Like most congregations, we were maintaining our numbers and thought we were having some growth. However, when we looked at our congregation, we realized we were swelling, not growing. We had Christians moving into our area looking for a new church home, but we were not adding new converts. Last Friday, we finished our AMC campaign with the School of Evangelism and learned what it takes to grow a congregation the Lord’s way. We knocked on 1,721 doors, talked to 730 people, and made 201 contacts for follow-up. We delivered 91 new movers’ baskets and mailed 1,535 compassion cards. The last night, we invited our neighbors to meet us at a community meal. We had 18 people come from our community.
On Sunday, four people we had met during door knocking came to worship, and one member brought a neighbor. Our congregation is energized and excited to get to work. We are organizing our compassion card teams and training our deacons in their assigned areas so that they can begin to train our church members. We are putting together an evangelism website to use as a tool to reach the lost. As of Sunday, we have three Bible studies set up.
On June 17-24, HTHSOE had 130 campaigners representing 11 states helping reach the lost in Cary, North Carolina. You might wonder why we wasted our time on door-knocking. It just does not work in America anymore. You should know that people today do not want to be bothered! You need to go to Latin America, Jamaica, India, or Africa to evangelize.
If you believe that, talk to any of the campaigners who participated or any member of the Cary congregation; God taught all of us a lesson this week. During the campaign, we prepared, practiced, and produced. Each day, Rob taught practical lessons that helped campaigners prepare to evangelize while there and when they went home. Due to generous Christians and congregations, we provided all the campaigners with the materials needed to apply the practical lessons we taught them. Rob taught all the campaigners how to use the materials effectively.
We went out into the field to practice what we learned each day. We prepared local members to go door-knocking using Community Service, Compassion Cards, House to House/Heart to Heart, and Prayer. Most days we had to dodge the heavy rain, but we were not deterred. Since Cary has a monthly average of 300 new movers, we came prepared to work in that area. It was one of our most effective outreaches during the week.
Lastly, we passed out meal invitations during the week. On Friday, 18 visitors came to the building to eat with Cary members. These are good contacts; in previous campaigns, similar contacts have resulted in numerous baptisms.
In total, we collected 201 contact cards for the congregation. Our goal was not Bible studies, even though three are already ongoing. Our goal was not baptisms, even though we had one during the campaign. Our goal was to produce contacts, and we did exactly that. We pray for each contact and know some of them will become “the few” (Matthew 22:16). We ask you to pray for them, the church at Cary, and the souls who may be saved!
Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: David Marker (elder) reports, “We have had success using the new invitation cards. Several members are taking advantage of them wherever they go. As a result, two visitors attended services; we are following up with compassion cards. This week we are focusing on delivering gift bags to our new mover prospects. We are purchasing supplies for our Back-to-School Backpack drive. We have several members participating in that effort and are praying that making a positive impression on the community will result in additional contacts. Rob Whitacre (member) reports, “Jon Butler came to worship with us Sunday morning and personally thanked the congregation for all the cards he had received. We took him to lunch afterward (always eat) and then to our home for our second Back to the Bible study. Jon loved it and can hardly wait for the next study. He is near the cross, so please continue praying.”
Fayette church of Christ, Alabama: Josh Taylor (deacon) reports, “Having completed this month’s card assignments that were directed at our gospel meeting contacts, we are now ready to provide benevolence to them. We had our Mission Sunday last evening instead of our regular Mission Monday. One of our elders took a contact out to lunch. She has been attending services and has settled in with us. We pray that the seed will eventually grow in her heart. We had greater participation on Sunday. I use these times to update our group on the Special Forces Teams evangelistic work. I believe that allows the Special Forces Team to remain accountable and committed to the work. Our next activity is to prepare for our VBS door-knocking campaign. We prepared door-knocking bags for that activity next month. Since our contacts have slowed down, I watched the “bookmark fatigue” video and tried something new with the bookmarks. I provided a bookmark for each person who attended and asked each one to provide a contact. It was successful. I received two new contacts because of that effort. We appreciate all prayers. We do a lot of work, so building our program takes time. We are gaining momentum little by little. May God be glorified through our efforts.”
