We have been so blessed recently with a number of baptisms, and he did not want the baptistry to be out of commission an entire day, in fear we would need it. Talk about encouraging! Additionally, tonight we had our three-month follow-up and progress report with Rob on Zoom. We talked through how to implement the next steps and walked through some encouragement and question areas. Finally, our compassion cards are rolling on with 130 filled out Sunday night for 18 contacts. God is good!”

Windsor church of Christ, Colorado: Lucas Stephens (member) reports, “This past Saturday, we had six visitors at our annual cookout in the park, where we had the opportunity to visit with them, get to know them, and invite them to services. Our hope is that they will be visitors in the near future and that we have made good contacts. We are continuing with our weekly work for evangelism. We have utilized the new movers program and reached out to multiple contacts that we have made through visiting their homes. We have welcomed them to the community, as well as invited them to worship with us.”

Margaret Street church of Christ, Milton, Florida: Troy Spradlin (preacher) reports, “We are rejoicing once again with the angels in Heaven, as more precious souls were added to the Lord’s Kingdom this past week. Three of our youth of the congregation, Corrie Davis, and Ainsey and Avie Napier, were baptized into Christ! Because of this evangelism ministry, our Keepers Coordinators are better equipped to help these young ladies grow, and we are more confident they will remain faithful in their Christian walk. Our current 2025 Year-to-Date Accountability Board numbers are as follows: 181 Contacts received; 41 Visitors; 124 Neighbors (Prospects whom we have loved and/or studied with); 43 Bible studies (total completed); 1,415 Compassion Cards sent; and 12 Baptisms.”

Niceville church of Christ, Florida: Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “We had some Father’s Day visitors as well as two new individuals. Our local guests were friends of recent converts. We had two Bible studies and sent out 20 cards this week. I have an organization and training meeting scheduled for Sunday night after worship. We are trying to build momentum by training consistently, communicating regularly, and working diligently.”

Avalon church of Christ, Florida (remote): Preston Silcox (elder) reports, “We had one baptism, one Bible study, and eight visitors from the community at our second class on ‘How to Study Your Bible.’ We continue to follow up with visitors from the previous class and other recent events as well.”

Edgewood church of Christ, Columbus, Georgia: Mitchell Deering (deacon) reports, “We have added two new prospects this week. For the month of June so far, we have had 11 visitors and four Bible studies conducted. We are scheduled to begin sending compassion cards this Wednesday, as we continue building momentum. We continue to use the visitor class as a primary tool for initiating Bible studies. The congregation has received the bookmarks to help encourage participation and awareness. I am continuing to work on filling key roles within the program, which will allow for more detailed reporting and smoother operation in the weeks ahead. We are thankful for all support and guidance.”

Cartersville church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Charles Harris (regional trainer) reports, “Last week we had VBS. We had several visitors whom we are now beginning to prospect. Bible studies are ongoing. On Sunday, seven members came forward to seek restoration. One member is a new convert who had been falling away. Thanks to the work of our Mentors, he attended service and went forward.”

Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Larkin Cook (member) reports, “The WCOC HTH Door-knocking Campaign had six teams of volunteers who knocked on 67 doors. We made 23 contacts, and seven of them were added to the follow-up list. The Prison Ministry Group is working with the Department of Juvenile Justice in coordinating, conducting, and getting the parents of the students to attend Sunday morning worship services at the Youth/Regional Detention Centers with the students. The Compassion Cards Group sent six compassion cards this week. We had seven non-Christian visitors this Sunday morning. We also had three Bible studies last week.”

Honolulu church of Christ, Hawaii: Tagiilima Esene (preacher) reports, “Our church family is devastated by the loss of one of our elders, Ralph, and his wife, Lala. Ralph and Lala were faithful Christians and servants of the Lord in his Kingdom. They were instrumental in encouraging me to be a preacher. Ralph and Lala were also leading our group for our new movers program. Please pray for our congregation as we adjust to this news and as we continue to labor. The highlight of this past week was seeing another soul put on Christ in baptism. After multiple Bible studies, Mona made the most important decision in her life. We rejoice over this one soul that God has added to the Body of Christ. We appreciate the love, prayers, and support.”

