Success Stories: September 11, 2024

LaGrange church of Christ, Indiana:  We want to welcome the LaGrange church of Christ to the House to House/Heart to Heart School of Evangelism. This congregation had excellent attendance from their local members. The congregation has an evangelistic heart and is full of soul winners. The elders are focused and ready to lead the training.

Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: David Marker (elder) reports, “This past Sunday, we installed four more deacons. This is a direct result of our growth from our evangelism program. These additions will help us plug into other areas that will allow us to be more effective. We had 52 visitors on Sunday, which was partly due to delivering New Mover baskets and through invitations. We continue to focus on our progress board, which helps hold us accountable. So far this year, we have had seven baptisms, and over forty have placed memberships. We continue Bible studies and are optimistic that there will be more. I cannot emphasize enough how encouraging it is to see everyone working together.”

Highland Park church of Christ, Muscle Shoals, Alabama: Andrew Myhan (deacon) reports, “This week, we finalized main coordinators for different service areas. We will have our first day of sending cards starting Sunday! Our door greeters are intently organized and have done a fantastic job greeting visitors and gathering information. We were challenged on Sunday to have more people step into this role. We also have one person who has finished two Bible studies, and we hope to have the third study done this week. We appreciate all prayers!”

Central church of Christ, Saraland, Alabama: David Dixon (preacher) reports, “One of our elders responded to the invitation this week. It was an emotional scene and one that I shall not soon forget.  Our flow of contacts has slowed to a trickle, but we are not quitting the work. We never will. We are continuing to do Monday Night for the Master. We will still send out compassion cards. We have Bible Studies ongoing, with more to be established soon. We still emphasize the postcards every week. We are participating in the Door Knocking Day on the 21st. The congregation knows that evangelism will be part of church life for them from now on.”

Petersville church of Christ, Florence, Alabama: Adam Richardson (preacher) reports, “Petersville had 37 visitors for our Legacy Sunday service yesterday. We took many photos of family members and had a great fellowship meal. Multiple contacts resulted! Classes started conducting Bible studies, and the teens are prepping to deliver new mover baskets this month. There was one restoration after services yesterday; God is good!”

Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “This week, we want to highlight one of our members, Taylor Hughes. He submitted the following report: ‘Jordan and I have been studying God’s Word and have a better understanding of what He wants from us. It started with the two covenants, then led to baptism, and then everything in between. I am blessed to have such a good friend with an honest heart. When the Bible says something, he believes it. That’s the heart EVERYONE should have. We dove deep into a study on sin and salvation this morning and came to a great revelation. God desires all men to be saved, and He has given us THE way to be saved in His inspired Word. Jordan decided to obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. He died to his old sinful ways, was buried with Christ in baptism, and has been raised to walk in the newness of life.’ In addition, we just had another report that Teresa Tolbert obeyed the Gospel after Daniel and Sarah Rutherford studied with her. She had received cards from the church several weeks ago. They used Back to the Bible.”

Malvern church of Christ, Arkansas: David Burruss (preacher) reports, “We currently have one Bible study underway. We have temporarily paused the compassions cards program as we are working on some modifications that will be better for our congregation in hopes of getting additional participation. We will meet after morning services on September 29 to review and discuss the new guidelines and restart the program that day. We are preparing for our upcoming Gospel Meeting and preaching conference, where preachers from the local area will hear a lesson on evangelism and an open round table discussion.”

Rison church of Christ, Arkansas: Keden Shrum (preacher) reports, “Betty (the visitor who came as a result of compassion cards) returned Sunday. We are trying to work out a time to begin BTTB with her. Care Team A met Sunday evening and signed cards for two people.”

Sunset church of Christ, Nashville, Arkansas: Zach Williams (preacher) reports, “The Lord added two more souls today. Both are from the nursing home. We taught them from BTTB and brought them to the baptistery. The nursing home is a field ripe for harvest!”

