Reaching the Lost- Success Stories

Statistics
Total baptisms (2018-2022) reported from U.S. Congregation: 2,345
Total Seminars Conducted (2018-2022): 181
Personal Seminars in 2023: 7
Digital Enrollments for 2023: 20
Total baptisms reported from U.S. Congregations, 2023: 215

Upcoming Seminars
April 2-4: Dellrose church of Christ, Tennessee
April 14-15 Blanchard church of Christ, Louisiana
April 16-18 Graceton church of Christ, Texas
April 19-21 World Video Bible School, Maxwell, Texas
April 22-23 Bridgewater church of Christ, Katy, Texas

COORDINATORS SPREADSHEET
HTHSOE Checklist
Featured Work: Florida School of Preaching
Editor’s Note: We love our schools of Preaching. This was our second training seminar for the FSOP. It was well attended by their students, wives, and members of the Lakeland church of Christ.  These opportunities multiply our efforts as these men prepare to enter full-time work all over the nation. We cherish our relationship with the schools of preaching. In the upcoming months, we will be providing our training to the Memphis School of Preaching, Georgia Institute of Theology, and the Brown Trail School of Preaching.
Training Preachers: Florida School of Preaching
Written by Brian Howard

The House to House/Heart to Heart School of Evangelism training seminar presented to our students was a wonderful complement to our evangelistic focus at the Florida School of Preaching! Our goal is to provide our students with the necessary tools to reach lost souls successfully, but we also want them to have the ability and knowledge to train their congregations once they are practicing full-time ministry. The evangelism seminar was essential in making sure they receive this kind of training.

For two days, the students were immersed in learning practical methods to reach lost souls. They learned how to make contacts and to prospect those contacts. They learned valuable tips to help in getting into a bible study. Rob also taught them how to get the congregation involved in this method, which is perhaps the most important skill of all.

Every preacher, elder, and congregation of the Lord’s church would benefit greatly from learning and using the evangelism method Rob teaches. It is my belief that most members of the body of Christ want to evangelize, but they just do not know how, and there is no example of it being done at their congregations. HTHSOE teaches a method that works! Souls are being saved, and congregations are growing spiritually and numerically when this method is followed! We are extremely grateful for Rob and his family coming and sharing this great tool with our students!

Congregational Reports

Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: David Marker (elder) reports, “We are following up on some of our contacts and new movers that seem to be interested. We are having a fellowship meal after services this Sunday morning, and we have invited our contacts as well. We have been studying with four high school students for the last few months. That class is going really well, and we are making progress. We will also follow up with visitors from this past weekend.  We will continue to work with benevolent prospects.  As we take inventory of the first quarter of 2023, we have expended a lot of time, energy, and effort in our evangelistic efforts. We are confident our effort will pay off as we continue to sow the seed and cultivate the soil! As always, to God be the Glory!”

Rob Whitacre reports, “On Sunday evening, the elders asked me to preach. This provided an opportunity to invite some of our converts from Jacksonville. It was wonderful to see Geneva and the girls, but the real treat was when Margie arrived. She has struggled with personal issues but decided to come anyway, and she brought her sister Margaretta. The congregation surrounded them with love. We invited them out to supper and began prospecting.  We plan to visit Margaretta this week and continue to build the relationship. We are praying for her heart to open.”

Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “Tabitha Hatton obeyed the gospel this past week! We also are seeing many visitors and are working to establish studies with them soon. To God be the glory!”

Canal Heights church of Christ, Demopolis, Alabama: Bryan Cook (preacher) reports, “This week we continue to plan  our summer VBS. Everyone is onboard with the evangelism theme.  Our meal planning even has evangelism as its focus; we want our members to sit next to new parents who come to eat. One of our elders will teach Back to the Bible to the adult class in the auditorium while their children are in VBS classes.

“Our card program is back in full swing with the tables full of cards. We have found that focusing on fewer subjects for more weeks is an adjustment that fits our congregation better. We still have some members who do not know the basics, but we hope to help these late bloomers to catch up. We are planning to teach the gospel to more people so that souls are saved.”