Winfield church of Christ, Alabama: Jerry Spann (member) reports, “We have prepared Visitor bags and New Mover bags. We are training Visitor Greeters for four zones. We are still trying to establish a source to locate new movers, but we ask members to be eyes/ears in the community to find new people. We signed 80 compassion cards to mail. We have five contact cards for erring members. Our elders will work with those contacts.”
Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Rob Martin (elder) reports, “Opportunity continues even after initial visits are made. Last fall, we sent cards to a lady struggling with Covid. Just the other day, I sat in a hospital waiting room and struck up a conversation with her. She said she had received 59 cards from the church, and every day she looked forward to going to the mailbox. We visited her initially, but her severe case of Covid limited our efforts at that time. Now we will continue to consider her as a good prospect. We are looking for opportunities even among those who have already been visited before.”
College Avenue church of Christ, Enterprise, Alabama (digital): Phillip Rabren (member) reports, “One of our teenage visitors, Douglas Kendall, completed a Bible study with the three booklets of Back to the Bible. When he learned that he was not saved before baptism, he was immediately ready to obey the gospel, and we baptized him into Christ.”
Chase Park church of Christ, Huntsville, Alabama: Pat Cowden (preacher) reports, “We began our study with Frida and Kaine. They have been visiting for several weeks and have been to our house four times (always eat) and have fellowship. We have had several Bible discussions, but we used Does It Matter? for his first actual study. Both have interest in learning more about God’s Word. We are encouraged by their interest. We appreciate all prayers for their sustained interest in learning. One sister, Angela, began a study with a friend on Zoom. They had met many years ago and have stayed in contact since. When her friend expressed interest in spiritual matters, Angela suggested they have a Bible study, and her friend said yes. As of Monday, they finished the Does it Matter? study, and she desires to be baptized into Christ. We put her in contact with a faithful brother in Christ in Baytown, Texas. She plans to talk with him at the church building, and he will baptize her. Evangelism is often a team effort with some planting, others watering, and God giving the increase. To God be the praise and glory!”
Lake City church of Christ, Florida: Jim Flegert (elder) reports, “Our evangelism program is rolling along with a majority of our members participating in signing compassion cards. We rejoiced Thursday as one of our teenage boys decided to be baptized, bringing total baptisms to eight for this year.”
Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Greg Garner (deacon), “We received one contact card. We created and sent 21 compassion cards. The new convert class had 19 in attendance. We have had six Bible studies; Larkin Cook and Dave Amos had five studies in the prison ministry. The application BTTB class had six in attendance. The HTH new group plans to go door-knocking. The new movers group delivered four baskets; due to bad weather, the teams will finish delivering baskets later this week.”
Monroe church of Christ, Georgia (digital): Charles Harris (regional instructor) reports, “The HTHSOE Evangelism Model certainly works in helping a congregation reach out to the lost. We have had several baptisms. It helps to bring back the wayward. We have had several come back after years of absence. The Evangelism Model helps brethren who recently moved into the area know where God’s children are working. Several brethren in the past year or so have placed membership with us because they were seeing active Christians at Monroe. Recently, a lady who moved into the area visited. She was greeted warmly as all visitors are. I do not ask a lot of questions when I first meet someone, but I had the feeling she was a member of the church. I put her on the list to prospect, and we reached out to her as we do with others. Yesterday after service she met with our elders and placed membership with us. We have another soul winner working with us.”
LaFayette church of Christ, Georgia: Ken McCurry (member) reports, “The Kingdom grew yesterday as Lara Hunt obeyed the gospel. She completed study 3 of BTTB, and I was honored to help her come to an understanding of the Scriptures and assist her in obedience. To God be the glory and many thanks to the HTHSOE that is changing the hearts of Christians in strategies to reach and teach the lost. Jesse Teague (deacon) reports, “Marie had visited during VBS, and the McClures had followed up with her. She visited during worship yesterday and brought her friend Carol. We had our monthly dinner after worship. Although they had to leave after worship, we gave them food from the dinner, and they were happy to receive it. Robert Craig, who had visited some time back, visited again on Sunday; we continue to engage him with discussion and cards, hoping for more interaction.”