Niceville church of Christ, Florida: Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “Sunday was another encouraging day. One of our evangelists has been studying with two prospects (a couple) for several months, and they returned to worship with us Sunday morning.  When I spoke to this couple, they praised our dear brother for his continued love, encouragement, and ability to teach God’s Word. A new, young female Air Force Airman returned for her second visit. We took her out for lunch and were joined by two other young couples. While we were waiting for our food, I set up a future study, and my wife sealed the deal by setting the date for the study. Seeing these young couples who want to encourage a visitor to follow Jesus was so encouraging. We also had two new Christians at worship this week. After church, I spied on one of our song leaders who was connecting with a prospect and encouraging him. Later, I spoke with him, and he explained he was trying to set up a study as we have yet to do so with this gentleman. These are only a few of the things that I know about; there are others that I will not take the time to tell. Only God knows of all the seeds that are being planted. Our Card team sent out 20 cards, and we had one study this week.”

Peachtree City church of Christ, Georgia: Lew Foshee (elder) reports, “On Sunday, August 25, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of our congregation in Peachtree City. We used the event as a local evangelism outreach in our community and encouraged members to invite guests. We had a fellowship meal after services, and several visitors attended. We have been sending cards to the visitors and have experienced repetitive visits from those in attendance that day. We continue utilizing the invitation cards extensively and are having visitors each week. We believe the invitation cards are a tremendous tool for our evangelism program. We rejoice that we have had seven baptisms so far this year! Recently, a young lady we have been studying with was baptized. We continue to be encouraged by the results of our evangelism program, but we understand that we still have much work to do to evangelize our community.”

Bremen church of Christ, Georgia: Scott Broughton (member) reports, “The New Converts class is continuing with good attendance. There is one Bible study in progress, using the Back of the Bible study guide. This study is on Booklet 2. We appointed three new deacons on Sunday: Cory Payne, Billy Bridges, and Ethan Smith.”

Eatonton church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Roderick Coney (preacher) reports, “On Sunday we started Lesson 3 of Back to the Bible.  We made two transition visits to those who have received compassion cards. I also continued the Bible study with my mom. We have gone through lesson two of Back to the Bible. On Wednesday night, we studied Week 2 of the book, Growing in Christ.”

Cartersville church of Christ, Georgia (remote): Charles Harris (regional trainer), “On Sunday, we had a husband and wife restored. Bible studies are ongoing with several. Compassion Cards continue to make a difference as each week, each group participates greatly. On Thursday, September 26, we will begin a study with a smaller group who want to be more effective in leading Bible studies. We have titled the class ‘Soul Winners’ because that is what the class will produce.”

Lafayette church of Christ, Georgia: Jesse Teague (deacon) reports, “Our evangelism core team had our monthly meeting tonight to review the contact cards sent out last month. We now have follow-up visits for each person that received compassion cards. We currently have at least three studies in progress. One study is kind of stuck because I have not been able to schedule the second study, but it is still promising. The first study with a new contact was very promising, and a second study is scheduled. One lady has completed the second study, and we hope the third study will take place soon. We hope God will increase these studies. We will continue to sow the seed.”

Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Matt Amos (preacher) reports, “Two volunteers in the New Movers Group left seven door hangers at locations where no one was home. They left one basket for those who were home this week. The Compassion Cards Group wrote 23 cards this week. An Assistant Living Facility contacted WCOC and asked if we would conduct a Bible study at their facility. There is a probability of having twenty-five students. WCOC had three non-Christian visitors at our Sunday morning service. We conducted nine Bible studies this week.”

Honolulu church of Christ, Hawaii: Tagiilima Esene (preacher) reports, “We had a wonderful lunch with Dre and Rashelle. Dre is seeking the Truth. Rashelle started studying with him, and we will continue our study together. We appreciate all prayers; please pray for God to give the increase as we plant and water the seed.”

Collinsville-Troy church of Christ, Illinois: Jason Wright (elder) reports, “Evangelism training has made the difference in the way we approach soul-winning. Confidence in a plan goes a long way. We continue to work the plan and engage in a unified mission of seeking the lost. We currently have eight Bible studies in progress. We mailed out 175 compassion cards this week and will make 24 follow up visits throughout the week. Our food giveaway is set for early October; we expect to make numerous contacts. We are preparing to reach out to the New Movers in our area. We continue to pray for good soil as we present the Gospel.”

West Hammond church of Christ, Indiana: Robert Webster (preacher) reports, “Last week, we continued where we left off. However, we now have a more targeted approach toward our weekly visitors, including first-timers. This means that with our ongoing Bible studies, we are making new contacts. We just got the new edition of the HTH magazine, Why Are We Knocking on Your Door? We plan to get as many of the members together as possible to hand them out to the community and make new contacts. We have a two-day lecture this Wednesday and Thursday on the appointment and role of elders. We appreciate all prayers for our congregation as we seek to carry the divine mission.”

