Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: David Marker (elder) reports, “We modified our approach to the New Mover program, and it seems to have produced good results. So far, we have three new contacts, and we hope to finish delivering the baskets this week. We have been working with a young lady who has been to numerous services, and we hope she will commit to further Bible studies. We are having a holiday party this Friday and have invited several contacts who have received compassion cards. We continue to solicit contacts, and we have several who meet every Sunday afternoon before services to work on our compassion cards. The effort and attitude are very positive, and we continue to pray for God to bless our efforts!”
Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “We had five baptisms this Sunday at Hatton: Belle and Jasper Hill, Cash, Braidy, and Maddie Rae Isbell made the decision to obey Christ. We have more good contacts from the visits being made, and several studies have been ongoing in the last couple of weeks with hopes of more who will obey soon. To God be all the glory.”
Highway church of Christ, Benton, Arkansas: James Hutchings (deacon) reports, “We have had six baptisms this year. We sent out 31 cards last week. We are encouraging more action by the congregation each week. New mover baskets are going out soon. To God be the glory.”
Foothills church of Christ, Searcy, Arkansas: Josh Alexander (preacher) reports, “We learned of a neighbor of one of our members who is fighting cancer. She has been Methodist all her life and says that she “will die a Methodist.” She is now on our prospect list, and we are sending compassion cards. I am going to visit her this week and take some food to her. We have a growing list of contacts we are hoping to prospect soon. The study we had set up this week fell through as the contact’s husband lost his job. It is a great time for the church to be the church.”
Monticello church of Christ, Arkansas: Josh Walker (preacher) reports, “There is an excitement today (Sunday) here in Monticello. A woman who attended our Fall Festival with her children had expressed interest in the church. We put her on our Prospect List and visited her. Based on the cards, she realized that the church “really want to get to know me.” She plans to bring her older two daughters and husband to church, and we are working on setting up a Bible study with her. Many here are excited to see the fruits of their labor. We appreciate all prayers for this family and for the current Bible study taking place.”
Lake City church of Christ, Florida: Jim Flegert (elder) reports, “Several of our studies continue as we pray for souls to be saved. We are encouraged by the results of our past Mission Monday effort by our teams. Three of the visits had very positive reactions, while a fourth had received an appointment for a Bible study next week.”
Niceville church of Christ, Florida: Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “We sent 13 compassion cards and had two visitors at church. We took one young lady who has recently moved to town to lunch, and we look forward to getting to know her better. This quarter, we are working hard to unite our Evangelism Team in a special training class. We installed a new elder on Sunday. While that is not specific to HTHSOE, it is good news because he is excited about this work. This week, we had good news about a young lady who has not been to church in years. She is returning and bringing her little boy. We have been sending her compassion cards.”
Fayetteville church of Christ, Georgia: David Gulledge (associate preacher) reports, “On Sunday, our youth minister, Jonah Dawes, preached on the authority of the Bible. This aligned with everything we have been studying/preaching about evangelism for the past couple of months. Then we sent cards to six prospects and four visitors who worshipped with us during November. One of the prospects/visitors has already indicated that he is interested in a Bible study, so we pray this comes to fruition. Within the past couple of weeks, we have gathered information on new movers into our area, and we are preparing to deliver new movers baskets to them.”
Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Greg Garner (deacon) reports, “The Compassion Card group sent 15 cards last week. We had 15 in our New Converts class. The Greeter Group reported that we had eight visitors this week. WCOC had one Bible study this week as well as one baptism.”
LaFayette church of Christ, Georgia: Jesse Teague (deacon) reports, “This week we were encouraged by one of our sisters who sends correspondence courses to folks in prison. We should not forget those in prison as they need the gospel, too. This lady had been sending courses to a man in the state prison. His name was given to her by another sister who knew of this man through the church. He wrote back that he was encouraged and thanked her for the lessons. She recommended he share the lessons with others, which he did. Then the second man wrote a note and asked if he could receive the lessons from us. Our sister sent him two, asking him to share them with someone else. We have been worshiping with a restored sister who was recently released from prison. She repented, and we were able to help her get on her feet. The seed, the word of God, can be spread in so many places. May we never limit where the seed goes!”
Beloit church of Christ, Kansas (remote): Dustin Dougherty (preacher) reports, “Christians are putting in the work, tilling the soil, and watering, and God is giving the increase. All honor and glory to God. We sent out our first few compassion cards last week. We need to do a better job with our new converts. We appreciate all prayers as we teach, baptize, and keep teaching!”
