Success Stories: October 9, 2024

Welcome Windsor church of Christ: We want to welcome the Windsor church of Christ to the House-to-House School of Evangelism. This congregation is full of workers and great zeal to reach the lost in their local communities. The men are organizing and preparing to enact the six-step model. On a personal note, this congregation treated HTHSOE with enormous warmth and love.  We will miss them and hope to come back to Colorado again.

Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: David Marker (elder) reports, “We have been making assignments in our evangelism program that will help us be more organized and effective. It is encouraging to see others desire to participate, and their zeal helps motivate others. A lady placed membership this past Sunday; others said they plan to place membership also. We are following up with numerous visitors. We also discussed the accountability board as we continue to use that to measure our success. It also informs our newer members about what we do each week and encourages them to participate. September was an awesome month. To God be the glory!”

Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “We have had so many visitors the past few weeks who have received our cards. Initial visits have been made. We have many great opportunities, a study with a family tonight. Our community also has an annual yard sale on the first weekend of October, stretching into other communities up through Tennessee. Our members used it to hand out invitation cards, which went over extremely well.”

West Huntsville church of Christ, Alabama: Paul Owen (associate preacher) reports, “We had our door knocking on Saturday morning. We had a great turnout and made some wonderful contacts. We will follow up with these contacts this week.”

Highland Park church of Christ, Muscle Shoals, Alabama: Andrew Myhan (deacon) reports, “It has now been one month since we started the card ministry. We hope to see the response from transitions soon. One visitor from the community came to church on Sunday, and he responded to the invitation. We are about halfway through the in-the-pulpit training and will work diligently on Bible study training within the next few weeks. We are thankful for all prayers.”

Central church of Christ, Saraland, Alabama: David Dixon (preacher) reports, “We had three more baptisms this week, bringing our total since March to 12. Our yearly goal was eight, and I hope we can double that before March rolls back around. One conversion leads to another in these cases. The young man who was baptized recently brought his girlfriend and mother. They were both baptized. The other baptism this week was another member’s friend, and he had been actively trying to get her into a study for some time. She did not take much convincing.

“It has been a whirlwind over the last month, with seven baptisms in the previous four weeks. It almost seems unreal. But when I think about the souls of those who have made this decision, I do not get the sense that any of them made this choice for any reason other than that they understood their need to be cleansed of their sins. With so many added to the church in such a short time, I am concerned that some would be doing this to jump on the bandwagon. But this is different for these new members.

“Any credit for these conversions goes to God and His Word. It has not been any wisdom on my part or the part of any other member here at Central. It has been God who has increased the work we have put in. We have been sowing the seed, praying for growth, and expecting it to happen. May God’s Kingdom be blessed by the talents of those who have recently put Christ on in baptism!”

Petersville church of Christ, Florence, Alabama: Adam Richardson (preacher) reports, “Petersville is excited to send a group of workers to the Dominican Republic on a mission and building trip next week. Our coordinators are working, and we have a new church logo to begin using in our community outreach. The latest issue of HTHHTH will be arriving soon as well. We must order more compassion cards as our groups send several each week.”

Canal Heights church of Christ, Demopolis, Alabama: Bryan Cook (preacher) reports, “Recently, a family started coming back to services. One of the daughters had decided to obey the Gospel. We have continued to focus on evangelism, and many things have happened that we really cannot explain. It seems God is showing us that He gives the increase, and our efforts are not the primary source of our success. We have even set up another Bible study from our HTH contact. We appreciate prayers for our efforts as we pray for others also.”

Malvern church of Christ, Arkansas (remote): David Burruss (preacher) reports, “Evangelism efforts are going well. We continue to send compassion cards each week and have had several visitors recently. One visit led to a Bible study and the potential for two more. This week, we kicked off our fall Gospel Meeting with Matt Wallin, and we will have a preacher conference to discuss evangelism.”

Rison church of Christ, Arkansas: Keden Shrum (preacher) reports, “We had three visitors on Sunday. Two ladies came from a congregation about 25 miles from us. They currently do not have a preacher, and they said the congregation is, unfortunately, dwindling to nothing. It is sad to see another town losing its congregation. Care Team B met Sunday evening and signed cards for four people.