Beloit church of Christ, Kansas (remote): Dustin Dougherty (regional trainer) reports, “We had a good turnout yesterday in Beloit; four visitors were in attendance. The lesson I gave was called Almost. I focused on how the children of Israel almost made it into the Promised Land after the spies were sent, and how we cannot be almost Christians or almost follow God; we cannot be almost persuaded. It was a good message for the young visitors; we pray they will return again soon. I am still working through the Growing in Christ book while studying and trying to encourage some who have drifted to return to the fold. We were prospecting a handful, testing the waters, and trying to cultivate the ground and work up to a study. To God be the glory forever.”

Central church of Christ, Paducah, Kentucky: Adam Faughn (preacher) reports, “The work remained a little slower than usual this week due to sickness. Thankfully, that is starting to lighten up in our area, but we were still able to have a booth at our local farmers’ market and had a number who agreed to Bible studies via mail. A couple indicated a possible in-person study, so we are prospecting them to see if they are willing to do those studies in person. On Sunday, a local Christian who has been visiting with us for some time placed her membership with us, and we are thrilled to have her as part of the family at Central. Over the last month, about 350 cards have been sent by our card-writing teams, and an additional 198 cards have been sent to new movers, so we continue to make many contacts. We have seen good things happen and trust that God will continue to bless our efforts. There are many souls to reach!”

East Main church of Christ, Tupelo, Mississippi: Barry Kennedy (preacher) reports, “We are still developing skills for our people to have an eye for opportunities. We have stepped up our door greeting teams, and they are doing fantastic work. Members are more aware of those visiting, and we are trying to make them feel welcome and comfortable so they will give us their contact info. In addition, we are having a clothing giveaway on September 28, focusing on developing contacts through this benevolent effort.”

West End Blvd church of Christ, Cape Girardeau, Missouri: Jared Scaggs (preacher) reports, “This last Sunday, I was well enough to preach and teach again, and most of those who were sick were able to return as well. This begins our week of the district fair here in Cape, and it has started off well. We are focused on getting as many contacts from this as possible. When this week is over, the Elders and I are planning to help the church refocus on the model and training. May God bless all who are working to expand the kingdom’s borders!”

Samford church of Christ, Steel, Missouri: Kyle Imel (deacon) reports, “We had a prayer service last night for our evangelistic efforts. We continue to send compassion cards to James, who is battling cancer. We will visit him soon. We have asked Keno Shrum to speak on some evangelism lessons next month to help us remain focused and rekindle our fire.”

East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “During our worship service, an evangelistic message was delivered based on the principles of the seminar ‘Let’s Talk about the Manner’ and ‘Hearken’ from the Evangelism Simplified Guidebook. Previously, that had not been done. We are trying to make sure our members have access to our Prospect List, Bible Studies list, and the Coordinators Spreadsheet with the appointed coordinators.  We communicated to the congregation after worship service and also watched the video, ‘Growing Church: Evangelism Trends.’ After the showing, we discussed the video and noted our accountability board.  We also wrote 33 compassion cards to be sent this week. We had three visitors Sunday, one of which has been coming consistently for over a month. We have seven Bible studies currently. We appreciate all prayers.”

Cary church of Christ, North Carolina: Larry Fife (preacher) reports, “We have been hard at work over the last several weeks, making several visits and writing 1,100 compassion cards so far. Today, we were blessed with a baptism after worship. We continue to emphasize personal and relationship-based evangelism, and many of our recent baptisms have resulted from strong connections people have made with coworkers or others they have met. On September 29, we will host a Friends and Family Day. We are encouraging the congregation to fill out their bookmarks, invite those they know, and pray for those they want to encourage to attend. We are truly grateful for God’s blessings.”

New Concord church of Christ, Ohio: Terry Townsend (preacher) reports, “We did have four new visitors Sunday, and all of them were taken out to eat. A new round of compassion cards went out (4 in all).

Streetsboro church of Christ, Ohio: Ralph Price (preacher) reports, “We had a couple of visitors from the community this week. Both seem like promising prospects. We were able to get one on the prospect list for this week. The other had just moved to our area. He is a young man; he did not know his new address yet. We hope he will return next week; he said he would. We put together a batch of new mover baskets yesterday. We will be working on those in the coming weeks.”

Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (regional trainer) reports, “Yesterday we passed out new bookmarks to members who did not have one. On Sunday, we will go through them and prospect for people to receive compassion cards. Don Blackwell will be here Sept 20-22 for a gospel meeting. His theme will be ‘Questions of Eternal Consequence.’ While we love to have other congregations attend the meeting, we are putting our efforts into bringing in non-Christians to hear these very important lessons. We will obtain their contact info for any visitors who come and prospect them through compassion cards.”

Cheyenne church of Christ, Oklahoma (remote): Nathan Brewer (member) reports, “After our first conversation using HTHSOE and BTTB, the members sent cards last week to our new brother in Christ. On Saturday evening, my wife and I had our new convert and his Christian wife in our home to get to know them better. Yesterday (Sunday), a member who has been inactive was at worship for the second Lord’s Day in a row. We had sent compassion cards to him. Before Bible class yesterday morning, we updated the Prospect List; we dropped a few names and added a few names. Right now, nearly every name on the list belongs to inactive church members. We are also sending cards to one of those inactive members and her husband this week.”

York church of Christ, Pennsylvania: Mark Raschke (deacon) reports, “We are getting back into our regular evangelism groove now that we are settled into our new building. Again, we regularly send out cards to visitors, as well as to contacts of our members who have medical needs. We will reconvene our first visitation meeting in about six months, at the beginning of October, to discuss visits to those who have been receiving cards.  In the meantime, we continue to meet and study with our prospects and recent converts.”

Union church of Christ, South Carolina (remote): Terry Hale (preacher) reports, “Our new sister Sandra Owens came as a visitor; we showed her love with a visitor bag and earned a Bible study. She obeyed the gospel after learning the truth from Back to the Bible. We are praying for the family of Christopher. We baptized him earlier this year or at the end of last year, and we are serving in his funeral service on Saturday.”

Rome church of Christ, Lebanon, Tennessee (remote): David Oxley (elder) reports, “We received all our materials and are going through it. We will be starting the first video this Sunday.”

East Main church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Brad Rowley (elder) reports, “The month of August was an amazing month for East Main. We rejoice in the baptism of Kyle Brown by Jon Mitchell; he was assisted by several young men of the congregation. Kyle is bound to a wheelchair. It was amazing to see the determination of the young men who helped Kyle get in and out of the baptistery. During August, our compassion card team wrote 180 cards. Our compassion card coordinators, Ryan and Lindsey Miller will be assisted by Joshua and Karen Knight. We had twelve new contact cards for the month. We had eleven new people in Bible studies and nine ongoing studies. Our college ministry is focused on soul-saving; they are involved in several new Bible studies. We had ministers, an elder, and several members attend PTP; the sessions were very educational and faith-building. We will launch our new website this week! To God, give the glory!

“Addendum: We had two more baptisms last night! I am so thrilled with East Main using the power of the Gospel! One of the baptisms was a lady whose husband has been studying with her for 30 YEARS!”

Rivergate church of Christ, Madison, Tennessee: Doug Tooley (preacher) reports, “We had five visitors at Rivergate on Sunday. Some new people have expressed interest in starting a Bible study, and two new couples have recently expressed interest in placing membership. We delivered new movers baskets last week and had good contact with some of them. Some of them live in my neighborhood. We had an old peg board taken down during our renovations to track member attendance. It was not very effective. We are looking at new ways to track member attendance to ensure no one is neglected.”

McKenzie church of Christ, Tennessee: Randy McAdams (elder) reports, “We are initiating our September list this week with seven mailouts. We do not have this many in the first week, so more will likely come. We had a great Sunday worshipping our Lord, with Brad Harrub speaking to us in all three services about Bible proofs and God’s existence through earthly evidence. We are planning a Community Kitchen in one week. We will give food out to the community, and we will have a Friends and Family Day on the last Sunday of this month. Also, we will begin a New Converts class for our newly baptized members on September 15.  Fall is in the air, and it is an exciting time for our congregation. The family is growing, and everyone seems to be happy to gather on the Lord’s Day. May our Lord bless our efforts.”

North Bradley church of Christ, Cleveland, Tennessee: Keith Wilson (preacher) reports, “Our evangelism program has been reinvigorated by allotting more time to write cards. Our lowest point in the last two years was when we had about 10-15 cards being written each week. Now, we are back up to 40-45 at the least. It is good to see growth in the work.”