Warner Robins church of Christ, Georgia: Daniel Stearsman (preacher) reports, “A local member’s daughter, D’asia Jordan, recently graduated from high school and is preparing to leave for the US Air Force. Her grandfather is an elder in Dublin, Georgia. She has been raised around the Lord’s church her whole life, but she had not been added by the Lord to the church yet. Katrina Stearsman and her mom, Zanetta White, met with D’asia for coffee and they talked about future plans and concerns for her as she moves away. She did not have any questions, but she did not feel like she was ready. The three of them thumbed through Does It Matter? together and prayed together. Many people were praying for her. A week and a half went by; then she was baptized into Christ in Dublin! We praise the Lord and thank Him for His glorious grace!”
Honolulu church of Christ, Hawaii: Tagiilima Esene (regional instructor) reports, “We have new movers baskets going out as well as visitors’ handbags and some cards sent by our Ladies Bible Class group. Our church culture is changing for the better. More and more members are sharing about souls they are trying to reach. I have been studying Does It Matter? with the family of one of our new converts. Last week, our group grew by three people (a total of six souls searching). We studied about the church and the organization of it. We might finish this week if the Lord wills. This family has invited me into their home to study the Bible. It is so encouraging to have this type of interest in the things of God. This Sunday we had our VBS meeting. We emphasized the goal of VBS as an evangelistic event. The highlight this Sunday was a new soul coming home to Jesus. Formosa has been visiting the church for over a month. Yesterday she responded to the invitation, wanting to be baptized for the forgiveness of her sins. We appreciate all prayers.”
Beloit church of Christ, Kansas: Dustin Doughtery (preacher) reports, “Wednesday night, a lady visited. One sister took her contact information and invited her back for Sunday. She was there Sunday morning bright and early, and I was able to speak with her before and after services. Several ladies visited with her as well. She is struggling with several issues and life in general. She said she did not know where to turn and thought coming to church might be a place to start. She said she will be back, so I will approach her about a study. We are still working on several big evangelistic outreach endeavors for this summer, including a booth at the fair and VBS. All glory and honor to the Father.”
Coldwater church of Christ, Murray, Kentucky: Luke Puckett (preacher) reports, “We have a new contact through our support of International Gospel Hour. We will provide Bible material, including a Bible correspondence course, for her. While we are there, we will build a personal relationship with her, hoping that this leads to an in-person study. We were able to start prospecting a member’s contact this week. His grandmother passed away, and we immediately started sending him and his family cards. We pray this will open doors for us to start a study soon.”
Paintsville church of Christ, Kentucky: Zach Collins (preacher) reports, “What an amazing week! As a result of our VBS, we developed many new contacts. One visitor said, ‘These people are so full of love.’ Throughout the week, we saw many old and new faces. As a result of VBS, we had five visitors Sunday, two of whom are wayward Christians. We expect five to ten more based on conversations we had with other visitors. Our registration table kept records. We are going to begin sending cards and visiting those who visited us during VBS. We are praying God will give the increase to the seed we have planted!”
LaPlata church of Christ, Maryland (digital): Eric Sykes (regional instructor) wrote, “We are still making progress here in LaPlata. We added four new names to our prospect list. We sent out 56 compassion cards this week. We still have several open Bible studies. We had five visitors, and we have six new converts in our new training classes. Currently, those classes are being conducted one-on-one via Zoom, which appears to be working out fine.
“Two of the new converts returned to worship service this Sunday after being away for several months. Occasionally they would attend worship services online. We never gave up on them. We invited them to attend our online new converts’ class. After attending our classes for a little over a month, they came and worshipped with the family here at LaPlata this past week–in person. God is good!
“This past Sunday, we finished our first round of compassion card mailings, and now we are coordinating our in-person visits. We have eight people on the visitation list, so we will be busy over the next week or so. We appreciate all prayers as we continue to show the compassion of the Lord to our community!”
Southside church of Christ, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Freddie Klein (preacher) reports, “I preached the second part of the evangelism sermon, distributed the card groups to all the members, set up the evangelism table, showed a video, and had a meeting with the men about coordinating their roles.”