Mossy Head church of Christ, Crestview, Florida (digital): Phillip Gaither (member) reports, “We continue to have small obstacles to overcome. Our intention was to begin the thumb drive course Sunday evening, but we had technical difficulties. Nevertheless, we continued and watched the Back to the Bible DVD. We will try to fix the technical issues this week so that this coming Sunday, we can present information to the congregation.”

Lake City church of Christ, Florida: Jim Flegert (elder) reports, “This was our first Sunday after Rob Whitacre held our three-day Evangelism Seminar. Our preacher, TJ Gifford, delivered an excellent post seminar sermon. At the close of our worship, Robb Burns, one of our elders, announced our first step in the program as four of our young boys passed out 117 Bookmarks, and Robb explained the purpose of the Bookmarks. After our evening worship, several of our members who were out of town in the morning were able to pick up their Bookmarks from our newly formed Evangelism Table in our foyer. This past week we have secured our first two coordinators with more to come.”

Adairsville church of Christ, Georgia: Rick Lawson (preacher) reports, “Steve McCaslin studied with Katie Rogers, and she decided to put on the Lord in baptism tonight! To God be the glory!”

Peachtree City church of Christ, Georgia: Lew Foshee (elder) reports, “Sunday we passed out contact cards to the congregation and asked that they provide us with two to three names from their prospect list by this Sunday. Our compassion card coordinator has been working in conjunction with Hannah, and she and her team have started mailing cards to individuals that have been identified, in addition to members that have fallen away. We are continuing to assemble our team of coordinators, and Stan is continuing to preach on John 4. “Our Walk4Water coordinators spoke to the congregation at the end of services on Sunday, discussing how we are going to incorporate evangelism into our walk in April. We should be able to garner several contacts from our walk this year. We are fervently praying for our evangelism efforts.”

Carrollton church of Christ, Georgia: Dave Leonard (preacher) reports, “Sunday was our first day of compassion cards. We had an excited group working together after our afternoon worship.  Our coordinators had the names and cards organized for us, and we finished with 104 cards to be mailed throughout the week!  We are looking forward to following up.”

LaFayette church of Christ, Georgia: Jesse Teague (deacon) reports, “Team 1 will meet this coming Sunday, April 2, 2023, to send out compassion cards. This will be their first meeting with the new format/setup. The congregation is getting more engaged; we have about 12 names on contact cards now. Terra will organize compassion cards for Team 1 on Friday. People are coming to me with their cards before services start. This week we are focusing on erring brothers and sisters, but we have other names turned in as well. David and Curry and their families are at the MSOP lectureships this week; David is teaching one of the classes.”

Monroe church of Christ, Georgia: Charles Harris (regional instructor) reports, “My family and I are attending the Memphis School of Preaching Lectureship this week. A sister let me know that there were some visitors at Monroe Sunday. She is providing me with their contact information. Someone else from our weekly evangelism classes has set up a study. Several studies are taking place. More members are letting me know about people on their bookmarks. One day this congregation is going to be a soul- winning machine.”

Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Greg Garner (deacon) reports, “WCOC collected three contact cards that we can prospect this week. Our congregation meets on the second, third, and fourth Sunday evenings to conduct the Actively Caring Teaching Serving (ACTS) workshop (i.e. Evangelism). During our workshop, the Compassion Group created 46 compassion cards and sent out 43 cards last week. The Visitation Group visited 12 from the House-to-House list and left literature What Must I Do to Be Saved? The Service Group created handrails for a member of the church.

“The BTTB Application Class had ten attendees. The elders and the minister are continuing to contact eight lost souls to discuss conducting bible studies with them. We welcome to our congregation Ken and Kay Bell who moved from Texas. WCOC received one new visitor for worship on Sunday.  WCOC has six Bible studies in progress.”

Riverbend church of Christ, Dalton, Georgia: Matt Sloan (associate preacher) reports, “Jill goes to work with a fallen-away member of Riverbend Church of Christ. She expressed her interest in being baptized, and thankfully that member referred her to me. When we started the study, she said that she believed she was already saved. We studied  Does It Matter? After the study, she said that she was not saved and needed to be baptized. She wants to study more. I went to school with her daughter, so I hope this might lead to her salvation as well.”