Freewill church of Christ, Gainesboro, Tennessee (remote): Andrew Scott (preacher) reports, “We completed Lesson 2 of Back to the Bible with Jaden and his mom, Pam, yesterday. Next week, we will go through Lesson 3. We are praying for them to have open and honest hearts.”

White Oak church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee (remote): John McGiffin (preacher) reports, “This past week, we once again introduced ourselves to some visitors by taking them to lunch. On Sunday morning, we taught about new movers and move-in baskets. In the men’s meeting, we discussed knocking on new movers doors on September 21, along with the national Door Knocking campaign. This will also allow us to invite them to the Friends and Family event scheduled the next day. We hope that a fellowship meal following the morning services might bring a few to the building. Our attendance has been increasing slightly and is around 37 on average. We anticipate having up to 60 attendees at the event. We expect we will have several unchurched visitors. The men have approved the purchase of some supplies for new move-in baskets. We are preparing for the ones given to us from House to House. We will send teams to the most receptive areas—two weeks and counting. There are many on the sidelines waiting to see if this works. I will encourage all hands on deck; we need everyone to be involved. There is nothing to lose and much to gain. We must close the doors in a few years if we keep warming the bench. If we are active, then we have a chance to survive in the long term.  People often leave God out of the equation. We have little ventured, then little gained. Trust the process!”

New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fultz (elder) reports, “We had eleven visitors from the community, and our members submitted five contact cards. Our compassion card team met and filled out 49 cards. We made five transition visits, and we have two ongoing Bible studies.”

Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “We had several visitors again this week. Charles visited again. He has been studying with Frank. Emily visited again Sunday night. Some of our members, Cody and Kozy, are studying with her. Emily brought a friend with her as well. Her name is Gracie. Ben and his girlfriend visited, too. They are friends of Noah and Emma. They are working on studying with them. We sent several compassion cards this week. We have registered for the annual Door Knocking Day on September 21. We hope to have a good group to go with us. Last weekend, we had a leadership retreat with our elders, deacons, and ministers. We decided on a theme for 2025: “A Common Love.” One aspect of that theme will focus on a common love for the lost. We hope to improve our evangelistic outreach in the community.”

Hillcrest church of Christ, Springfield, Tennessee: Tim Taylor (associate preacher), “We are trying a different approach with our transitional visits this week. We will meet at Hillcrest Thursday at 9:00 a.m. and organize into pairs to make visits. We hope this will increase the involvement of our members and provide more effective results. We have had some issues with our new movers list, but we have a fix. We had some frustration among our deliverers because we went to a vacant house and other uncomfortable issues. Upon receipt of our monthly list, I will send an initial card to the homes. If it comes back from USPS undelivered, we know not to send someone out with a basket (about 30 percent have not been valid new movers.). This could be passed along as a suggestion if any other congregation finds this issue.”

Stoney Creek church of Christ, Elizabethton, Tennessee: Mike Blevins (elder) reports, “Kris is teaching with Back to the Bible; we did the second book last night. I am aware of three Bible studies in progress. We studied Book 3 with a friend of mine last week. He is close; the study will continue. The students are working, too, but I don’t see them often since they preach somewhere almost every Sunday.”

Celina church of Christ, Tennessee: Daniel Burton (member) reports, “I wanted to share some encouraging updates regarding our ongoing evangelism efforts at Celina. The transition visits are going well; we have had some interesting and meaningful conversations. It is truly remarkable where these conversations lead. It is a blessing to engage with people and share the good news of Christ.

One piece of positive feedback we have received is about the cards we have sent out. We visited someone who is ill, and we noticed the cards displayed all around the home. Clearly, these simple gestures work; they show people that we care, just as Jesus does. As we continue this effort, we pray that our focus remains strong and that we can truly be the church known for its compassion, love, and care for others. Let’s keep the momentum going!”

Hillsboro church of Christ, Tennessee: Chris Sliger (member) reports, “Team B sent four contact cards to one August new mover and three door-knocking contacts. Shelby and Scott will coordinate the visit of some previous card recipients next week, and we will be dropping by September New Mover homes as early as this weekend.”