“On Saturday, we will set up a booth at a local festival in Rison. We will have our House to House Heart to Heart distribution box set next to our booth in hopes that people will make the connection between the publication and us. We will also have tracts, coffee cups, and Bibles to give away during the event. Lord willing, we can produce some contacts through this effort.”

Highway church of Christ, Benton, Arkansas: James Hutchings (member) reports, “We have had five baptisms this year. Recently, we sent ten compassion cards to prospects. We give God all the glory.”

Niceville church of Christ, Florida:  Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “This week, we mailed 15 cards and had one new visitor at church.  We had three studies this week. On Sunday night, a lady we studied with brought a friend. We took her out to eat, and my wife invited her over for dinner and a study.  It’s great when your prospects are inviting their friends to church.  Sunday we are having an organizational meeting for our New Movers ministry.”

Bremen church of Christ, Georgia: Scott Broughton (member) reports, “We had our fall Gospel Meeting with Phil Sanders this past week. We had another baptism, Bella Carros, on Monday. The New Converts class is continuing. We had good questions and discussion during class.”

Eatonton church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Roderick Coney (preacher) reports, “This week, the Eatonton church enrolled in the New Movers program. They have completed training the congregation on Lessons 1 and 2 of Back to the Bible, and they will start training on Lesson 3 this week. Please keep them lifted up in prayer.”

Cartersville church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Charles Harris (regional trainer) reports, “We went door-knocking this past Saturday. I was told we had the biggest turnout for door-knocking in several years. We made numerous contacts as we took the approach of asking for prayer requests. This week, those who requested prayers will receive their first batch of compassion cards. This Thursday, we will have our second Soul Winners class. Positive comments from those who attended the first have also led to other members wanting to begin the study. As each week goes by, the church here becomes more soul focused. We are also excited and looking forward to our Gospel Meeting during October 13-17 with Brother Jeff Archey.”

Lafayette church of Christ, Georgia: Jesse Teague (deacon) reports, “It was the first Sunday, so Group 1 met to send compassion cards. We had three souls on our list, and six saints met to shower them with cards. One of our new members is having family troubles because of his conversion. We are trying to help him stay strong and true to the faith.

“Our Gospel Meeting is this week, so we have another opportunity to reach out to the community. It is always good to have support and encouragement from other local congregations, but we hope that souls will be saved. One of our brothers is collecting supplies for hurricane relief. He plans to deliver supplies and partner with a local congregation to set up and distribute supplies and help as needed. Of course, he will take tracts and offer spiritual assistance as well.”

Peachtree City church of Christ, Georgia: Alvin Foshee (elder) reports, “Our youth group continues to do tremendous work by supporting our evangelism program. We have 30 teens in our youth group, and they diligently invite visitors to church each Sunday. The youth group has been averaging four to five visitors weekly, and several Bible studies have been initiated. We rejoice in that one of the young men who has visited was recently baptized into Christ! We have now had a total of 11 baptisms for the year!”

Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Matt Amos (preacher) reports, “Out of last week’s campaign, the New Movers Group came away with six contact cards. One is looking for a new church home, and one is a good candidate for a Bible study. We hope to have some results from this batch.

“The Prison Ministry Group received some powerful news. Recently, the sentence of one prison student was reduced from thirty to fifteen years, with six of the fifteen years being hard service time.  WCOC is praying hard to help this young man out of jail.

“The card team completed 60 compassion cards. WCOC had five non-Christian visitors at our Sunday morning service. We had two Bible studies. We welcomed someone to the fold with one baptism.”

Honolulu church of Christ, Hawaii: Tagiilima Esene (regional trainer) reports, “Aloha from the Honolulu congregation! We continue with our ongoing Bible studies. Three of our studies are near the end. Please pray for God to increase the harvest. We have several new studies set up after going through the prospecting process. We are thankful for the influx of visitors coming to our assemblies. The highlight of this week is being able to see church members engage in welcoming conversations with our visitors. We appreciate all prayers. Hands to the plow, Church!”

Collinsville-Troy church of Christ, Illinois: Jason Wright (elder) reports, “Good training can lead to good habits. That is precisely what has happened since AMC came to Collinsville. We have a plan, and we are working on the plan. Some tweaks need to be made, but we are sowing seeds and seeing results.