Honolulu church of Christ, Hawaii: Tagiilima Esene (regional instructor) reports, “Our congregation is starting to utilize our new movers program. Some of our members made time to deliver welcome bags to several families who just moved into the area. The bags were well received. We are praying for this effort to produce contacts. We currently have two ongoing bible studies. An effort is made to reach members who have not come to our assemblies. We are praying for their faith to be restored and strengthened.”

Towne Acres church of Christ, Muncie, Indiana: Mark Reynolds (preacher) reports, “Good morning! Robin Philips was baptized into Christ on Saturday, March 25 at the YMCA pool. Robin is partially disabled and not able to climb the stairs to the baptistery. The “Y” was gracious enough to allow us to use their facilities. She was first invited to worship by one of our ladies and had been studied with by a few of our members. We sent a lot of Compassion Cards and this opened her heart.”

Jerseyville church of Christ, Illinois (digital): Jake Medford (preacher) reports, “We started the lesson on John 4 and covered the introduction and three points. We passed out the bookmarks, and we had to refill the stack of Back to the Bible studies on our table. The posters are up, and progress is being made on our checklist.”

Beloit church of Christ, Kansas: Dustin Dougherty (regional instructor) reports, “On Friday I continued to study with a young couple.   Their oldest boy is only seven, but he sat through a part of the study and was answering questions; he even read a verse for us in rotation. It was great to see someone so young engaged and eager to participate. We are still cultivating a few prospects and hope to have studies soon.”

Paintsville church of Christ, Kentucky: Zach Collins (preacher) reports, “This past week, we were fortunate to study with a man who has advanced cancer. This study was brought to us by one of our new converts, Shawn, and another of our new converts, Josh, was present and participated in this study! Unfortunately, the study did not go as we had hoped and prayed, and the individual passed away a few days later from his illness. While the study did not conclude as we had hoped, it helped reaffirm the urgency of the gospel message and sharing it with the lost! The growth of our new converts is greatly encouraging; they have been growing in their desire to learn the word and teach the word. We appreciate all prayers.”

Coldwater church of Christ, Murray, Kentucky: Luke Puckett (preacher) reports, “This past week we continued to follow the program. Our main focus is still compassion cards for those who are on our contact list. Several cards were sent this past week. At this time, we do not have any bible studies ongoing, but we are prospecting several contacts. We pray this will lead to studies.
“We have an elders/deacon meeting scheduled for next month to review our evangelism efforts. We hope to refocus on our bookmarks and add new contacts.”

Edgewood church of Christ, Maryland (digital): Mitchell Bennett (evangelist) reports, “We currently have one bible class in progress with the BTTB series. We are using Fishing for Men by Bobby Bates for our Sunday morning adult Bible class. We have met with the congregation and will begin writing compassion cards next Sunday after worship. We have just under 20 people on our contact list, which may grow prior to Sunday as we include the visitors.  We are making progress and praying we will soon have prospects for Bible studies from our contacts.

LaPlata church of Christ, Maryland (digital): Eric Sykes (regional instructor) reports, “I have set up a Bible study with a young man who has been coming to worship for well over a year. He is engaged to the daughter of one of our elders. Ms. Gail Malnati and her neighbor Karina have attended worship for the third week in a row. She is in her 80s, and she brought her son with her this week. We hope to take them out to eat this Sunday.   The elders played the House to House School of Evangelism introduction video yesterday for the congregation to officially announce next month’s Evangelism Training Seminar. We are excited!”

Samford church of Christ, Steele, Missouri: Kyle Imel (deacon) reports, “Samford is steadily applying the method. We are sending compassion cards out. We have received positive feedback from our compassion cards so far. Around 15 people were sent cards from our prospect list.”

West Hwy 160 church of Christ, West Plains, Missouri (digital): Marvin Hatley (elder) reports, “We are continuing our congregational training on Wednesday nights using HTHSOE materials. Our second Transition Thursday meeting is planned for this week. Week one proved to be successful, enabling brothers and sisters to form a plan of action to move prospects into personal Bible studies. Our compassion card group prepared about 280 cards to be mailed out this week.  Attached is a screenshot sent to one of our sisters in reaction to the compassion cards we began sending to a prospect last week. We are thankful to God for our daily opportunities!”