Looxahoma church of Christ, Mississippi: Blake Hawkins (deacon) reports, “Sunday was our first meeting with the newly arranged compassion card writing teams. They began week one of writing cards to our current prospects. Next week, the preacher will begin teaching the congregation how to use Back to the Bible for Bible studies.”
Iuka church of Christ, Mississippi: Robert Wimbish (elder) reports, “Wednesday night, we had an organizational training session for all coordinators. They are accessing the curriculum site and acquiring available guidance at this time. Our ladies’ class has taken on the shopping and making of our visitor and new mover baskets. We plan to have the first group of new mover baskets ready for delivery this week. Nine of our ladies met to compose our first round of compassion cards. One contact card was ready for a response last night and another will be today. One member is building display racks for our evangelism materials. Last night, two members organized our cards and set up a display in the classroom where we will be writing cards. Lance gave a lesson from the second Back to the Bible booklet. The next two Sundays will focus on the third booklet. At the completion of the booklets, we will begin a weekly training program for those who wish to conduct Bible Studies.”
Fordland church of Christ, Missouri: Josh Romo (preacher) reports, “Cards continue to make an impact. More visits will be made this week. VBS is this week, and we are actively seeking contacts. We have three ongoing Bible studies.”
West Hwy 160 church of Christ, West Plains, Missouri (digital): Marvin Hatley (elder) reports, “An ongoing personal Bible study progressed to Book 2. It has proven to be difficult as the prospect is resorting to feelings instead of the word of God. The prospect is still willing to proceed but is becoming more hesitant. About eighty compassion cards were prepared for mailing by compassion Group 3. One member plans to approach a long-time friend with a back-door Bible study, and a new convert is preparing to conduct a study with a close family member. We have been blessed with several repeat visitors and have been prospecting them, hoping for the opportunity to conduct Bible studies. We appreciate help from HTHSOE.”
Samford church of Christ, Steele, Missouri: Kyle Imel (deacon) reports, “We sent compassion cards to three individuals. One just moved into our area and visited us. We have a few visits scheduled for the next two weeks.”
Foristell church of Christ, Missouri: Rod Jackson (elder) reports, “The elders met with five couples—two are alternates—on Saturday night to discuss the duties of pew greeters and the support network involved. We met with five deacons Sunday and assigned each as a coordinator over a specific area. Aaron will begin preaching the assigned sermons for the next two weeks. We have set a target date for full implementation as Sunday, August 6.”
East Flushing church of Christ, New York (digital): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “We had several visitors Sunday who have been previously visiting. We are prospecting them. Our visitor Gustavo, who came last week, was back for Sunday school and worship. We ate with him and gave him a ride home. We pray the door will be opened for a study. We are sending compassion cards. We received a contact from a member’s daughter. She and her husband just had a baby, and they want the baby to be baptized. We started sending them compassion cards. We hope that their desire will lead to a Bible study. We appreciate all your prayers.”
Carthage church of Christ, North Carolina (digital): Randy Chambers (preacher) reports, “The Carthage church of Christ attended the American Mission Campaigns in North Carolina. All those involved did an outstanding job. We are thankful for knowledge and teaching delivered during this campaign. We are rejoicing with the heavenly host for three souls who stepped out in faith to be baptized on Saturday and added to the Lord’s church. Nydia Waddel is the daughter of Shana. Nydia is an outstanding student of the Word of God; we count on her to demonstrate her learning during Bible class reviews and applications. We are thankful to God for her. Jeremy and Candace were taught the gospel by Cynthia using BTTB series over Zoom. They were baptized. They are sincere and open-hearted to the word of God. We look forward to working with them as they begin their Christian journey. We mailed compassion cards Wednesday and continue to deliver new movers baskets, looking for open doors. We thank God for allowing us to have a small part in His scheme of redemption.”
North Meadville church of Christ, Pennsylvania: Dick Moore (elder) reports, “North Meadville reports seven contacts receiving cards. Three are contacts who have lost either a spouse or child. We ask for prayers that we can continue to reach out to the families. We ask for prayers for a recent convert who is facing a great deal of adversity from her family about her decision to follow Christ. We continue to prepare for upcoming events hoping for more contacts in the community.”