“We mailed out 240 compassion cards this week and delivered 30 New Mover’s Baskets. We made several contacts, and three people have requested Bible studies. We currently have 12 Bible studies in progress. We are learning that some of these studies go into overtime as some people need more teaching than others. We gave visitor bags to visitors from the community. They said they would be back next week.

“We reset the bookmark and did visitor training in our Servants of Souls class. This Saturday, we will have our Grocery and Clothing Giveaway and will undoubtedly gain contacts from that effort. This Sunday, we will begin the Invitation Card portion of our plan. Churches that are not growing are in trouble. We are praying for growth and putting in the work. May God be glorified!”

Highland Village church of Christ, Bloomington, Indiana: Mark Stauffer (elder) reports, “Highland Village church of Christ has completed congregational training for the Bookmarks and use of the Contact Cards. Card team leaders have been trained and our card signing kickoff is scheduled for October 13. We placed one of the Evangelism Model posters next to the Hymn Number Board to keep it in view of the congregation. Two visitors, a married couple, attended our morning worship. A Preaching Coordinator has been appointed to ensure that the weekly lessons align with the Preaching/Training timeline. The importance of evangelism as a command for Christians and a necessity for preserving the church is also a theme in our adult Bible classes. We are seeing more conversations about evangelism during fellowship time.

“We have been encouraged by the congregation’s response. Some had reservations about the SOE being ‘just another program,’ but they are beginning to come around because we are consistent in our resolve, enthusiasm, training, and support of the Biblical principles that the SOE embodies. Others are still reluctant, and we are praying that they will come to understand the necessity and importance of this effort. Responses to the Post Evangelism Seminar Questionnaire are encouraging. Some members have volunteered to work in areas outside their comfort zones.

“God has blessed us with the training we received from the SOE and the growth in our congregation. We are confident that He will continue to bless us if we persevere in our efforts.”

Judah church of Christ, Bloomington, Indiana: Joe Moon (preacher) reports, “We started the training this past Sunday with an introductory lesson. We also reviewed the materials that will be used during the training and execution.”

LaGrange church of Christ, Indiana: Wayne Poe (elder) reports, “We set up our evangelism table, and it is ready to go. Yesterday, we started writing compassion cards, and we look forward to visiting the ones who receive the cards.  We continue to prayer for HTHSOE!”

West Hammond church of Christ, Indiana: Robert Webster (preacher) reports, “The Lord has blessed us with another baptism—his name is Deonte Garza—as we continue to be guided by the proven evangelism program and the materials of the SOE. We are more motivated and relentless in our efforts now than ever before. We have more studies scheduled this week.”

Beloit church of Christ, Kansas (remote): Dustin Dougherty (regional trainer) reports, “We had a great worship service yesterday. Quite a few members are out of town, so we were smaller in number than usual for services. I have a Bible study set up for this evening with a recent visitor. He started coming on Wednesday nights with his grandfather, who is one of our members. He jumped at the chance to study the Bible.

“I look forward to speaking this coming Saturday in Salina, Kansas, at the Salina church of Christ for their fall seminar. They asked me to preach about the local church as a lighthouse for the community, so the message will emphasize the need for evangelism. To God be the glory and all honor.”

Central church of Christ, Paducah, Kentucky: Adam Faughn (preacher) reports, “This seemed to be a slow week, but we are glad to report that our new converts’ work is underway. We are praying that this goes well. We also returned to asking for names on Sunday nights. We had paused this for a while since we were getting many names for card-writing through our efforts at the local farmer’s market. However, that is ending this week, and Rob had also suggested in our virtual meeting that asking for names was still better. So we hope that will help us continue to find more individuals to prospect.

“On October 20, Central will have our 60th Anniversary and Homecoming. We are praying for this day, and while we know a lot of former members will be with us, we are also praying that erring members and possibly a few non-Christians will come. We request prayers as we gear up for this beautiful day, that we will remember to be evangelistic, even as we remember what God has done at Central for all these years.”

LaPlata church of Christ, Maryland (remote): Eric Sykes (regional trainer) reports, “After placing a renewed emphasis on using our bookmarks, our compassion card group sent out 200 cards in September. We wrote 74 compassion cards for the first week of October. We now have 12 folks on our active prospects list, which is close to our congregation’s limit. This month, we are emphasizing the transitional visit. Thus far, we have placed 12 names on our visitation list for this week.