Collinsville-Troy church of Christ, Illinois: Jason Wright (elder) reports, “We mailed 105 compassion cards this week. On Sunday, we passed out bundles of ten invitation cards to our members. This is done every second Sunday morning after the closing prayer. Our VBS averaged 95 per night. We continue to conduct multiple personal studies each week. The last few months have been a learning process by staying encouraged and being patient with those we are studying. Coordinators will meet this Wednesday. On Sunday, training will continue with hands-on projects such as filling new mover’s baskets and bundling invitation cards. I asked one of our young Christians, Justin, to conduct Sunday’s training. He was converted a few years ago using the booklets. He took off work the week of AMC and has been active in our evangelism program. He discussed a training card called, Growing Church: Everyone Has a Place. He showed the video as well. He was nervous but did very well. We had visitors stay for the S.O.S training class. Lord willing, I will be at AMC this weekend.”

Highland Village church of Christ, Bloomington, Indiana: Mark Stauffer (elder) reports, “We are making plans for a refresher training. We had one new visitor this week and a repeat visitor. We sent 30 cards and have four prospects. The Lord is gracious, and we are thankful for the opportunities He gives us.”

Beloit church of Christ, Kansas (remote): Dustin Dougherty (regional trainer) reports, “I am still working through ‘Growing in Christ’ with a member, and we will most likely continue to study after finishing that book in a week or two. Planning and preparation are well underway for our county fair booth, with some new ideas to reach more attendees there, and preparation for our VBS is coming along nicely. I have offered to study with a young couple that visited with us, and I am waiting for a reply. I am still using invitation cards regularly in restaurants and when sending anything in the mail. To God be the glory.”

Poole church of Christ, Kentucky: Andrew Wynne (preacher) reports, “We have an ongoing study. We are looking at the inspiration of the Bible. The person we are studying with seems open to the truth. We request prayers for this study. Our Vacation Bible School is fast approaching (June 28). We are excited to teach from the parables Jesus taught in Luke 15. These will serve as powerful reminders to seek and save the lost.”

Madisonville church of Christ, Kentucky: Russell Kline (preacher) reports, “We had 32 visitors last Sunday! Nineteen of them were from a group that came here from a church in northeastern Indiana to work on houses in Dawson Springs for Habitat for Humanity. It was a very exciting day. We mailed out 15 compassion cards. We continue to pray for contacts and our prospects.”

Central church of Christ, Paducah, Kentucky: Adam Faughn (preacher) reports, “On Thursday, we rejoiced at the baptism of Doug Newsome. Doug had been baptized many years ago, but for many years, he had questioned his baptism. With the help of about a dozen people, we worked it out to baptize him in a trough in the bathroom of his hospital room! He was so relieved afterward. We know his time on earth is very short, and this was such a wonderful moment. Then on Saturday evening, we were overjoyed at the baptism of Cam Frieberg. Cam is a young man who has been visiting with us for quite some time. He had decided Saturday morning that he wanted to be baptized, and, after some discussions with one of our deacons, that happened late that evening. What a wonderful day! Two of our ladies continue to study with April. She started Book 3 last week, but showed some hesitation, so those studying with her are going to walk her through some of the conversion accounts in Acts to help her think about baptism. We are also studying with Rebecca, who will be in Book 3 this week. We pray for harvest!”

Gonzales church of Christ, Louisiana: Patrick Adkins (deacon) reports, “We completed Lesson 1 of Back to the Bible as our morning sermon. For our evening sermon, we had our training on prospecting our local visitors. We continued our second week of compassion cards, and we have sent 80 cards in two weeks! We are getting our new movers’ meal baskets ready for our July list! We had our VBS last week, and about 50 percent of the children in attendance were visitors! We are extremely excited about what is happening already!”