Central church of Christ, Paducah, Kentucky: Adam Faughn (preacher) reports, “Last week was a little slower due to Thanksgiving, but good things still occurred. We had a card-writing team meeting, and a couple of visits were made to people we are prospecting (one visit seemed to go very well). I know of at least one prospect who was invited to Thanksgiving dinner by one of our families. On Sunday, we trained in Back to the Bible Book 3. We are excited that one of our prospects asked one of our ladies to study with her! We are hoping that will begin very soon—possibly even this week. Another of our ladies had a Bible study postponed recently but is hoping to begin it this week. We are seeing guests from our community at every service and praying that there will be open hearts as we seek to reach each one with the Gospel.”
Paintsville church of Christ, Kentucky: Zach Collins (preacher) reports, “We are praying for and studying with the lost! Last week, we held our Annual Free Thanksgiving Day Dinner for those in need in our community. We were fortunate to serve 119 people! This outreach effort alone generated ten new contacts in our community. In addition, last Sunday, a new family visited our assembly. They have a connection with a family in our congregation. We have secured a Bible study with the father of this family this coming Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. It is our hope and prayer that studying with him might lead to further studies with his family. We sent 21 cards to three recent visitors, and we sent a card to an individual with whom we recently studied. He is currently in the hospital. We appreciate all prayers as we ask God to give the increase to the seed we are sowing and watering!”
La Plata church of Christ, Maryland (remote): Eric Sykes (regional trainer) reports, “We are making steady progress here at La Plata. We have added a fourth group to send compassion cards. We sent out 30 compassion cards this week. The compassion cards are working here in La Plata. A family of five who recently moved to the area placed membership Sunday. They said they chose La Plata because of the way they were treated as visitors. They received over 30 compassion cards; we invited them into our homes and shared meals together, and we befriended them. We treated them like family. We completed Lesson 1 of Back to the Bible with a couple placed on our compassion card mailing list after they visited our congregation a couple of weeks ago. We are scheduled to complete Lesson 2 of BTTB with them tomorrow. A preacher from one of our sister congregations called me on Saturday. He had heard about what we are doing through the School of Evangelism. He asked me to approach a close friend of his about having a Bible study. We appreciate prayers for this study that will begin on Friday with Lesson 1 of BTTB. We currently have three open Bible studies; two are ready for Lesson 2, and one person is ready for Lesson 3. We have eight people in our New Converts Bible study classes. Each group is studying about Growing in Christ. Finally, we have rebooted our use of the bookmarks and contact cards, and we appreciate all prayers for our efforts.”
Southside church of Christ, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Freddie Klein (preacher) reports, “We are currently studying with a couple who invited a cousin to church services. The cousin is now attending, and she is interested in a Bible study with her husband in the near future. Our recent converts are growing in their faith, and the congregation is encouraged by the progress.”
Looxahoma church of Christ, Mississippi: Blake Hawkins (deacon) reports, “We added several new prospects to our compassion card recipients this week. Our current method is for teams to stay after worship to write their cards, and this seems to be the best way to mail the cards quickly. We are continuing to make basket deliveries to new movers in the area each month.”
Foristell church of Christ, Missouri: Rod Jackson (elder) reports, “Greetings! We are finding that in the work of evangelism, there are ebbs and flows. Some weeks, we send out over 100 cards, and on others, only 50. Some weeks, we are able to make two New Movers visits, and last week, we made eight. Nevertheless, the work continues. We never know where the seed we scatter will fall. It is not our job to judge the hearts but to continue to scatter seed. At this point, it truly is quantity over quality. We sow the seed and let it germinate. Then we continue to follow up with those souls who are eagerly and lovingly hungering for God’s word. In addition to cards and visits, we continue our monthly training. Our deacons report monthly on their part in the evangelism process. Our deacons cover benevolence, missions (foreign and domestic), technology, administration, and worship coordination with pew greeters and education. Each deacon reports about his area of focus during the monthly progress of evangelism. We report monthly to the congregation so that members know evangelism is not a one-off program but an essential part of our culture and our identity. Lord willing, we continue to progress, even coming off a Thanksgiving holiday when many people were traveling. We appreciate all prayers for our continued progress and success.”
West Highway 160 church of Christ, West Plains, Missouri (remote): Marvin Hatley (elder) reports, “Our congregation has been working to cultivate the soil with five prospects. One personal Bible study will begin this week using Book 1 of Back to the Bible. This study has been a work in progress for quite some time. Many of the congregation have focused benevolent efforts on this couple for the past several months, enabling a door to be opened. We desire the prayers of the brotherhood that this study will begin as scheduled and be well-received by honest hearts on the part of these prospects. Compassion Card Group 1 completed fifteen compassion cards for this week’s mailing.”