“On Thursday, our website coordinator met with the eldership to synchronize the rollout of the congregation’s Invitation Card, which we expect to be distributed to the saints here at the La Plata church of Christ by next week.

“Last week, seven members attended our advanced teacher training class. We role-played Lesson 1 of Back to the Bible. It was a great class; we answered many questions.  Six attended the new convert classes and 16 attended our video of the week last week on ‘Evil, Pain, and Suffering.’ We had a great discussion after the video. With the Lord’s help, the prayers of the saints, and our congregation’s renewed zeal and love for lost souls, I am confident that we will make a major impact, not only in the city of La Plata but also in the entire county very soon.”

East Main church of Christ, Tupelo, Mississippi: Barry Kennedy (preacher) reports, “We are still writing compassion cards. We are making visits. We are praying for good opportunities from those visits. We had one baptism last week from a Bible study conducted by the wife of one of our elders. We are hoping to have follow-up studies with her. I have a survey scheduled this week because of a response from ‘The Gospel of Christ’ television program we support. We are just sowing and watering, praying God gives the increase. To God be the glory!”

Marshall church of Christ, Missouri (remote): Charles Reid (preacher) reports, “We did the first training videos during two Sunday Bible study periods. I completed the second video during a Sunday worship hour this past week. I wrote a short synopsis to hand out. I thought it went well. A group went door-knocking for two or three hours last Saturday morning.”

West End Blvd church of Christ, Cape Girardeau, Missouri: Jared Scaggs (preacher) reports, “We just finished a successful Gospel Meeting with Kee Ford. Our Fall meetings are purposed to be evangelistic-minded, while our spring meeting is to build up the congregation. Kee Ford attended a mental health and Bible seminar this fall. The idea was that community members might be interested in coming to something like this. We had a good turnout and positive feedback from everyone I spoke to. This week, I am 100 percent focused on the evangelism model and setting up Bible studies. We request prayers for our oldest elder, Bill Meyers, who is having surgery for colon cancer this Wednesday.”

East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “During our worship service, we had three consistent visitors, all of whom are having Bible studies. One is on Book 3; we believe there is another baptism on the way shortly.

“After the worship service, we filled out 25 compassion cards. For the month of October thus far, we have seven Bible studies and eight prospects. The brethren met Sunday evening; we looked at the highlighted article, ‘Evangelism in Large Churches,’ in RTL-Success Stories.  Even though we are a smaller congregation, we see parallel challenges, and thus, we will work on implementing the six bullet points found therein, including creating a data management system. We appreciate all prayers.”

Linville Forest church of Christ, Kernersville, North Carolina:  Steve Hare (elder) reports, “We baptized Lisa Ray around 8:45 pm. We review the Searching for Truth video with her this week.  I met with them this evening, and she decided to be baptized. Praise God!”

New Concord church of Christ, Ohio: Terry Townsend (preacher) reports, “We had one new visitor Sunday morning, marking the 95th different community non-member to visit our services since January. She came back Sunday evening and has requested an in-home visit and possibly a Bible study. We will follow up with her this week!

“We had a Marriage Enrichment Seminar with John Baker from Katy, Texas, over the weekend. Two visitors from our community came with two of our members. We have added five new contacts for our compassion card ministry. The latest round of cards will begin next week.

“Our transition teams were given their new assignments and will make those in-person visits in the coming days. Two Bible studies continue, and we hope they will result in conversions very soon.”

Streetsboro church of Christ, Ohio: Ralph Price (preacher) reports, “We currently have three people on our prospect list. We are sending out the HTH mailings. We recently made a contact with someone through that publication. We are also distributing our new mover baskets.”

Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (regional trainer) reports, “Unfortunately, Our Bible studies this past week with Joel and Donald were both canceled. I think they are both still interested in a study, and we will certainly stay in touch with them in hopes of rescheduling promptly.

“On the Saturday before last, we went door-knocking and contacted 19 people. Of those, we have contact information for five, and two of those have committed to a Bible study, so we are currently in the process of trying to schedule those.

“On Sunday evening, we met and filled out compassion cards for recent visitors and contacts from the door-knocking. We will follow up on these once the mailings are complete.”