Chalmette church of Christ, Louisiana: Scott Russell (member) reports, “We have been preparing for our VBS and door knocking, which begins next week. We currently have one Bible study in progress, and we are preparing a second round of cards for two prospects.”

La Plata church of Christ, Maryland (remote): Eric Sykes (regional trainer) reports, “This week, we wrote 20 compassion cards. I just received a text message from a co-worker of my granddaughter, asking if we can get together for a Bible study. It is late, but I replied and told him I would call him in the morning. This week, we received a thank-you card from one of the prospects who has been receiving compassion cards from the congregation. She wrote, ‘Wow! Just Wow! The number of cards I have received from your church has been amazing! And they have lifted my spirits more times than I can count.’ Members from our door-knocking team will be paying her a visit this week. We taught the first half of Does it Matter? to the Friday Night ‘video of the week’ class. We completed Chapter 4 of Growing in Christ in our Wednesday night Bible study class. Our Sunday morning Bible study class completed their fourth lesson in Why I Am a Member of the Church of Christ. We appreciate all prayers as we continue to strive to implement the ‘Evangelism Model’ at the La Plata Congregation.”

Beltway church of Christ, Camp Springs, Maryland: LeAndre Johnson (preacher) reports, “We completed preaching Lesson 1 of Back to the Bible to our congregation. We request prayers as we conduct our summer Gospel Meeting this weekend, June 20-22,2025, with our Friends and Family Day on June 22.”

Aberdeen church of Christ, Mississippi: Jonathan Hagar (preacher) reports, “We handed out our Post Seminar Survey, and so far, we have 15 returned to us. I have two Bible studies scheduled this week. On Tuesday, I will study with three people (one Christian, two non-Christians). We are on Lesson 3, but the one who is a Christian wanted to go over the basics again. We will finish Lesson 3 this Wednesday. We had one visitor this week on Sunday night. He received a visitor packet, and we got his contact information. We have already started sending him cards today. The elders have approved a New Converts class. The primary teacher has already been chosen. One of the men from the leadership meeting at the end of the Seminar volunteered. The elders are also deciding on a secondary teacher who will be in that class (a built-in substitute teacher if the main one is out of pocket). I will be going over a curriculum with the teachers this week or next, depending on when we can get together. The congregation can barely contain its energy. The door-knocking team will go out this Saturday to get as many contacts as they can. Another member from the leadership meeting has already set up a Bible study at his house with his in-laws and asked me for the 3-lesson booklet packet. I went over it with him Sunday night before I let them take it (lol).”

Iuka church of Christ, Mississippi: Sam Glover (preacher) reports, “I am praying the domestic mission in Ohio will be a success. At Iuka, we are still pushing forward. This week, we have identified 11 persons for follow-up with in-person visits, and members have stepped up in a big way to volunteer to visit with each of them. These are all persons who have received cards from us, and they have been invited to worship. One in particular visited with us last week and seems promising. To clarify last week’s update, when I mentioned the number of cards being sent out, I should have made it plain that these were for four separate people getting sets of cards, not just four cards.”

New Concord church of Christ, New Hampshire (remote): Shane Belanger (member) reports, “Last week was all about visitors. We had a training on Wednesday and Sunday morning, but the highlight was when we got together on Friday evening to role-play different scenarios that could occur with people entering into the worship service on Sunday morning. We ate, enjoyed fellowship together, and had some fun learning about the best ways to approach a new face on a Sunday morning or Wednesday evening. We also had a productive study on Monday evening with two new Christians, and we were able to cover some Bible basics. We look forward to the week to come as we continue in our training. God bless.”

East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “We had three visitors during worship services this week. We are striving to stay focused and keep things running evangelistically, in view of all of the events that are happening this summer. Our metrics thus far, for and through the month of June, are three baptisms, 39 compassion cards, 15 prospects, two Bible studies, and two new converts. We appreciate all prayers.”