Samford church of Christ, Steele, Missouri: Kyle Imel (deacon) reports, “We finished Book 2 with Mrs. Emma and her grandson Sunday afternoon. We will go through Book 3 this coming Sunday with them. We have had two regular visitors, and we hope to start a BTTB study with them next week.”
East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “We are thankful to the Lord; after studying the Back to the Bible booklets with brother Reid, Seraiah was baptized into Christ Saturday, November 25. Glory be to God! Another precious soul has been added to the family of our Lord. May we continue to pray for all new converts and one another.”
South Carthage church of Christ, North Carolina (remote): Randy Chambers (preacher) reports, “Last week, our members conducted two studies and have three scheduled for this week. We are praying and preparing for the success of these studies and looking for open doors of opportunity for others.”
Streetsboro church of Christ, Ohio: Ralph Price (preacher) reports, “We currently have 13 prospects. Nine of those will receive cards for their third week of cards this week. In the first two weeks, we sent out 285 cards. We plan to visit the contacts that have had three weeks of cards after this week. There are no Bible studies right now, but some in the assembly have not obeyed the gospel. So, in a way, we are studying with them as we go through the Back to the Biblebooks, which are going well. We are preparing visitor bags and baskets for new movers.”
Greenville church of Christ, Ohio: John McGiffin (preacher) reports, “We have 133 contacts at this point. We are prospecting our next four individuals. Our new convert has been to every service. We are in the process of completing our evangelism table and providing a new organizer for the cards. We provided Thanksgiving food for two families and have had some contact with them. One wanted a ride to services, but we could not reach them to arrange it. On Sunday evening, we completed our training cards for visitors. We are sorting through the surveys to find a good match to coordinate that part of the ministry. I have incorporated all the bullet points into a sermon with biblical references for all of the training sessions during our Sunday evening service. I have attached both the slides and script from Sunday evening.”
New Concord church of Christ, Ohio: Terry Townsend (preacher) reports, “We have finished Week 5 of the HTHSOE training. We have set up the evangelism table and are sending out compassion cards. Seven contacts received cards initially. In addition, we sent 23 cards to our visitors who participated in our annual Thanksgiving lunch. One Back to the Bible study started with a family visiting our services the past few weeks. Coordinators have been assigned to several areas (Compassion Cards, Evangelism Table, Visitors, New Movers, Gift Bag preparation). Next Sunday evening, we will have specialized training for those asked to visit before services. The elders are doing a great job of reaching out to various members and getting them involved. A good percentage of the congregation now has work to do!”
Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (elder) reports, “We had a great Thanksgiving holiday last week! Jamie and I were blessed to have several members share a Thanksgiving lunch with us. Several of our members had family coming in from out of town for the holiday. James and Jennifer had family come in from the Milwaukee area. They are not church members, but they attended on Sunday with James and Jennifer. We enjoyed meeting them. After services, they said they really enjoyed the service. They said if there was a place to worship like this in the Milwaukee area, they would go. So, I told them I would help them locate a congregation there. I asked them if they would like to have a Bible study. They said they would, but they had to leave to go home. So I gave them copies of BTTB, and we arranged to study with them on a ZOOM meeting next week. We will go through Lessons 1 and 2. If they want to proceed to Lesson 3, Jamie and I will go to Milwaukee, go through it in person, and introduce them to their local congregation. We will use the opportunity to share information with the local congregation about HTHSOE.
“Another family had her father visit from California. He will be in town until Christmas. He has never gone to church but came with them Sunday. Afterward, we went to lunch. After visiting, I asked if he would like a Bible study. He said yes, so Matt and I will try to get through all three lessons with him before he returns to California, where I will put him in touch with a congregation in his area.
“Jamie and I left after lunch for Florida. We stopped in Rison, Arkansas, and worshiped with the congregation where my brother serves as the minister. We had a great visit, and the whole congregation is looking forward to the HTHSOE basic seminar this coming February. They are excited and ready to get to work. To God be the glory!”