Cheyenne church of Christ, Oklahoma (remote): Nathan Brewer (member) reports, “We are changing tactics on our card mailing. Before Bible class, I handed out two cards and envelopes to everyone there and asked them to write the cards and give them back to me. I will be mailing them from my hometown of Elk City this week, hoping to bypass the Cheyenne postal system and avoid their quirk of only sending local mail every other day. We want cards to land each day consecutively in a prospect’s box.

“A prospect who will soon begin cancer treatment was reportedly overwhelmed by the cards we sent a couple of weeks ago. We hope to help him buy a few clothes since he recently lost 70 pounds. We hope efforts lead to a study.”

York church of Christ, Pennsylvania: Mark Raschke (member) reports, “This week, we sent compassion cards to the visitors we had last week. We made plans for a visitation meeting next week.”

Union church of Christ, South Carolina (remote): Terry Hale (preacher) reports, “Last week was very rough for our studies. We tried to have the studies, but prospects wanted to postpone because of the loss of power and damage from the storm. So we carried food and water to those who could not go out and get necessities for themselves. We are following up by mailing cards and trying to earn a Bible study with these contacts. Three came to church on Sunday with one of our members, and we helped them.”

McKenzie church of Christ, Tennessee: Randy McAdams (elder) reports, “All is going well with our church family, with many visitors showing up with much excitement about how our family is growing. We do watch the numbers for each service but only as an indicator of how our outreach and spreading of the Gospel is working among our community. We are pleased with the increase that we are seeing. Glory to our Lord for this, and we are constantly praying that this will continue. Considering our struggling nation and world, we can be a beacon of hope for mankind with Jesus as our focus.

“We finished the card mail-out this weekend for September and initiated our October mail-out yesterday. Sixteen contacts will be receiving cards in October, all of whom are non-members. Most of our contacts came from our Community Kitchen two weeks ago; we gave out free meals at our building. We asked those who were able to come in and dine with us, but we also gave meals to those who chose to drive by. We had approximately 90 who ate with us in our building, which is the most we have ever had, with an overall total of meals given out to the public of 159! We always get addresses from those who will give them, and thus, we mail them the cards the following month.

“We have also noticed that practicing evangelism by sending cards makes us more aware and mindful of the need to reach out to those who need the Gospel. Two of our members began monitoring how we can better evangelize via social media. Also, I see what seems to me to be more socializing among the members before and after services, and, as mentioned before, our numbers are increasing. So, we will continue to work on these aspects and more to spread the Word to a lost and dying world.”

Rivergate church of Christ, Madison, Tennessee: Doug Tooley (preacher) reports, “We had six visitors on Sunday. Two were taken to lunch. Our card ministry is still going strong, and we have Bible studies in the works. We have a new converts class, but one couple that was recently baptized is so zealous they requested a more in-depth Bible study. One of our elders is taking care of that study.

“This past Sunday, I returned to the pulpit after a recent health scare. I developed a sermon using the events surrounding that episode and some lessons that could be learned. It has been shared several times on Facebook and watched by many non-members who are our friends in the community. I am prayerful it might soften a heart or open a door. We are always looking for opportunities.”

White Oak church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee (remote): John McGiffin (preacher) reports, “We are getting ready for our first trunk or treat. We have a few members and hope to have enough participation from the membership. We do not know what to expect. A neighboring congregation reported having over 1000 at their trunk or treat, and the cars shuttle in and out. At the last station, they hand out literature.
“We plan to have them walk from car to car. We are enticing them into the building with free hot dogs/chips and drinks for the kids and a chili cook-off for the adults. I know that it appears on the surface that we are trying to get them with hot dogs, and then we will have to keep them with hot dogs. We do not feel this is the case. Our focus is not to entice them to ‘join’ our congregation. It is simply to get the contact information to prospect any viable candidates.

“We plan to have a professional photo op where we will have a background. A professional photographer and congregation member will take pictures and get contact information. We will then deliver the photographs on Tuesday, and this will allow us to invite them, prospect them, or build relationships.”
“We continue to send cards to our nine prospects from two weeks ago and will follow up with visits soon. I have asked for the names of prodigals from the membership but have yet to receive any names. We will now ask them to fill out bookmarks. We are pushing along.”