Owasso church of Christ, Oklahoma: David Combs (elder) reports, “We continued our study of the Back to the Bible Book 3. In worship, we prayed for the people on our bookmark cards and the program in general. We installed a new deacon. Sunday evening, after evening services, Group 3 met to write compassion cards. Seventy-five cards were written to go out this week. We currently have five Bible studies ongoing. Our year-to-date stats include the following: Visitors-20, Prospects-27, Visits made-26, Cards sent-900, Bible studies-9, and Baptisms-4.

Whispering Hills, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma: Matt McBrayer (preacher) reports, “We had eight visitors on Sunday, sent out several cards, but our contact cards were lower than normal. On that note, we did add three contacts from three members’ bookmarks. In addition to this, we have scheduled a new mover’s basket to be taken to someone in the community. It has been the tradition of the congregation to have a fireworks show at the building for several years now. The members pull together funds to purchase fireworks from a wholesaler, and we set them up ourselves. This year, we are going to do it on a Wednesday night after services. Since having the evangelism seminar, we have decided to make this an evangelistic opportunity. Most of us have invited people to worship/Bible class for these events, but we are making more of a focus this time. We will be encouraging members to invite people, but make sure they come to our normal study period. We are going to have visitors’ bags ready for when we ask for contact info. Shortly after that, we will be moving forward with implementing our strategies for using VBS to the glory of God. We pray that we will bring more souls to Christ as we continue this journey as a congregation.”

Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (regional trainer) reports, “We have our VBS in planning and are looking forward to obtaining new contacts. On Wednesday evening before Bible class, I have a study scheduled. We continue to mail compassion cards and follow up at the appropriate time. I feel a couple of prospects are close, but summer activities seem to keep distracting them from studying. Jamie and I are looking forward to AMC next week and pray for great success for that work!”

Cheyenne church of Christ, Oklahoma (remote): Nathan Brewer (member) reports, “Our minister has moved on from Cheyenne, so currently I am preaching. I felt it best to return to the basics, so I recently preached Lesson 1 of Back to the Bible. Last Sunday, I preached the first half of Lesson 2. My plan is to finish it this coming Sunday morning, and then begin Lesson 3 the following Sunday to better familiarize the congregation with the study.”

Sullivan Village church of Christ, Lawton, Oklahoma: Steven Hill (preacher) reports, “Sullivan Village is continuing to work diligently to make evangelism our culture! We have comprised 3 teams with team leaders and volunteers for various positions. We just printed our June list for new movers today and will be preparing and delivering baskets to these individuals. We are working on fine tuning our visitor approach as we seek to be welcoming but not overwhelming. Seeking to get them a visitor bag and get someone to connect with them and get their information. We are working on setting up taking them out to eat and building relationships with them, also, we are continuing with our New Convert class and setting up studies. Please keep us in your prayers.”

McKenzie church of Christ, Tennessee: Randall McAdams (elder) reports, “We are now in our third week of card mail-outs. Eleven contacts were turned in, and nine of those are non-members. A new move-in basket was delivered last week to a young couple who recently moved into our community. We sent out a questionnaire to our group leaders asking for suggestions on keeping our group members active and willing to work on the card mailings. One suggestion was to have a group meeting with each group separately to talk about the program, and see what can be done to help motivate each of the groups. Also, we are thinking about presenting a motivational video during the meeting. Another suggestion was to remake the member list, as we have had many new members come in since our lists were first made. We have not had a meeting with group leaders lately, and will be doing that soon. We are steadily moving forward with the program, and we are thankful for all who help us. May our Lord bless our efforts.”

Arlington church of Christ, Tennessee: Brandon Tibbits (preacher) reports, “We prepared our first round of compassion cards this week and are excited to see where these lead! We are continuing with the curriculum and staying the course. Praying for our contacts each day and each Sunday. We are steadily shifting the focus onto evangelism as a massive part of what we do! This week we have our VBS, and we are hoping to use the this as a generator of prospects for any visitors we may have!”