Sullivan Village church of Christ, Lawton, Oklahoma: Steven Hill (preacher) reports, “The congregation has been organized into three teams for the compassion card writing effort. Team 1 met last week after services for about an hour and wrote 270 cards. This week, Team 2 met together after services and wrote almost 300 cards. Next week, Team 3 will meet and write cards to all the names on the contact list and to any visitors. I preached a lesson using Paul as an example of how to evangelize, following the basic thoughts from Bobby Bates book, Fishing for Men. We looked at Acts 17 and the pattern Paul used, beginning with those more promising prospects in the synagogue, then the less promising prospects in the marketplace, and how God took Paul’s efforts and opened an unlikely door, providing him an opportunity to speak at the Aeropaus, which led to several converts. We continue seeing several visitors and are implementing some of the tools HTHSOE has given us. The visitors all get a welcome bag, and their names go directly onto the compassion card list so they will receive cards every day for about three weeks. We are thankful for the instructions and training we have received and are working on implementing more of the program as we go along. We will begin visiting with new movers and working on those contacts soon. After the first round of card writing, we will tap the members for new names from their lists and begin working on creating more contacts for continued efforts.”
Broad Top church of Christ, Broad Top, Pennsylvania (remote): Ed Howe (member) reports: “We are continuing our study with two new converts who responded to the Gospel last month. We pray that with the Lord’s help, they will change their work schedule so that they will be able to assemble on the 1st day of the week. We all are praying for their continued growth in the Lord.”
York church of Christ, Pennsylvania: Mark Raschke (deacon) reports, “We had a lady visit from New Jersey. She is a member of the Newark Church of Christ, and she told us about some of her family members who she was visiting. They recently moved to our area. She helped us fill out a contact card so that our congregation can welcome them as new movers.”
Union church of Christ, South Carolina (remote): Terry Hale (preacher) reports, “Our visitor specialists have been putting together lots of bags, and we are providing training on how to treat visitors when they come. We are preparing to visit those to whom we have been sending compassion cards.”
McKenzie church of Christ, Tennessee: Randy McCadams (elder) reports, “We are working the program with weekly mail-outs and will soon include the invitation cards. We see this as a simple method to include all contacts we make throughout the week. Amanda Steen has been studying with a few co-workers using FaceTime to study Back to the Bible lessons. After the third study, Frances Beard wanted to obey the gospel and be baptized into Christ. We made the necessary arrangements with a faithful congregation in Jackson, Tennessee, and met Frances at their building (North Jackson church of Christ) Saturday evening, where she was baptized for the forgiveness of sins.”
Southern Hills church of Christ, Franklin, Tennessee: Lee Glasscock (elder) reports, “Southern Hills continues in the series on John 4 on Sunday. We are handing out the training cards that cover the lesson for the evening service. Our first compassion card team met this Sunday to write cards to those moved from a personal bookmark to a contact card. The first round of cards will be mailed this week. Some of our teens are catching on and filling out their bookmarks with the names of friends. Next Sunday, our new converts class will start in the new quarter of classes.”
Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “We continue the process and trust that God will give the increase. We continue to have several visitors. Steve and Anice visited for the third time Sunday morning. Frank Brown is studying with them. We are encouraged by their continued interest. I am continuing to study with Doresha. It was paused last week, but we will resume it this Wednesday evening. Another potentially hot prospect is Jeremy. He is the husband of one of our members who has had some health issues lately. We have sent cards and visited him at the hospital. Benny (his father-in-law and one of our deacons) is working toward getting a study with him. We have sent out dozens of compassion cards this week as well. We hope to follow up with these as well as reach out to other spouses of our members.”
East Main church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Brad Rowley (elder) reports, “We had a slow week, mostly due to the holiday. We received two new contact cards. Compassion card Team 4 wrote 12 cards. We had one Bible study last week. We are promoting our upcoming Mission Day. We will be discussing our YES II Mission trip along with local evangelism training. We had a service project with Braden and Brooks Morris, Logan Gibson, Caleb Fisk, Rett Hayes, Landon and Brennan Borras, and Avery Bayes. We had one on-going Bible study.”
New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fultz (elder) reports, “We continue to review the Bookmarks and ask members to submit names of people who may need compassion cards. We have congregational prayer for the names on our compassion card list. This week we had one contact card submitted. We had six visitors from the community. “Greeters continue to hand out visitor bags and record the names and needs of visitors. We schedule times to visit them during the first week after their visit. Card Team 4 wrote 33 compassion cards this week. We have scheduled delivery of several new mover baskets. Last week, members made six follow-up visits and contacts, not counting phone calls and texts. A New Convert/Bible Learner class meets every Sunday Morning.”
New Hope church of Christ, Middleton, Tennessee: Cole Wade (preacher) reports, “The church’s faith has been growing, and our new members and visitors are asking many wonderful questions about the gospel! They are learning how to talk about the gospel, either to their neighbors or to those who are growing in their love for Jesus. We hope to have a study with two visitors who have been coming for a while. Please pray for this study and for the glory it will bring to God.”