Cookeville church of Christ, Tennessee: Jonathan Medley (deacon) reports, “We have compiled the results of the Post Seminar Survey and are currently using that to prioritize the areas we will implement first. We had a college-age visitor this Sunday. She is a waitress at a local restaurant, and she came explicitly because some of our members talked to her about the church and invited her to visit. Our college minister has talked with her about getting involved with the college group, and she seems very interested. Compassion Cards to her will begin this week!”

Nance church of Christ, Alamo, Tennessee (remote): Bill Mitchusson (preacher) reports, “We had our leadership meeting with Charles Harris. We are now in the planning stages and are excited about the work.”

New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fultz (elder) reports, “We had six visitors from the community, and our members submitted two contact cards. Our compassion card team met and filled out 35 cards. We made five transition visits and had one in our new convert class.”

Hillcrest church of Christ, Springfield, Tennessee: Tim Taylor (associate preacher) reports, “We have prepared a new evangelistic bulletin board. The Cardwell’s were back again yesterday! They stayed after services for about 20 minutes and conversed with several of our members. We are planning another follow-up home visit.”

Hillsboro church of Christ, Tennessee: Chris Sliger (member) reports, “Team C will meet Wednesday, October 9, to write cards to contacts. One of the contacts is Scott Smith, a friend of Christina Braseel, and the boyfriend of a previous contact who passed away this summer following a battle with bone cancer. Scott is having a tough time dealing with the loss of his girlfriend, and we ask anyone reading this to please pray for him.”

Mountain Creek church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Michael Tomshack (elder) reports, “Two weeks ago, a compassion card name was turned in for a friend of one of our members. Our member knows he is an atheist from previous conversations; however, he now has been diagnosed with cancer, and we chose to reach out during this life event. He received cards daily; however, he thanked us for the cards and asked us to halt and remove him from the list, which we will. This might seem not very encouraging, but it is positive from the congregational commitment to evangelism perspective. Realizing the man was lost and had no interest in God, the member felt moved to use the evangelism process. The man’s answer was no, yet to our congregation, it was yes to the process.

“When one door closes, another one opens. Sunday morning, I was speaking with Jennifer Ellis (door greeter that morning) when a young woman walked in, stating she was looking to study the Bible and saw our Bible class begins at 9:00 a.m. Jennifer said that we have two adult classes, one being a Young Adult group that Mike (me) teaches. I explained that the class consists of college-age up to the low 30’s, and we are studying ‘How Does God Define a Christian?.’  She said, ‘I’m 27 and will go with Mike.’

“We chatted on the way to class, and I introduced her to the other class members. We always take the first ten minutes to share happenings over the past week. When it was the visitor’s turn, she shared a little of her background (a good sign), and I asked a few more questions for clarification; then I restated her comments to let her know I was listening. Our study was in Romans 12. After class, I asked if she would share her contact information with me, to which she agreed. We spent 15 minutes between class and worship discussing her life’s journey, how she has gone through phases of searching, was involved for a time with Christianity, and then moved to atheism.  Now, she is searching for more meaning and has decided to visit many ‘churches’ to explore.

“The next visit was a 10:30 meeting, and she would not be staying for our worship because she was searching.  I asked if I could text her this evening, and she said yes.  I invited her back for Bible class Wednesday night, which she was not committed to initially; however, as we concluded and walked out the door, I asked again, and she said maybe she could adjust her Wednesday night schedule.

“On Sunday evening, I spoke with Ali Hagemann, a young adult, age 27, who was out of town in the morning. I described the encounter, and she quickly offered to help connect with the young woman. I texted her, offering Ali and myself as teachers and guides. She responded late in the evening with a heart. As I typed this report Monday morning, she sent me a message thanking us, saying she would return and that she looked forward to meeting Ali.”

“We do not know the final outcome of this story; however, having an up-to-date website, sending the monthly House to House Newsletter to our immediate area (she lives within easy walking distance of the building), sending new mover information, utilizing greeters who know the Bible class offerings for all ages, and having a congregation committed to reaching the lost allows us to sow the seed of the Gospel.”

Chapel Hill church of Christ, Tennessee: Matt Jones (deacon) reports, “We are still moving forward. We have new mover baskets that are going out currently. Our card teams are still writing to our various contacts. We will make several visits very soon. We still have two Bible studies in progress, so we are prayerful that those will come to the truth.”

