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| Featured Work- Cordova church of Christ, Tennessee Editor’s note: I met Bruce Hatcher two years ago. He attended an HTHSOE evangelism training seminar at the Memphis School of preaching. It took me all of ten seconds to see his passion for soul winning. He attended all the lessons and took me out to supper to discuss it further. He then arranged to enroll the Cordova congregation in the school. The results were immediate and lasting. Below is an update 18 months later. The Lasting Results of Evangelism Written by Bruce Hatcher Eighteen months ago, we implemented the House to House School of Evangelism’s methodology. We have spent a lot of time creating ads and writing Compassion Cards. We have seen very positive results. Close to 50 studies have been conducted, resulting in fifteen baptisms. Several hearts are still being cultivated. Our newest addition is our Monday evening meetings. We meet one Monday night a month to follow up leads with visits. We have had encouraging attendance to those meetings. Approximately one third of the congregation’s attendance came to our first meeting. Although our modest efforts have been fruitful, we need to become more efficient and effective. We have lost several families due to job relocations, so our numbers do not accurately reflect the good we have accomplished. I believe that some of those who have been converted will become great soul winners. Though the HTH method is not the only way to accomplish the Great Commission, it is the most systematic approach available today to move churches from the rut into which we have fallen and set them onto the road to success. Congregational Reports East Flushing church of Christ, Flushing, New York (digital): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “Glory be to God. We participated for the first time in the annual door-knocking day on Saturday. We had 14 participants who knocked on 97 doors and generated 21 contacts. It was an uplifting experience. We met many positive people, and some of them were already familiar with us because they have received the HTH publication. We are praying for all the churches who are using this method. May you continue to pray for us as we all seek to reach the lost.” Bona church of Christ, Missouri: Corry Orr (preacher) reports, “The new converts classroom and evangelism room are set up and ready to go. Yesterday we started Week 2 of our enrollment in the School of Evangelism, and it was a great day! We had 131 in attendance, which included several visitors from the community whom our members had invited! We had several contacts from those visitors, and we will follow up with them over the coming days. “The energy and excitement to save souls is surging through the congregation, and our older members have been the leaders of the effort. Several have visited neighbors and talked to them about salvation. Several members are committed to this program, and that commitment is spreading from one member to the next. I expect that the Lord will soon be adding souls to His church, and I will send the pictures to show how exciting things are here at Bona! “The elders are leading the charge and getting men put in place to practice the program in every way. These men are excited and cannot wait to see how everything fits into place. There is an energy unlike anything I have experienced since coming to Bona. We are grateful for the tools provided by HTHSOE. We are being careful to put the right people in the right places. We do not want to rush, but the excitement is hard to contain. People who have seemed to be just coasting are attentive as they look for ways to contribute. I am trying to fan that flame. What an amazing time to be a member of the Lord’s church. The church at Bona is focused on our ONE MISSION!” East Ridge church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Charles Cochran (preacher) reports, “We had a good day of door knocking Saturday. Twenty-nine members participated, and they made some good contacts. One man came Sunday and worshipped with us. Luke Griffin and Alan Pitchford did a good job organizing this outreach. It was a great day of encouragement.” East Main church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Brad Rowley (elder) reports, “East Main elders and ministers have been meeting each week to develop a schedule to blend our current evangelism program with the 50-week schedule Rob Whitacre left with us. One new strategy to add is Mission Monday. This will replace our current in-home visit and new mover basket teams. We have decided to meet on Saturday during the winter months and switch to Mondays during the summer. East Main currently has a paper system to track contacts and actions taken during the prospecting stage. We hope to use the recommended database that some other congregations use. We will start training the Back to the Bible booklets to our 5-12 grade classes and one adult class immediately. We have already completed all three books in the college class. We are working on some revisions for our HTH magazine. “East Main had 38 volunteers for National Door-Knocking Day. We knocked 612 doors; 190 folks answered, and we recorded 63 contacts. Over 30 percent will be added to the HTH mailing list. Approximately 40 percent will be added to compassion cards list, and we will follow up immediately with 12 contacts. We are thankful for those that chose to serve in this important mission. Please pray for future opportunities. East Main continues to have several ongoing Bible studies. We are excited to say we have two new Bible studies, and several more may start in the next two weeks.” Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “We are at Week 4 in the process, and much good already has taken place. We currently have 12 on our contact list who began receiving cards last week; all are currently fighting cancer. Three Bible studies took place last week; one prospect is reportedly getting close to obeying the gospel. We also had two restorations Sunday. We plan to assign visits to the current contacts following next week (Week 3 of sending cards). We are also preparing for Trunk or Treat and incorporating a plan to gather contact information then. I will send pictures of our One Mission table and of our card carts, which have really helped in keeping things organized. The carts are labeled based on the type of card in the slot, and there are slots for each of our contacts who will receive the cards.” West End church of Christ, Knoxville, Tennessee: Adam Wilson (member) reports, “We enjoyed a treat this Sunday; Billy Bearden (minister) delivered the final sermon from the John 4 series. The congregation entrusted us with 14 precious souls; nine will receive their first round of compassion cards, and five will receive visits this week. We were encouraged by another great compassion card writing session with 23 writers (17 first timers) from our 60s+ group who prepared 135 cards. Starting this week, we will use our members only Facebook page to Post for Prayers the name and trial of one of the 14 contacts each day. We will ask our members to pray for that person’s struggles as well as for an open heart to receive Christ’s love and His gospel as shown by our congregation. Pray for us!” New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fultz (elder) reports, “Charles Williams, our local preacher, presented a lesson that covered the first half of Lesson 3, Back to the Bible at the Sunday service. Following services, we had congregational prayer for the lost on our bookmarks. Card Team 2 met before worship on Sunday Evening. The team leader pulled compassion cards for the team to write. Five individuals/families who have been prospected for three or more weeks were sent single cards that everyone signed. About 60 cards were written in 30 minutes. Nine individuals/families, including two who are new to the community, and one visitor will receive cards. The other cards were sent to those who are suffering from illnesses or deaths in the family. We have four personal visits scheduled this week.” Karns church of Christ, Knoxville, Tennessee: Terry Clark (elder) reports, “The middle and high school, college age, young adult, and adult Sunday AM Bible classes continue to go well as we use BTTB as the curriculum this fall. The classes have provided a great opportunity to discuss the content of the booklets and the way to approach one-on-one Bible studies while equipping our members with an evangelism tool. We continue to have several non-Christians in attendance in classes who are hearing the Word of God.” Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “This week has been fruitful for the church in Covington. Last Wednesday, Dustin and Nikki visited our service. They had come to the dinner we had at the end of AMC. They visited a couple of weeks after AMC but stopped. When I saw them Wednesday, I noticed they were looking at our evangelism table. They asked if we had any Bibles that they could have. They have the Bible app on their phones, but they wanted hard copies. Of course, I gave each a Bible. They want to spend time with people around their age who “also love God.” When we went door knocking Saturday, we visited Nikki. One of our young adults told Nikki about some of the activities we have. Nikki also said that they would like help in studying the Bible. I said, “We just happen to have some booklets” that will help with that. We will be setting up a time to study soon. “On Saturday, we also delivered some new movers’ baskets and followed up with other previous contacts. One is Teresa, to whom we had delivered a basket last month. We spent over an hour helping her straighten and organize her apartment. She was extremely grateful. She had planned to visit again Sunday, but she was not able to. I saw her Monday at the laundromat where I had taken someone who needed a ride. She was with her mother, Pat. Her mother asked me how she could figure out what different religions taught. I offered to sit down show her what we believe. She declined, saying she would rather read something on her own, so I offered to bring her some tracts that would explain what we teach and believe. I also said we have a DVD. Teresa jumped on that, so when we left the laundromat, we went to the building to get some good tracts by Allen Webster on the distinctiveness of the church and the plan of salvation. I also got two copies of Does It Matter? with a DVD to go with it. Hopefully, Pat will watch it with Teresa. “We had another visitor Sunday. A lady who is a Christian and in poor health has visited the last two Sundays with her caregiver, Marjorie. We got Marjorie’s contact information and wrote cards to her Monday evening. We wrote several compassion cards to others as well. We have a few Bible studies in progress. Please continue to pray for our efforts.” Greenfield church of Christ, Tennessee: Clint Monroe (elder) reports, “We are progressing with sending compassion cards. Group 2 discussed what contacts we had for this month. We will be mailing cards soon. We have added another Bible study that starts today (Monday). Brent will start the third study for a young couple Tuesday; we pray that it will be fruitful. The elders will begin training members to greet visitors and deliver new movers’ baskets.” Parkway church of Christ, Fulton, Kentucky: Will Hester (preacher) reports, “Fall break means vacation for many; however, we are using fall break for an evangelistic effort. We had a tailgate event for the homecoming game at the high school. We had free hotdogs and were able to get to know many people in our community! Making contacts is step one, and this was just another way to do it.” Fayette church of Christ, Alabama: Kaleb Hall (preacher) reports, “We are following up calls/visits with 12 people who have received cards over the