York church of Christ, Pennsylvania: Terry Zortman (elder) reports, “We continue to distribute compassion cards weekly to nearly every family in our congregation so they can mail them to prospects. Our ladies’ class has been following up with their own cards to many of the previous card recipient contacts for additional support and encouragement. We have received many favorable responses from those we have contacted. They appreciate our concern and encouragement. Our ladies send congratulatory cards to our children who have progressed to a higher grade level, providing support and a reminder that they are appreciated in our church family.”
East Main church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Brad Rowley (elder) reports, “This week we are at Short Mountain Bible Camp. We will have another week at Indian Creek Youth Camp. Bible camps are effective tools to evangelize and strengthen our young folks. We pray for open hearts and are thankful for all those that are serving at camp. Our compassion card team wrote 75 cards Sunday. Mark Isenberg and Joe Hurt will start a new Bible study this week with a family that has been visiting East Main. Wayne Lankford continues to get contact information from directories. The plan is to start sending cards July 2.
McKenzie church of Christ, Tennessee: Randy McCadams (elder) reports, “We are completing our eighth week of the program. We will meet next week to select the contacts for July. Our teams seem to be doing well with their members being active. We are planning to meet again with our team leaders in July. Chance is trying to schedule a Bible study.”
Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “Saturday, Jeff and Jennifer completed the third study with Zach and immediately went to the building to baptize him. Zach is the husband of one of our members, Claudia. It is wonderful that they are now brother and sister in Christ as well as husband and wife. On Sunday, I preached at Arlington and talked about how every church needs bringers, teachers, and keepers. Monday, I visited Sales Jones, the husband of one of our new Christians, Judy Sales. He has cancer and has been given just a few weeks to live. I studied with him using Does It Matter? and had to condense it because he is not able to sit for long. He told me he will have to think about baptism for a while. Please pray that God gives him time to come to an acceptance of the truth. We met Monday to write cards to prospects and to deliver new mover baskets. After I got home, I received a text from Thomas Starck, the dad of a young adult member, Carmen. We have been working on him periodically for quite some time. He mentioned he would like to study, so I offered to meet with him Thursday. God is blessing us with many opportunities to teach the gospel.”
New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fulks (elder) reports, “We received four contact cards this week. Card Team 4 completed 76 compassion cards. Four members made six follow-up visits and contacts. We assigned three new movers’ baskets. Four individuals are in various stages of progress in the Back to the Bible Lessons.
Bargerton church of Christ in Lexington, Tennessee (digital): Phillip Gaither (member) reports, “We had good attendance Sunday with several visitors. At our evening service, we finished going over Lesson 1 of Back to the Bible. Several new mover baskets were delivered. Our card ministry continues to send cards to visitors, the sick, or those that have lost loved ones recently.”
Dellrose church of Christ, Tennessee: Mike Hovis (member) reports, “Jerry and Pat Reynolds delivered two new movers’ baskets last week. On Sunday, Pat gave a visitor’s bag with an invitation to our Ladies’ Day to a young lady visitor. We wrote 38 cards to send this week.”
Cowan church of Christ, Tennessee (digital): David Sudhoff (preacher) reports, “We are so pleased that Steve chose to put Christ on in baptism. Steve has been studying with David for three months. He asked so many questions, but that is just fine! The truth NEVER minds being questioned. Steve told David Wednesday that he had studied with many denominational preachers over the last 15 years, and he never had one that insisted on answering everything with the Word of God. Thankfully, the Lord’s church is not a denomination, and we rely solely on the Scriptures! After three months of focusing Scripture alone as shown in Back to the Bible, he was convicted and insisted on being immersed for the forgiveness of sins. I was in Mississippi and could not be in Cowan to baptize Steve, but he knew that was not important. What was important was salvation, and Steve did not want to wait another minute! Thankfully, we have wonderful men at the Cowan church of Christ who came to help Steve put on Christ and welcome him into the family of God!”