West Fayetteville church of Christ, Tennessee: Steve Jefferson (elder) reports, “The West Fayetteville congregation has had a hectic week. Most members completed the post-seminar survey last Sunday. Deanna Miller took the surveys and assigned work areas for the volunteers who had indicated an interest in participation. This was a massive help to the eldership.

“The elders met several times this past week, going over the list to discuss the coordinator’s responsibilities and pair them with the right leader. We have a start date of October 20. This will give us a couple of weeks to help us and the congregation better understand everyone’s responsibilities.”

Stoney Creek church of Christ, Elizabethton, Tennessee: Mike Blevins (elder) reports, “We have spent the week helping flood victims and hauling supplies to area churches affected. We have made several contacts and knocked on several doors.”

Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “Covington has been blessed with many visitors to our services recently. Sunday, Chris and Jasmine visited with their two children. Jasmine and one of her sons had visited the week before. This week, she brought her husband and another son as well. Jeff Phillips, our youth minister, had invited them. Emily and Autumn have also visited several times. Emily is engaged in a Bible study with Cody and Kozy, two of our members. Ben and his girlfriend have also been visiting for several weeks. Ben is the friend of one of our members, Noah. We think a study is close for them.

“On another front, I will be studying with my wife’s aunt, Ruby. Ruby is an erring member attending a Baptist group’s services. She asked me to pray for her because she is considering returning to the church. She knows that the Baptists teach many wrong things. She asked if I could help her show them where they were wrong. I suggested we study Back to the Bible to help her with that. I pray that the study will strengthen her and help her realize there is only one true church. I will also be attempting to resume my study with Travis this week.”

Colleyville church of Christ, Texas (remote): John Garza (regional trainer) reports, “In Colleyville, we have multiple studies continuing. Two of them just finished Book 1 of BTTB. We have two new card prospects, and we plan to follow up with previous ones soon.”

Granbury Street church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas: Ryan Cowan (deacon) reports, “One of the many fruits of Granbury Street’s efforts to have a more evangelistic culture has been the improved preparedness for conducting personal Bible studies. Our past campaign has resulted in several prospects requesting Bible study. Currently, four prospects are either taking part in a study or have requested a study. I am happy to report that several of Granbury Street’s members have accepted the challenge of leading these studies and desire to actively play their part in adding to the Lord’s church. On Saturday night, Donna Henke put on Christ in baptism. Donna’s baptism was a direct result of our efforts for the Brotherhood Wide Door-knocking Day a few weeks ago!”

Wheeler church of Christ, Texas: Garrett English (preacher) reports, “All the Bibles were delivered last week, so the seed was planted in their hands. We pray it is planted in their hearts. A young boy who attends regularly with his family has been thinking of being baptized for a couple of months since I preached on the importance of it. He asked to meet with me Wednesday night, and we studied together. He knew some things about it, but he was not quite ready for baptism. I encouraged him to keep researching and asking. The other good that may come from this young boy’s interest is that his parents might question their baptism. I plan to ask his parents to study about these things soon.
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The barber responded to the two videos I sent, but the soil is the wayside soil for now. I have again asked to sit down and study, but she is not willing yet. We pray for her heart to be opened.”

Bridgewater church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (deacon) reports, “At Bridgewater, we had two women visited our service Sunday morning. After the morning service, they stayed for our potluck and later returned to our evening service. We got their information, and we are mailing them compassion cards. Hopefully, a study will be conducted with them very soon. We also had a visitor who requested to join our congregation. She will meet with the elders. Wade preached lessons on deacons and elders recently. We are looking forward to adding another elder and another deacon to the congregation. Wade and I studied with David Hoa on Sunday afternoon. He is an intelligent young man from China who understands the Word. He is making friends with several of our members. We appreciate all prayers.”

Fruitvale church of Christ, Texas: Carl McCann (preacher) reports, “We continue to follow up with contacts from the Southwest student lectures. We started Book 1 with Karen Vrooman at the Dukes home after a nice dinner they prepared. Karen loved the study and has been attending our Coping class on Tuesday nights. We currently have 12 people attending the Coping class at the Fruitvale community center.

“We had a visitor last Sunday at worship who is going through a difficult time in life. She left her information, and some of our young ladies delivered flowers to her workplace this past week.  She loved it and wants to continue visiting our congregation. Holley Stuart did Lesson 1 through Zoom with a contact named Stephanie, who reached out through the Fruitvale Bible study page; we used Back to the Bible, Book 1, virtual version, which worked great. We continue to send compassion cards and visit our prospects.”