last three weeks. Some of those visits have already been made today with positive feedback. Our Owls group (senior members) has taken on the task of making new movers visits. We are working on a food drive for the month of November, and we hope to make many new contacts.” Honolulu church of Christ, Hawaii: TagIilima Esene (preacher) reports, “Our congregation just completed a weekend seminar on apologetics with Dr. Brad Harrub. Members were edified by the lessons preached. The highlight last week was gaining a brother in Christ, Rick. He visited us in the past three months. He received cards from our card ministry and appreciated it. He was invited to a meal, which led to a Bible study. After completing Back to the Bible, Rick made the decision to obey the gospel. We continue to send cards to prospects. We have five Bible studies ongoing and two more scheduled. Please continue to pray for our efforts. To God be the glory!” Highway church of Christ, Benton, Arkansas: Steven Ford (preacher) reports, “We had multiple visitors, and the teams jumped into action. Members visited with our visitors and made contact cards. The process is proving effective, and it gets smoother each week. Team 3 compassion cards to several prospects and several new movers. We will be making visits this week.” Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Greg Garner (deacon) reports, “WCOC collected 13 contact cards that we can prospect this week. Our congregation is meeting on the second, third, and fourth Sunday evenings to conduct the evangelism workshop. Last week we sent 53 cards. On Saturday, 20 people in seven groups participated in the National Door-Knocking Campaign by knocking on approximately 137 doors for HTH. Out of the 137 homes, we received 30 positive responses who will be added to the secondary visit list. We also have nine individuals categorized as prospects, and they will receive What Must I Do to Be Saved? and What to Expect When You Visit the Church of Christ along with a compassion card. We had nine attendees in the Practical Applications class. This class is working on the Does it Matter booklet. We added the Golden family (John, Misty, Angela, and Nicholas) to our congregational list. We welcome to the fold Raines Cook, who was baptized after studying the Back to the Bible series with Matt Amos (preacher), and Dave Amos. We have four Bible studies in progress.” New Hope church of Christ, Middleton, Tennessee: Cole Wade (preacher) reports, “We have been continuing our work with forming prospects. We still have frequent contact with a few prospects. We will visit some this Sunday, and we hope a spiritual conversation will lead to a Bible study. We will be delivering meals to these to grow them as contacts. Our new converts are having classes on Sunday and are participating in worship and activities outside of worship! Continue to pray for us!” Rogersville church of Christ, Tennessee: Ethan Tate (preacher) reports, “Although many members were traveling, we had small groups reaching out through compassion cards. We are also helping a family who requested prayers. They have a one-year-old daughter who has a cancer mass in her lungs. She will have surgery at St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis later this week. Pray that we can continue working with this family. Pray also for an opportunity that has opened recently to reach people in the prison in our area. We have two prospects and four contacts. It is our prayer these will lead to more contacts and even more Bible studies!” Aberdeen church of Christ, Maryland: Will Brown (preacher) reports, “We have a contact list of 70 people. We have 28 people who need visits. Last week, we sent welcome cards to all 41 new movers. We are devising a plan to drop off baskets to all 41 and will visit the contacts. We have two studies ongoing with Back to the Bible. Please continue to pray for our efforts.” Northern Oaks church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas: Mel Hutzler (preacher) reports, “We have a picnic/trunk or treat coming up, and we are inviting our community. We hope to get to know them and eventually lead them to a Bible study. We have addresses of families that have moved into the community that we hope to give new mover baskets soon. Several new members are getting involved in services and the evangelism program. It is wonderful to see.” Paintsville church of Christ, Kentucky: Zach Collins (preacher) reports, “This Sunday, we had a visitor, son of a member. He came back for both services. We are seeking to invite him to study the Bible. We hope to continue lesson two of Back to the Bible with another prospect this week. We sent over 60 cards to those who need love and compassion. Keep praying for the evangelistic efforts of our congregation and congregations around the globe.” Riverbend church of Christ, Georgia: Austin Fowler (member) reports, “On Wednesday, Justin Dover was baptized into Christ! We went through the third study, and he saw the truth. Thursday, we continued studying with Francisco and Mabel. They are co-workers of a member. We finished book one. We will start book two Wednesday. I am excited.” Southwest church of Christ, Austin, Texas: John Garza (preacher) reports, “It is crazy how the tides can change in spiritual situations, both for good and bad. Concerning the good, the people in two of our studies are eager to learn more. In another study, I learned that I was mistaken, and that both are Christians already, but they do desire to learn more to build a solid foundation. Concerning the bad, one person was waging a spiritual battle within herself, and she decided to discontinue the Bible study. Also, we have had no response from a couple in a week. What seemed to be seven promising studies are down to four solid ongoing studies. Two are learning the gospel, and two are being strengthened. We ask for the prayers for the three that had the seed planted, but