West End church of Christ, Knoxville, Tennessee: Hector Cortez (evangelist), reports, “Thank God West End Church of Christ is strengthening many of the elements of the Great Commission initiative. Our elders will distribute the bookmarks on December 3, and we will begin praying daily for ten unbelievers contacted by each member. If we do this work well, we will pray for approximately 800 unbelievers, asking God to allow us to share the gospel with them. Part of the process includes our elders leading a prayer with all the members with their bookmarks in their hands, Sunday after Sunday. Our members will have specific requests about their unbelieving friends in this prayer. Our elders will be ready to distribute contact cards to members with prospects every Sunday. On that same Sunday, our winter Bible class period will begin. One of our classes will be used to continue training members of our congregation in evangelism. This class will highlight the global, local, and personal Vision of God regarding evangelism. During this period, we will equip participants with twelve evangelism tools. We expect members to be skillful in sowing the seed, clever in taking advantage of the opportunities God gives them, and biblical in the entire process.
“On the other hand, we are excited because our list of new visitors continues to grow, and we have a relatively high number of New Movers. This leaves us with a good problem because we need more members to serve these areas. To address this and other similar challenges, we are scheduling meetings with each of the coordinators and adding more coordinators. We trust that God will lead us to the right solutions. Lastly, we look forward to starting two new studies using Back to the Bible with Qianqian and Zach.”
Crosby church of Christ, Houston, Texas (remote): Jon Wheeler (elder) reports, “This Sunday we had seven visitors. One family visited our church booth at our community bicentennial in October! Another couple had visited with us before, and one young couple visited for the first time. Cards will be going out to them at the next Action group meeting. Two digital Bible studies will begin this week with two young men who are very interested in the Bible. One has attended infrequently but has never been baptized. The other is his friend. We pray that this study will bring them to obey the gospel. In the leadership meeting this Wednesday, I plan to nominate someone very passionate about visitors to be a coordinator for this very important job. We will map out the New Mover routes this week for basket deliveries on Saturday.”
Canyon Lake church of Christ, Texas (remote): Jesse Stuart and Raoul Ferris (evangelists) report, “We continue to work the model, and our numbers for Sunday morning worship are on the steady increase since August. We met with Austin Armagost from Johnson City church of Christ in Johnson City and John Garza from Southwest church of Christ in Austin. The meeting was to share evangelism ideas and to extend a working hand to spread the gospel in Johnson City. In addition, we steadily continue to make contacts and add them to the contact list. By doing so, we are meeting people at their homes that we have met in the community. We need to revisit our door-knocking days and methods and consider teaching a new method of meeting the community. Our new convert studies continue to meet regularly. This week, our Bible studies with prospects were canceled or delayed due to their plans for Thanksgiving. We continue to work on beautification projects, such as painting parking space lines. Slowly, the grounds and building are looking better each day.”
Wheeler church of Christ, Texas: Garrett English (preacher) reports, “Our compassion card groups will meet every Wednesday starting this week. We have a prospect list full of contacts and will continue to get more. We will finish teaching through the BTTB booklets this week.”
Granbury Street church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas: Ryan Cowan (deacon) reports, “During the holiday season, the church’s work remains a priority. Carla Hughes demonstrated her dedication by continuing her study with two potential prospects last Friday. Ongoing study is necessary, and we pray for its success. Carla’s efforts are even more admirable because she conducted this study while recovering from one hip replacement surgery and preparing for another scheduled one this week! Granbury Street received a plea for help from a family last Saturday concerning a community service opportunity. This family was in desperate need of housing. First, we arranged for a temporary stay at a local motel. Then on Sunday, Jacke Maden, one of our Shepherds, initiated the study Does it Matter with the mother while other church members assisted by taking care of the children during the study. Since the study, we have supported the family by providing food and a place to stay. We are unsure how this situation will progress, but we have left a positive impression of the Lord’s church on the mother and her children.”
Graceton church of Christ, Diana, Texas: Johnny Willeford (elder) reports, “Group B signed 76 compassion cards for 12 individuals on Sunday evening. Due to illness in our congregation, we have had to move our Mission Monday meeting to next week. That is why there are fewer compassion cards this week. Plans are in the works for our annual gift drive for needy kids in our community. We will prepare fruit baskets for elderly couples and individuals. We will be inviting those to whom we have been sending compassion cards to our yearly meal and gift exchange game night in a few weeks. We will continue to pray for each church mentioned each week.”
Charles Harris (Regional Trainer): “On Sunday, my family and I placed membership with the New Hope Road church of Christ. They are weak and small but want to change. In March 2024, they will host a HTHSOE Seminar. I am looking forward to watching this church grow.”
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