Stewarts Creek church of Christ, Smyrna, Tennessee: Jon McCord (member) reports, “On Sunday, we baptized a person who has been coming to services since our Friends and Family Day. We were on a break with training, and this coming Sunday will be over the Transition/Visit.”

Mountain Creek church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Michael Tomshack (elder) reports, “We have a new brother in Christ! Gary Massey, Elder and Minister, has been studying with the husband of a new family who began attending our assembly a few months ago. His wife is already a member of the Body of Christ. Last Saturday morning, the man wanted to be baptized. He lives very close to the Massey’s, so the family came to their home. There, they found the biblical example: ‘See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?’ We also have three other Bible studies in various stages of relationship building and study. May God continue to give us the increase.”

New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fultz (elder) reports, “Our members turned in four contacts. We made three visits to those on our prospect list. We prepared 34 Compassion cards. Our New Converts class continues with two students.”

Fayetteville church of Christ, Tennessee: Steve Jefferson (elder) reports, “The congregation has been busy with community outreach events. Every month from April through October, we participate in the First Saturday on the Square. We have a booth manned by our members who rotate in and out. We invite people to our worship services and other events. We also give out free Bibles along with study books written by Steve Miller. This past first Saturday, we gave away 26 Bibles and nine workbooks. We also invited people to Revival in America, which lasted over four nights and averaged over 165 in attendance per night. This past Sunday, two were restored after requesting prayers for more faithfulness and forgiveness. We also sent seven compassion cards to one prospect.”

Grundy Street church of Christ, Tullahoma, Tennessee: John Summers (preacher) reports, “We have our Gospel Meeting this week, and we are not fully engaging in the SOE curriculum until June 22. That said, we do have one Bible study scheduled to begin later this morning. We have had one baptism this year thus far. As we have not yet begun the curriculum, we have not started developing or tracking any contacts or prospects, although we have started distributing the contact cards. We are encouraging people to make those lists and pray.”

Ocoee Street church of Christ, Copper Hill, Tennessee: R.E. Vann (elder) reports, “We are currently prospecting 12 precious souls. Six of these are prodigals. We continue praying for all of our wayward members to repent and return. Transition visits continue, but several have proven difficult for various reasons. Bible camp continues in the North Georgia Mountains as we begin our second session this week. There were three baptisms during the first session (not related to HTHSOE, but we love to report Kingdom growth). VBS is one month away, and we are excited about generating additional contacts. We are praying for a successful evangelistic VBS this year.”

McEwen Church of Christ, Tennessee: John Jones (preacher) reports, “We had one restoration yesterday. We have about twenty strong contacts from VBS! I am looking forward to the card-sending process for each of them this week.”

Cookeville church of Christ, Tennessee: Jonathan Medley (elder) reports, “We added a new prospect this week. A friend of one of our members is having neck surgery. She lives alone, so this is a great opportunity for us to reach out to her with some love and help. It is exciting to share that one of our teenage girls has befriended a non-Christian. This young lady did not own a Bible, so our teenager purchased one for her. They have started meeting weekly to do simple Bible markings, with the plan to work into the Back to the Bible booklets.”

Rome church of Christ, Lebanon, Tennessee (remote): David Oxley (elder) reports, “We met this week for our advanced class. We will meet Monday night for our New Converts class, and we are making visits to three prospects this week.”

Soddy church of Christ, Tennessee: Joe Mallory (preacher), “We began by hosting our Vacation Bible School and inviting our family, friends, and neighbors to come and join us for a week of learning from God’s Word. Our theme is taken from Nehemiah 2:18, ‘Rise Up and Build,’ with the focus on obeying God in all that we do. The last lesson of the week highlights the church that Jesus built and how we are ‘living stones, being built up a spiritual house’ (Matthew 16:18; 1 Peter 2:5). We pray that this effort will help us make great contact with many whom we have been praying for. Yesterday (Sunday), we were able to meet a few new visitors and continue to welcome some returning visitors, with whom we are setting up Bible studies. We will begin sending compassion cards in the next couple of weeks to the contacts being submitted by our members. We are so thankful for all prayers and all diligence in the Lord!”