Madison County church of Christ, Jackson, Tennessee: Steven Spouse (preacher) reports, “We had two visitors on Sunday. One has been a prospect for few months. The work is paying off. We are continuing to work through the curriculum each Sunday during part of our Bible class time.”
West End church of Christ, Knoxville, Tennessee: Adam Wilson (member) reports, “We experienced the power of opening your home. We welcomed Trysta Jordan into the church on Sunday evening. She has been living with her aunt and uncle for the past four years. They have loved her and her younger sister and contributed to their spiritual knowledge along with the congregation. Their effort bore fruit this weekend with Trysta’s baptism in Christ! Jeremy Weekly (preacher) is organizing a door-knocking morning about our upcoming school supply drive in the neighborhoods that receive House to House mailers. Some will need school supplies; others will desire to give back. We will gladly interact with both groups and everyone in between. Our hope is that we will begin putting a face with a name as we strive to make a difference in our immediate community.”
Rogersville church of Christ, Tennessee: Ethan Tate (preacher) reports, “We have had excellent studies coming out of the evangelism class! One student has had a complete Bible study through all three BTTB books and is close to being saved. We will have one study to think about everything we discussed. We made a fourth book so compare what this person did to be saved with what the Bible says about salvation. We are going to use “Does it Matter” for the next study. This same student has also set up another study with his wife’s parents, and they are so excited. Another student’s wife helped us set up a Bible study with a young couple. We request prayers for all three studies, hoping these families will be saved. We ask that God will be merciful to give them time to grow fruits meet for repentance and receive the gospel. Wonderful things are happening, and we pray God will bless all labors for His church.”
Hwy 95 church of Christ, Taylor, Texas: Benjamin Dossey (preacher) reports, “Saturday, we had more VBS planning and also delivered new movers’ baskets to those new to the community. We had a number of good conversations, and one of the contacts visited Sunday for class and worship. We have a Bible study scheduled for Thursday with a different visitor, Amy, who has been visiting us the past two weeks. We appreciate all prayers for this study.”
Southwest church of Christ, Austin, Texas: John Garza (regional instructor) reports, “The congregation at Southwest currently has multiple Bible studies going on, and this week, we are hosting the Servants Academy for high schoolers. The summer months of June and July are typically very busy with our various events, along with graduation.”
Graceton church of Christ, Diana, Texas: Johnny Willeford (elder) reports, “We have started our second group of compassion cards. Twelve individuals are receiving cards this month. One recipient from our first set of compassion cards came forward and asked to be restored to God’s family. She stated that she had been away too long. Scott, our preacher, is awaiting the last lesson with another compassion card recipient. The first two home lessons went well, and he hopes to finish the last one this week. Our Mission Monday group met for training and the next list of our home visits. Scott finished the congregational training on Lesson 1 of Back to the Bible and started the second booklet. Our members are engaged. Continue to pray for our members and community about the past week’s storm damage.”
Eisenhower church of Christ, Odessa, Texas: Allen Weakland (elder) reports, “Over the past four months, we have experienced a lot of ups and down. The lows come with the highs. We have seen individuals start studies, but for one reason or another, they have become disinterested and have expressed no desire to continue. At the same time, Eisenhower has seen an increase of interest in evangelism within its membership. Right now, we are blessed in seeing several of our families embark upon studies with family members who live in different parts of the country. We have had several visits from a group that encourages former inmates to attend religious services in the Odessa community. We spoke to the group last night, and they expressed a desire to learn more about God and the Bible when visiting here than anywhere else. Friends, the Bible still has the ability to convert the souls of men.”
Peninsula church of Christ, Virginia: Ben Phillips (preacher) reports, “Over the last few weeks, we have had two baptisms. One of the men who was baptized is a long-time friend of one of our members, Kevin Barnes. Kevin had worked with his friend for more than a decade, never giving up hope for his salvation. Now, we have another brother in Christ!”
Central church of Christ, Martinsburg, West Virginia: Robert Veil (preacher) reports, “We had 201 in attendance Sunday morning, which is the best we have had in a while. Our private Bible study on Wednesday night continues, along with one other, and we have a new converts class as well.”
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.
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