the devil was quick to take it away. Please pray also for the continued growth of the seed of the good soil.” Carthage church of Christ, North Carolina (digital): Randy Chambers (preacher) reports, “We participated in the annual door knocking campaign on Saturday. We were trained, prepared, and excited to be a part of such a great event of the Lord’s church. We had sixteen door knockers who knocked on more than three hundred doors, resulting in twenty contacts. We sent thank you cards to those who shared their time with us at the door and sent compassion cards to those who had special needs. We passed out flyers and invited the community to our upcoming Fall Festival. This seemed to get the community attention, but time will tell. We plan to follow up aggressively on these new contacts and continue to work on the current contacts as well. We give God the glory, and we appreciate all the work being do in the kingdom!” Coldwater church of Christ, Kentucky: Luke Puckett (preacher) reports, “One family who has been receiving cards from us visited today. We invited them to our potluck, but they had to leave for work. We are encouraged that they were here. We had another visitor from the community this morning. He was also invited to stay for potluck, but he decided not to. We are continuing to send cards to our prospects and hope to have some good news from these.” Canal Heights church of Christ, Demopolis, Alabama: Bryan Cook (minister) reports, “We had a fantastic time Saturday with our door knocking effort. The weather was excellent, and the people were super friendly. We met some former church members and encouraged them to come back. This was the first time in over a year that we correctly used the cards and information after the door knocking. We now focus on getting visits that will result in Bible studies. Other aspects of the program are continuing, but a major focus on visitation will occur. Slowly our culture is changing to an evangelism focus, and slowly people are starting to see the importance. There are only a few holdouts who do not understand the new focus, but I am hopeful for them as well. Continue to pray for our efforts as we pray for you all.” Crossville church of Christ, Tennessee: Alan Judd (preacher) reports, “A promising prospect is nearing the completion of her studies, and we are prayerful that one more study session will lead to her obedience to the gospel.” Central church of Christ, Monroeville, Alabama: Andrew Wynne (preacher) reports, “We had several teams participating in door knocking Saturday. We knocked 96 doors and produced 42 contacts. As early as the next day, five people who were contacted attended services. We plan to send cards and HTH to the contacts who wanted it. We have some great workers at Central. Please pray for us as we endeavor to grow and do God’s will.” Monroe church of Christ, Georgia: Charles Harris (preacher) reports, “The annual door- knocking day was the same day as our local Fall Festival, so we set up a booth instead of going door knocking. The festival is well attended. We were able to give Bible study related material to hundreds of people. We made numerous contacts for prospecting. Many productive conversations took place. Fifteen of us took turns helping out in the booth. My family and I live in a large neighborhood. The church here has been door knocking the same neighborhood once a month since July. Through those monthly efforts and the Fall Festival, we will focus on many contacts for the next few months. We will be reaching out to those on the list in various ways.” Forestview church of Christ, Memphis Tennessee: Tim Roland (preacher) reports “Sunday, we had two families visit, looking for a church home. The younger family has a two-year-old girl. They came back Sunday. We are hopeful that they will want to be a part of our congregation. Our Encouragement Ministry Team did a great job last week, sending out 111 compassion cards to visitors and our sick list. One elder, Bob Cooley, and I went door knocking Saturday. We received a positive reception from the community closest to the building. People thanked us for having a physical presence. We handed out postcards advertising the services with an invitation to come! We also invited families to our Trunk or Treat coming up on October 30. Bob and I plan to go out again and encourage more members to get involved. I preached a sermon entitled: “Let Us Strengthen Our Hands to Do a Good Work for the Lord!” from Nehemiah 2:18. We had eight visitors and handed out guest bags. I have also filled small bags to give to the little children that visit with their parents. I am optimistic about the future of the congregation!” Cowetta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (preacher) reports, “Saturday we took part in a Coweta Community Fair. The organizers, which happen to be two of our members, asked me to open the event with a prayer. Several times throughout the day, people stopped by our booth; it was great exposure for the church. We had activities for children which allowed us to visit parents. We handed out HTH and tracts that we hope will lead to Bible studies when we follow up. It was a fantastic opportunity to engage the community and let them know we are here to pray with them, study with them, and help out however we can. We are also joining the Chamber of Commerce so we can set up a booth at the Coweta Fall Festival. Each year, this event has thousands of attendees over a three-day period.” Pearl Street church of Christ, Texas: Jason Adair (preacher) reports, “I wanted to let you know that I will forever be grateful for the Evangelism Seminar. A sweet young lady was baptized this afternoon after a Bible study using the tools and materials introduced at the Brown Trail School of Preaching. This work is helping to bring souls to Christ.” 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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