Fordland church of Christ, Missouri: Josh Romo (preacher) reports, “We continue to send cards. I am preaching through Back to the Bible; I just finished Book 1 and will begin Book 2 next week. We have 15 names on our prospect list.”

East Flushing church of Christ, New York (digital): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “By God’s grace, we are consistently praying for the contacts on our bookmarks and sending out compassion cards to contacts, new movers, and those on our HTHSOE mailing list. Lord willing, we will follow up with visitations soon. On Sunday, we had a visitor from Texas named Brandon. We gave him the Back to the Bible books, and he agreed to have studies via long distance. We request prayers that Brandon will obey the gospel.”

Carthage church of Christ, North Carolina: Randy Chambers (preacher) reports,  “We are thankful to God for the brethren and the opportunity to be workers in His vineyard. The congregation has been taught the principles, practice, and plan for personal evangelism. We are forever grateful for the blessing of the song program and the instructions on how to use it. We are trying hard to get the whole congregation involved. We are blessed and thankful for the work that some of the members are doing with Bible studies, invitations, meals and prayers, but we are still praying that the Lord of the harvest will touch the hearts of the laborers we have and send more into field. We have a photo of a class being conducted this past week. We pray that they will receive the engrafted word with meekness and put on Christ in baptism.”

Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (elder) reports, “We had the second study with Lela last week and are scheduled for the third this Wednesday afternoon before Bible class. We also completed Lesson 1 with Troy and are scheduled this evening for Lesson 2. Both have been very accepting of what we have covered so far.

“On another note, one of our members travels every other week with work. He leaves on Mondays and returns on Fridays. Last week, he attended the Wednesday evening Bible class at the Mabelvale church of Christ in Arkansas. When he returned home and checked his mail on Saturday morning, his mailbox was full of compassion cards. He has filled many out at our congregation, but he said it was nice to be on the receiving end! He said that if he were looking for a congregation to attend in Arkansas, he would go there because they cared enough to fill out those cards. Congratulations to our brothers and sisters in Mabelvale! I hope to visit them some day, and I pray for success in their evangelistic efforts.

“The process we learned in the HTHSOE simply works, but it is just that, a process, and we have learned that the best success comes from following the whole process. It has been proven successful time and time again here in Coweta as well as many other congregations. We are grateful for this work.”

Sunrush church of Christ, Chillicothe, Ohio: Jeryl Webb (elder) reports, “I have not sent a report recently, and I apologize. Jody Colvin started March 5 as our new minister. After he agreed to take the job, he and his family could not move right away, so we had to wait seven weeks for their arrival.  In preparation for this transition, the Alkire Road Church of Christ sent men to preach on Sunday mornings. One of our members, Robert Blythe, and I preached on Sunday evenings.

“Since our new minister has arrived, we have seen a lot of enthusiasm. Attendance and contributions have increased.  We have members who want to work for the Lord. We have members who want to work the evangelism table. Interest in Back to the Bible and how to conduct a Bible study is increasing. Don, Jody, and I are working on those who have not been faithful and those who have left for various reasons. All in all, we are very excited about spreading the gospel and growing as a congregation.”

York church of Christ, York, Pennsylvania: Mark Raschke (deacon) reports, “This week we continued to send compassion cards to new prospects. Fred and Pam continue to study with Dave, one of our prospects. We had a visitor who was formerly a member of a congregation in Baltimore but now lives in York. We continue to study through Believe the Bible on Wednesdays and bring messages related to evangelism on Sundays.”

Rogersville church of Christ, Tennessee: Ethan Tate (preacher) reports, “This past weekend was delightful and encouraging. We have been sending compassion cards to a family, and they were so excited when we visited them.  We had a great time learning about their family, which lead to talking about religion. Before answering a lot of questions, we asked them if we could come back and continue the discussion. They said yes. We will be visiting with them again soon to earn the study and grow closer to them. We are also working with another family to help them through their health concerns. They have also asked us to visit again and talk about religion. Please continue to for these people and for us. God is doing wonderful things!”