Mountain Creek church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Michael Tomshack (elder) reports, “Gary Massey (Elder and Minister) began a Bible study with a frequent visitor with a denominational background. She has been attending consistently for a few months. Yesterday, a compassion card was turned in stating the person is an atheist and is recovering from a stroke in a rehab facility. This situation is new for us to fit into the School of Evangelism Visitation process. Usually, physical rehab might be completed before the four weeks of cards are completed.  We will gather more information regarding the prospect and hopefully obtain their home address.”

Chapel Hill church of Christ, Tennessee: Matt Jones (deacon) reports, “Things are still going well. We continue to have steady visitors, and we add them to our prospect list. Our card-writing teams are staying diligent with their team rotation. We have a couple from our list with whom we are working to set up a Bible study. Congregation members continue several studies independently to help ensure a new convert starts on the right foot. We also have several congregational activities that we will be advertising to the community. We are prayerful that this will generate some additional prospects as well. All our coordinators in the various areas are doing a good job. To God be the glory!”

Graceton church of Christ, Diana, Texas: Johnny Willeford (elder) reports, “I included a picture of Rhonda Shaver’s baptism last week. She and her husband, Earl, have been attending regularly on Sunday mornings for several months. My wife and I continued having weekly Bible studies with them at home. It has been great for them as well as us. We had four families visit with us on Sunday morning. Three of the families have visited with us several times. We are trying to set up Bible studies with them. We are also working to refocus our efforts on the home visits. The new mover’s group has been successful for many families visiting with us. Our Compassion Card Group A met Sunday afternoon and will send 21 cards to two new contacts. We are working on increasing our new contacts list.”

Colleyville church of Christ, Texas (remote): John Garza (regional trainer) reports, “Recently, we implemented our congregational contact bookmark and compassion card works of the HTH School of Evangelism. Last week, we sent cards to one person, and we continue to do so this week, but on Sunday, we received two additional names of souls who need to receive cards of encouragement. We started sending them on Monday and plan to continue for the next couple of weeks. Finally, our evangelism classes are set for our Wednesday night Bible classes that will start next week, beginning with How to Be Aware of Souls.

“Additionally, we have two Bible studies. One of our members is studying with a young man, and it is going well. Last week, I was able to get a Bible study set. Here is how it happened: On the day that we were supposed to meet for lunch, I did not receive a response from Noah. I thought I was getting stood up, which is not new to me in evangelism. Yet around 2:00 o’clock that day, he called me and said that there were some problems in the morning, but he still wanted to get lunch. So immediately, I agreed to meet him in 30 minutes.

“We met at Chipotle. Beginning with some small talk, we talked about the Bible and continued to do so for an hour and a half as we made certain applications to life. He said, ‘I pray to God, and I get frustrated because I do not hear a response from God.’ So, based on his saying, I asked, ‘Would you like to search the Scriptures with me to find out why? I can tell you, but it doesn’t matter what I say. Only God’s Word can give you certainty and confidence.’ He agreed to a study, and we will be studying Friday afternoon.”

Fruitvale church of Christ, Texas: Carl McCann (elder) reports, “This week we were able to start Book 1 of Back to the Bible with a man we met on our Fruitvale Bible Study page, and we mailed out two correspondence courses in a new study by Allen Webster. We did have two prospects cancel their studies, but we are hopeful they will continue next week. In addition, we were excited to start studying with our new converts. It is such a joy to be able to begin to call someone ‘brother’ or ‘sister.’ We are planning to go door-knocking in preparation for our annual student lectureship, which we offer to the Bible students at Southwest School of Bible Studies in Austin, Texas. We will be training several brethren from our congregation and others from near and far. We are expecting brethren from Austin, Texas, and as far away as Ellijay, Georgia. In addition, we are planning to have our Coping class begin soon and hope this will create contacts. Between the door-knocking and the Coping class, we pray to be quite busy.”

Granbury Street church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas: Ryan Cowan (deacon) reports, “Last Sunday, I reminded the congregation about the importance of using bookmarks in reaching the lost around us. I reviewed Granbury Street’s plan for participation in the fifth annual brotherhood-wide door-knocking day on September 21. We have leaders selected for door-knocking, community service, new mover basket delivery, and card writing, all of which will take place on the weekend of September 20!

My study with Joel is moving along well. We have reviewed Book 1 and are beginning Book 2.”