Wasatch church of Christ, Clearfield, Utah: Daniel Welker (preacher) reports, “Today was another great Sunday at Wasatch. I preached the first of a series of lessons on the scary passages of the Bible. Today, we focused on Matthew 12:36-37 and how we will give an account of our words on judgment day. The fiancée of one of our non-Christian members pulled me aside after service and informed me that they had finished Book 3 of BTTB and he needed my help closing.

“I sat next to her during the fellowship meal. When I sat down, she was reading Scriptures from the sermon and Scriptures that deal with baptism from the third BTTB study, so I knew she was ready. I started with small talk about some funny stuff she posted on her Facebook page, and then she said she had questions about a true Phillip-and-the-Ethiopian moment. I asked questions to help her come to an understanding for herself. I knew she was ready when she began to cry because she realized she had taught her children wrong. She was baptized. I promised to help her teach her children the one way to salvation. As fate would have it, I will conduct her marriage ceremony on Saturday. Finally, we also had a planning meeting for our trunk or treat.”

West Side church of Christ, Salem, Virginia:  Jerry Anderson (preacher) reports, “We recently received a report that shows that our card writing is indeed “spreading compassion” and having an impact. Thanks to Nancy and Marsha for organizing our card-writing sessions and to all of you who have participated. And we thank Rob Whitacre for pointing us in the right direction.

Here is the note: “West Side church of Christ, You are a remarkable church!!! I have felt your love and sympathy for me in the loss of my precious husband. Each one of the cards had a personal handwritten message. Your church is a living example of John 13: 34-35. You all have poured out your love on me during this most challenging time in my life, and I thank you for that. I look forward to meeting every one of you someday. If not on this side of heaven, then on the other side, he has prepared a special place for us. God Bless every one of you.” – Kay

Peninsula church of Christ, Hampton, Virginia: Ben Phillips (preacher) reports, “We had another baptism this past week! Alicia Thomas was baptized into Christ on Saturday. Her aunt, a member of another congregation about an hour away, began studying with her several weeks ago. Alicia started to attend with us while studying, and we welcomed her, encouraged her with cards, and invited her to our congregational meals. On Saturday, she decided to obey the Gospel, and we could not be more excited to welcome her to the family of God and the Peninsula congregation. She is the fourth individual baptized at Peninsula since July.

“We still have other studies ongoing. Unfortunately, several had to be rescheduled last week due to the prospects and teachers traveling or having health difficulties. Two of those studies are continuing from AMC. The study with Yahiel (he goes by JL) is starting Book 3. Lord willing, that study will happen this week, and God will give the increase. We ask for prayers for this study. “We also spent time on Sunday evening reintroducing and redistributing the invitation cards. Most of our members were familiar with them from AMC, but we spent a little more time discussing them and the idea of offering an invitation to people they meet.

“We also spent time organizing our follow-up team. Our brethren are excited and we will add this group to our elders and deacons who are already doing follow-ups. This will allow us to multiply our efforts. This team is being sent video links and information to help them further train and be equipped to reach those we have been prospecting.

“Finally, we continue to follow up with our new converts through the Fundamentals Class taught by Glenn Hitchcock, one of our elders. We also do so with invitations to meals and further study with our members. We do not want anyone who has come to the light to be drawn back toward the darkness. Pray for these efforts.”

Williamsburg church of Christ, Virginia: Jim Bishop (elder) reports, “The Williamsburg church of Christ completed Lesson 2 of Back to the Bible. We also completed five compassion cards each to seven different prospects, and we are preparing visits to four other prospects to follow up during the door knocking event scheduled for Saturday, October 19.  We are reemphasizing the importance of praying for those on each bookmark and completing the contact cards—an essential part of the model process.

“There were two regular visitors on Wednesday night who were prospects. One Bible study is in progress. God added five to His church in Williamsburg this year, and three were from using the Congregational Evangelism Model process the last four months. Our goal this year is for the Lord to bless us with ten baptisms. Diligence and intentional contact will help us bring God’s Word to the lost. We all ask for prayers for the success of all congregations spreading the Gospel and for relief to all those hurricane victims.”