Madison County church of Christ, Jackson, Tennessee: Steven Sprouse (preacher) reports, “We are continuing to send out compassion cards to a greater number of prospects each week. We have heard during visits about how much people appreciate the cards and visits. We are studying Fishers of Men by Bobby Bates.”

McKenzie church of Christ, Tennessee: Chance Steen (preacher) reports, ”Group C meet Sunday morning following the worship. They had over 20 people seeking to send cards and work the program. We have had a lot of encouragement from those who are participating and seeking the lost.  This program has been a blessing to our congregation. We are working it as scheduled and hoping God gives the increase.”

White Oak church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Austin Fowler (regional instructor) reports, “Sunday was a very encouraging day at White Oak. We had two visitors from the community. One of them was a returning visitor. The other one was a first-time visitor that was a co-worker of one of the members. We gave visitor cups to both of them and we collected their contact information.  We will write cards to them on Wednesday to thank them for coming. Both said that they would come back and that they really enjoyed worshiping with us. Last Wednesday night, we met to send cards to those on our New Movers list. I am very excited about the things going on at White Oak!”

New Hope church of Christ, Middleton, Tennessee: Cole Wade (preacher) reports, “We have several new visitors who have been coming the past few weeks; a member brought one of them. We are blessed at New Hope to have several families that continue to bring their friends and children’s friends to church, and it has certainly helped us build a culture of feeling comfortable around new people. I am very proud of the way we handle visitors and get to know them and make them feel at home! We continue to pray for more open doors and the ability to share the good news in truth and love!! We have two Bible studies ongoing.”

East Main church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Brad Rowley (elder) reports, “We rejoice in the baptism of Shelby Caldwell on Sunday morning by our pulpit minister Jon Mitchell. Steve and Cathy Arnold, members at East Main, became acquainted with Shelby at East Main’s last back pack drive. The Arnolds set up a Bible study with Shelby and her husband and one of our elders, Mark Isenberg, and his wife Debbie.

“We rejoice in the baptism of Logan Gipson on Sunday morning by our pulpit minister Jon Mitchell. Logan has two amazing bible class teachers, Brett Nanney and Mike Raines. Brett and Mike have taught all three Back to the Bible lessons in Logan’s class. Last Sunday, Brett was teaching about heaven. Logan approached one of our deacons, Tim Hayes, after worship and told him he wanted to be baptized. Tim had a conversation with Logan and asked him some questions. Logan had all the right answers.  His mom, Brandi, obeyed the gospel last year. It is exciting to see how so many people have contributed to Logan obeying the gospel.

“We had no new contact cards last week. Sunday our card team number four wrote 70 compassion cards. We had two Bible studies last week. One was with one of our college students, and Seth Ferguson, our college minister, led the study.  Tim Hayes and Teresa Mingle are still working on a service project to get one of our prospects some furniture and get her settled into an apartment.  We pray they will have an opportunity to start a Bible study soon. We had three folks in our new convert class Sunday taught by Mark Isenberg.

“Wayne Lankford, our associate minister, is working on getting volunteers to go through old directories to obtain more contacts. Once we get these contacts, we will start sending cards and have a follow-up contact visit. We are also discussing some other ideas to promote Mission Day in April with our new schedule.”

West End church of Christ, Knoxville, Tennessee: Adam Wilson (evangelist) reports, “We have a new brother in Christ! This is the second soul to go from contact card to baptism. Jeff was baptized Sunday afternoon by Mark Newby (elder). Jeff is a childhood friend of Jeff Savage (member) and Mark Burroughs (elder), and his contact card was submitted last fall after his stepdaughter was murdered by her husband, leaving behind two daughters age four and five. Jeff also works long hours each day to provide for his wife despite having a terminal cancer diagnosis (Stage 4 – liver, colon, lungs). The congregation sent compassion cards throughout December. Unfortunately, we were not able to get a visit to Jeff during the holidays.