Collierville church of Christ, Tennessee: Justin Evergarden (evangelist) reports, “Training has continued to go well, and we have now moved into one-on-one training sessions for our assigned coordinators. These individualized sessions are helping equip members with the tools they need to lead confidently and effectively in their specific areas of evangelism. This past week, we trained the congregation on two important areas: visitation and benevolence programs. The excitement and participation have been encouraging, and the congregation is eager to put this into practice. We are especially looking forward to our first major outreach event, which will take place on July 4. Every year, many people gather on our building’s lawn to watch the fireworks, so we plan to invite them inside the building where we will be offering free drinks, glow sticks, and more—all packaged in welcoming gift bags that include materials about the church. We will also be providing tours of the building to help guests feel more connected and comfortable. We pray this becomes a great gateway for Bible studies and future visits. Things are really starting to pick up momentum, and we are truly excited for what lies ahead. We are thankful for all support and encouragement as we continue to focus on growing the Lord’s church here.”

Hillcrest church of Christ, Springfield, Tennessee: Tim Taylor (evangelist) reports, “We had a tremendous amount of visitors for our VBS each night. We have sorted through their registration information and determined which ones did not list a neighboring church affiliation; now we have started sending follow-up cards to these 15 new family prospects. We are praying for God to bless our efforts as we continue to plant and water the seed of the Gospel!”

Birdwell Chapel church of Christ, Cottontown, Tennessee: Kerry England (elder) reports, “We had an excellent Bible study this week using the Does It Matter study guide. It generated some productive discussion. We have a second study scheduled this week and plan to finish that lesson. We had several visitors this week. Some were visiting their fathers, but three families were from our local community. Our compassion card teams are becoming more efficient. We are mailing 20 cards this week.”

Rivergate church of Christ, Madison, Tennessee: Doug Tooley (preacher) reports, “We had about 30 visitors during VBS. Several were family members of our members, but we made some good contacts, and the Gospel message was presented. We had seven visitors on Sunday. At least three went to lunch.  I have been doing some Bible study with a visitor. He is homeless and has some issues, but I am prayerful.”

White Oak church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee (remote): John McGiffin (preacher) reports, “The congregation is preparing to man a booth at the city’s birthday celebration. They are scheduling shifts to set up and man the booth. In addition, they are gathering materials like tents, water, coolers, and prizes. We are seeing excitement over this event.”

Colleyville church of Christ, Texas: John Garza (regional trainer) reports, “We have a study with a young man who asked me what he needs to know to be baptized because he would like to be. Our recent convert’s baptism woke him up to the fact that the church of Christ is a great place to be. He said he has never felt so loved and cared for and wants to learn about making a commitment. I have been studying Christian evidences with him. On Thursday, Joshua and I will begin Book 1 of Back to the Bible. Additionally, we had the parents of some members attend on Sunday because of our compassion cards. They are interested in a Bible study, which is currently being planned. In other news and plans, we do not know if these will produce fruit, but they may glorify God. This week, Joshua will reach out to William about studying. William wears two necklaces tied to the Melkite Catholic church (the same group that bought the field and put up the crosses next door). That connection will be used to start the conversation. Joshua and Ashley will visit a man in assisted living who has expressed interest in studying. Joshua and John will visit a couple on Tuesday who are looking for a church home. They visited recently. Finally, because of the work here, there is a family of five and another woman who is considering placing membership. Overall, things are going well here!”