Wheeler church of Christ, Texas: Garrett English (preacher) reports, “We have the Bibles and invitation cards ready to hand out to the sixth-grade classes in all four schools in our county. We aim to deliver them late this week. Our compassion continues to be seen in our card-sending. A few older ladies have been key in being consistent in this effort. However, we need more people to visit and study with them on follow-up. I have delivered two VBS follow-up invitations/materials, and they were received well. One family has continued to join us for worship. They currently have a family member with health issues, and we are helping them as much as possible. We aim to study with them soon.”

Bridgewater church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (deacon) reports, “We are excited to report another soul has been snatched from the clutches of Satan. The mother of one of our Spanish members was baptized Wednesday evening. One of our Spanish members, Jim, taught and baptized her. Afterward, Jim led us in Spanish and English prayer. It was a great moment for all of us who were present. She has been attending for a while. The study with David, a young man from China, is progressing. Wade and I have been studying with him each week. Seeing his growth from not knowing God to believing in Him and His Word is a blessing. Pray for David. One of our members has been studying with his son-in-law. The study has gone well, and another one will be held on Friday. Pray for Eric. One of the compassion card teams met to address cards to prospects Sunday evening. We had three new families visit Sunday, and we gave them Visitor Packets about the church and sent them cards.”

Southwest church of Christ, Austin, Texas: Mark Speir (elder), “We did not have any new visitors, but we finally got an address for a frequent visitor. We also had a new college student placed membership. Many studies are still taking place, with a possible new one starting next week.”

West Side church of Christ, Salem, Virginia: Jeff Durham (elder) reports, “We rejoice that we have a new brother in Christ! The husband of one of our new converts (about a year ago) has been studying with one of our elders and others for the past few weeks. The Back to the Bible study series brought clarity and commitment to his realization of what he needed to do to be obedient to the Gospel and added to the Lord’s body. He was already attending our New Converts class with his wife, so these lessons were undoubtedly beneficial. Yesterday evening, we continued our compassion cards yesterday, writing approximately 180 cards that will be mailed this week.”

Peninsula church of Christ, Virginia: Ben Phillips (preacher) reports, “We are thankful to God that we continue to have visitors from the community and contacts we are working with attending services. This past Sunday, we had a new family visiting from the community. They were not reached via AMC, but they are looking for a church. We immediately began the process of prospecting. We began a “Compassion Card Blitz” to be sure some of the contacts from AMC who needed cards will get cards. We had tremendous help from the congregation to make this happen as we had eight names added to the card list and nine names on our normal prospect list this week. My wife and I began a new study with the mother of one of our AMC contacts last week. Just today, I was able to confirm a study with another AMC contact. That means we currently have four ongoing Bible studies: one to strengthen and another with an AMC contact pending scheduling. We have a lot of follow-ups on the horizon as we continue to work contacts from our members and from the campaign. If the Lord wills, we hope to see Him give the increase in the next several weeks.”

Williamsburg church of Christ, Virginia: Jim Bishop (elder) reports, “The church in Williamsburg was very blessed this week with one Bible study. Twenty-five compassion cards have been prepared for sending, and the Lord has added to His church. On Wednesday, September 4, evening, Sister Eva Jackson was baptized. Praise God!”

Marlon Retana (regional trainer): “Last week, we wrapped up the recordings for our Bible course on 2 Timothy, consisting of 12 lessons. This past weekend, we enjoyed visiting the brethren at Brown Trail in Bedford, Texas. My wife attended the Ladies’ Day while I lent a hand with the other men in the kitchen. One of the blessings of being bilingual is connecting with both the English and Spanish-speaking communities. On Sunday morning, we attended the Spanish devotional, followed by an English class, and we ended by worshiping with the Spanish congregation before driving back home. Interestingly, the Spanish devo focused on 1 Corinthians 12:12-26, while the English class was on 1 Corinthians 12:26-31. Brothers Martinez and Rhodes shared almost the same message from the book in two different languages.

“This experience reaffirmed for us that God’s Word transcends language. As long as we remain faithful and preach His word, the world will hear the one true message needed for reconciliation with Him. That is why equipping the saved to teach the lost is essential. If you are passionate about reaching the Hispanic community in your area or helping the Hispanic group in your congregation, and if your congregation has scheduled Rob for training in the coming weeks or months, we would love to connect. Let us know how we can assist Hispanic brethren in reaching the lost. Every soul matters, regardless of the language they speak.”