“In preparation for a visit earlier this month, we sent Jeff another week of cards to renew the contact. Jeff S. and Mark B. let Jeff know that a brother they trusted was coming to see him. Mark Newby then made a solo visit during the evening. With his Bible on the hood of the truck, Mark reminded Jeff how loved he is by his friends and by God and asked him for three studies. Jeff agreed, and the Word softened his heart; now he knows where he will be for eternity. Satan did not let him go without a fight; Jeff had to install a new colostomy bag in preparation for his baptism. Then a job for work delayed him, and his car broke down on the way to the church building. Jeff called his brother who picked him up on the side of the road, and they finally made it! Over twenty people from Jeff’s family (two brothers, a sister, his mom, his wife, and most of their kids) showed up for his baptism, some driving over an hour. All of them have a denominational background, but they had nothing but thankfulness for the effort to save their brother’s soul. In their words,  ‘It is the answer to over 20 years of prayer.’

“Pray for our members to have sensitive hearts to their friends, neighbors, coworkers, and family. Please pray for our current contacts, those who are being reheated, our visitation teams, and our Bible study teams!”

New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fulks (elder) reports, “At New Union, we continue to review the Bookmarks at the close of Sunday morning worship services. We ask members to submit contact cards for those who have had events occur in their lives that would create a need for compassion. We also include others we know (friends, families, and neighbors) in that same situation. We have congregational prayer specifically for those we are prospecting. Our members have been very consistent in completing and submitting new contact cards. This week we had four contact cards submitted.

“Card Team 4 met after Sunday evening services and completed 65 compassion cards. Last week five members made eight follow-up visits and contacts. Two New Mover Baskets were delivered over the past two weeks. Three cards were sent to New Movers who showed interest during the delivery of the baskets. We had one visitor on Sunday to whom we are sending cards, and we will attempt to follow up with a visit.

“Two of our elders and our preacher meet every Monday for Mission Mondays and review contact cards and visits as they make plans for follow-up and visits during the coming week. We also reach out to specific members to include them in assigning visits and follow-up. We use a spreadsheet to track all contact cards, follow-up visits, assignments, and other pertinent information.”

Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “This week we continued to have several visitors to our services. Wayne and Claudia visited even though their friends who originally invited them were not there. We are slowly prospecting them as they seem to need that approach. Kaitlyn is waiting to hear from Hannah again to resume their study. Our minister, Mike Rogers, is continuing his mentoring and study with Clifton, one of our new converts. Mike is also studying with Bernard who has been visiting for a while. Monday evening, we wrote compassion cards and  welcome cards to deliver with the baskets for this month. We have numbered each new mover address and printed maps of the area with numbered dots corresponding to the addresses to help people know which new movers are close to their homes. We hope this will encourage more of our members to deliver baskets.”

Old Jefferson church of Christ, Smyrna Tennessee: Bob Horn (preacher) reports, “We  are in a small, older congregation, but we are working to grow.  Two of our ladies have divided the work of sending cards. One gathers names for the compassion cards, and the other one makes sure that the shut-ins and members who need cards are not being overlooked.

“While we have not had new people visiting, two members who had not been attending are now attending regularly, and the husband has taken an interest in coming to the men’s meetings. Tammy and I have enjoyed having meals together with them, and they are both staying for Bible class along with the wife’s mother. That is a significant percentage number especially when we are as small as we are. I consider this to be progress, and we look forward to seeing more done.”

Lackland Terrace church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas (digital): Greg Campbell (preacher) reports, “Rico Ortega was baptized and added to the church on March 9. He has since struggled, and we are working to help him overcome some anger issues. We have now had four baptisms from four completed studies with Back to the Bible.

“We were studying with someone who has not come back or returned our phone calls since Book 1. We have another person, Victor, who desires to start the study with his son but has been dealing with health issues and keeps moving the start date.  We are currently in a Bible study with Sandra Torres, and if the Lord wills,  we will study Book 3 with her tomorrow.

“We had 30 names on the compassion card list last week. We are still in the process of getting a good battle rhythm. (For example, we need to decide who will take the visitors to eat at their home or out at a restaurant, and we still need more teams to visit and lead Bible studies). We appreciate prayers.”