Roanoke church of Christ, Texas: Caleb Rutherford (preacher) reports, “Jason Edwards (elder) and I are excited to fly to Ohio this weekend to be a part of the AMC at Grove City. We are looking forward to working with the brethren there, as well as seeing how everything works and runs, as Roanoke will be hosting in 2026. Last week was an outstanding week, but not just for the congregation at Roanoke. It was an outstanding week for several congregations of the Lord’s church, as we worked together at Camp Ida in Maud, Texas. I directed Session #2, and congregations such as Colleyville, Texas, and Hope, Arkansas, are integrally involved in making our session successful. Our theme was based on Isaiah 6:8 — “Here Am I, Send Me”—focusing on personal evangelism. From Sunday morning through Thursday evening, campers and staff alike heard 27 lessons that were all evangelistic in nature. We continually expressed to our campers that we were available to answer questions and hold Bible studies. From this week, there were three baptisms. Two took place at camp, and then one more was baptized as soon as almost everyone had left to head home. How amazing it was to see an entire week devoted to equipping our young people on teaching others the Gospel. To God be the glory for the fruit of our labors, and we are already looking forward to next year.”

Bridgewater church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (deacon) reports, “One of our card teams met; we will be sending out about 40 cards. We had something happen that is a first for us. One of our members has a husband who is not a member of the Lord’s Body. He has had some medical problems, and we sent him cards. He was at church Sunday, brought his cards, and thanked every person who sent him one. We look forward to setting up a study with him in the very near future. I have included his picture. Our new movers team met, and we will be sending out mailing information about the church to them.”

Eisenhower church of Christ, Odessa, Texas: Allen Weakland (elder) reports, “Michelle has been studying with both Nancy and Travis. She has concluded that her former religious beliefs were lies and has now invited her father to visit the Eisenhower congregation. Her dad has accepted her invitation, but due to his work schedule, it will be a couple of weeks before he is able to visit us. I pray that within the next week or so, we will be informing all of you of her obedience to the Gospel. May you pray for her and her father.”

Howe church of Christ, Texas: Aaron Alsbrook (preacher) reports, “We are sending cards to the contacts made from our clothing drive and will make visits after the reception of those cards sent by our groups. Our VBS started this week as well, and we are funneling all events through the evangelism funnel, making more contacts. The ladies of the congregation are very diligent in all of their preparation for our VBS, and many from the community who are not members of the church love the teaching. Lord willing, more contacts will be made this week during our VBS.”

Fruitvale church of Christ, Texas: Carl McCann (elder) reports, “A New Convert class was started this week for Mike and Sherri Cates. One Bible study is ongoing; prayers are appreciated. We had two visitors for worship yesterday.”

Wheeler church of Christ, Texas: Garrett English (preacher) reports, “I like the idea of restorations, and our elders are in mode to make visits to those in need of restoration. We had Week 2 of VBS this morning, and we will follow up with two visitors.”

Abingdon church of Christ, Virginia: Freddie Klein (evangelist) reports, “We have our accountability boards up, and we are excited about all the metrics we will post in the near future. This week, we wrapped up our last card-writing group for the month and will make transition visits soon. We continue to make visits with prospects in our community. We have had several prospects returning to our worship services. We ask for prayers regarding opportunities in our community to spread the Gospel.”

Williamsburg church of Christ, Virginia: Jim Bishop (elder) reports, “The Lord blessed us today by adding another soul to His church. She is the mother of a young lady who has been attending. This is the seventh baptism since January 2025. Since our HTH seminar at the end of July 2024, we have had 16 baptisms and two restorations. We pray for those who are spreading the Gospel.”

Westside church of Christ, Salem, Virginia: Jeff Durham (elder) reports, “Our compassion card writers continue to do an amazing part in our Congregational Evangelism model. Last evening, we wrote 190 cards! One of our members began a study with a young man who has frequently visited with one of our families. We are prayerful that he has a heart that is the ‘good soil’ where the power of God’s word will grow and eventually lead to his obedience to it.”