Highway 95 church of Christ, Taylor, Texas: Benjamin Dossey (preacher) reports, “Saturday we had our first meeting in preparation for our VBS this summer. Additionally, we delivered our welcome baskets to those new to the community. This is a picture from one of our compassion card teams last night.”

Northern Oaks church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas: Mel Hutzler (elder) reports, “A few of our Bible studies have been interrupted by rescheduling. We also have others who are being prospected. Our program is running well, but we still need to work on using card writing to lead to Bible studies. Also, we need to get more contacts from members because most of our contacts come from visitors. Overall, more members need to recognize the urgency of lost souls and become involved. We have many upcoming events that we will connect to evangelism.”

Southwest church of Christ, Austin, Texas: John Garza (regional instructor) reports, “Here is an update for the congregation that meets at Southwest, Austin, Texas. Concerning our congregational planning, this week we hope to increase the flames of evangelism by preaching evangelistic sermons and encouraging the members to re-evaluate their contacts on the bookmarks since it has been over a year. This will allow them to focus on personal evangelism and consider who they may be able to reach with the gospel of Christ. Additionally, we are refining the way we will greet guests who walk through our doors. We need to know as members how we can best reach them.

“Concerning prospects and Bible studies, we have seven ongoing studies, and three of them are in the last booklet of Back to the Bible. With this being the case, we pray that their hearts will be sincere and receptive to the gospel of Jesus Christ by obedience to Him.

“Finally, we have a total of seven new prospects. Two are personal friends of mine in the community, and four are the result of a sister visiting another sister in a retirement community. By their association, they were able to get the director to agree to let me study with those willing to have personal Bible studies, which resulted in four. To God be the glory.”

Fruitvale church of Christ, Texas: Carl McCann (elder) reports, “The work continues as we have 12 new prospects from our Eat and Greet event, which was held recently (picture below). We are determined to stay positive and work the evangelism model. We appreciate all prayers.”

Midtown church of Christ, Victoria, Texas: James Cammock (deacon) reports, “We keep our evangelism table stocked, and the brethren are regularly taking the material. We write compassion cards every Sunday morning after worship and mail them throughout the week. Our new Fundamentals of the Faith class is well attended. We are covering doctrinal topics and matters of practical Christian living.”

Schertz church of Christ, Texas: Jay Stewart (elder) reports, “This week Schertz held our first door- knocking campaign. We had a great turnout of about 12 people who divided into five pairs plus a group to man the central hub at the church building. All total, we contacted more than 150 homes and had more than a few show interest in our message. We were promoting the House to House mailer and our upcoming Spring Gospel Meeting. We have the addresses and some names of those who indicated they were either looking for a church or may attend our meeting. After the door knocking was over, the ladies of our Sewing Circle group served a wonderful pot luck for us.  Overall, the day was a very positive and encouraging experience. We are now praying for the harvest of those lost souls and for more of the congregation to be encouraged to participate in future door-knocking opportunities.

“On Sunday, we had several visitors attend morning worship. Although the visitors were not directly related to our door-knocking area, it was encouraging to see the largest number in attendance in our auditorium in at least the last six months. We did have in attendance a returning non-Christian family with whom we are seeking a Bible study.

“We will be busy over the month of April as we make our selection of a full-time preacher and hold our spring gospel meeting with Brother Hitchcock from the Peninsula congregation in Hampton, Virginia. It is also this month that brother Crowley steps back from the full-time position after 20 years as the Schertz minister.”

Main Street church of Christ, Hurricane, West Virginia: Daniel Curry (preacher) reports, “Every time I have used Back to the Bible, it has been successful and ended in a baptism. For years I have encouraged my father to study with me. A few weeks ago, he agreed and completed all three booklets with me. This is our second baptism this year, and we had several during last year.”

Central church of Christ, Martinsburg, West Virginia: Robert Veil (preacher) reports, “Sunday morning’s sermon was on faithfulness. We want to keep more of those we are baptizing fully engaged and committed over the long-run. Compassion cards were also prepared for several recipients Sunday evening.”

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.