Fayetteville church of Christ, Georgia: We welcome the Fayetteville church of Christ to the House to House/Heart to Heart School of Evangelism. Fayetteville enrolled in 2019 and had over a dozen baptisms in eight months. Since Covid, they have struggled to get the train back on track. Last Sunday, they did a reboot, which consisted of four lessons. The elders and preachers are entirely on board, and the members are fired up. We can hardly wait for their first official report next week.
Monticello church of Christ, Arkansas: Josh Walker (preacher) reports, “Our elders are meeting with card team leaders Wednesday to choose what type of table they should place in the lobby. We are excited, but we appreciate the baby step approach, so we do not get overwhelmed. I think the desire to reach the community has been there, but now it has an organized, practical approach to help them see the potential. I have received texts every day with people asking what they can do.”
Foothills church of Christ, Searcy, Arkansas: Josh Alexander (preacher) reports, “Mason Sciba and Biliee Young were baptized last Tuesday after returning to the Bible study for three weeks on Tuesday nights. I am currently teaching the congregation how to use Back to the Bible. We have a 100 percent success rate using it. I have a study this afternoon at 3:00 with a college student who is concerned about her baptism and a study at 6:00 with a man who is Baptist. We will use Back to the Bible.”
Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: David Marker (elder) reports, “We had a very good gospel meeting with Michael Shepherd and had good feedback from the community. Some were in attendance, and others were able to watch virtually. Our attendance continued to improve each night. We had numerous visitors, and we will follow up with them this week. We will begin visiting our new mover contacts this week. We had visitors Sunday as a direct result of receiving invitation cards or compassion cards. Another family has also expressed gratitude for the cards and acts of kindness they have received. We continue to have a good number of people who are committed to working on our weekly card ministry.”
College Avenue church of Christ, Enterprise, Alabama: Phillip Rabren (HTHSOE graduate) reports “Caleb Cochran (preacher) taught a lesson about door knocking to the church last Sunday evening. Our elders and preachers continue to work with some of our visitors. The church wrote 20 cards last Sunday. The elders and ministers continue making assignments and developing an implementation schedule. They have scheduled an evangelistic team workshop for October 3, 2023.”
Farley church of Christ, Huntsville, Alabama: Josh Taynor (preacher) reports, “We have more exciting news. We had a baptism this Sunday! After studying with two ladies from Farley, Ms. Lee decided to give her life to Christ. Also, we are in the fourth week of sending compassion cards. We will be making our visits on Tuesday. The Lord is good!”
Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “We are having a lot of visitors lately. Several are members who have moved to the area, and when they learned what we are doing in our efforts to win souls, they became involved. One convert brought her brother to service on Sunday; he said going to church was not as bad as he thought it might be. He is supposed to come back Wednesday. I am still visiting and still having studies; hopefully, we will see another baptism soon.”
Winfield church of Christ, Alabama: Jerry Spann (member) reports, “Compassion card groups continue to meet and mail out 120-150 cards per week. Group 3 met last night; 20 members prepared 120 cards for mailing out this week. Bible classes (fifth graders to adult) continue to study Back to the Bible. We are helping members understand how to use BTTB to bring family and friends to Christ. Door-knocking preparations are in progress for the October 7 event. They were announced and mentioned from the pulpit at all services. Four to six new visitors continue to attend each Sunday. New Movers continue to be contacted with cards and attempted visits.”
Lake City church of Christ, Florida: Jim Flegert (elder) reports, “With all areas clicking along, our spreadsheet is increasing with names of our visitor contacts, our mover contacts, and our members. Meanwhile, our prospects list has increased, and several members have established Bible studies. Several prospects are attending our services weekly. We now have more of our members participating in the many areas of our congregational evangelism program.”
Niceville church of Christ, Florida: Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “We had our second team card meeting with 12 attendees, which is a little below our minimum requirement of 15. We had a visitation training meeting Sunday night with 20 attending. We planned some follow-up visits and actions for our contacts and prospects. Some have signed up to host Bible studies in their homes. Some volunteers bake items to take to people’s homes. We had one meal with a visitor, and we have a follow-up meal in the works. Alex, our new Christian, is faithful and seems to connect with people. We had no local visitors Sunday and gave out one visitor bag. We sent 88 cards this week.”
Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Greg Garner (deacon) reports, “The Compassion Card Group met and created 52 cards last night; we sent out 16 cards last week. The new mover’s basket group delivered 14 new mover baskets. We left hangers at four unanswered doors. We had 15 in our New Convert class. We had three visitors this Sunday, and we have one Bible study in progress this week.”
LaFayette church of Christ, Georgia: Jesse Teague (deacon) reports, “We had 17 brothers and sisters sending compassion cards after evening worship yesterday. We plan to move our new mover’s visitation up one week (normally the second Saturday of each month) to October 7 to coincide with the national door-knocking day. This will be the week before our gospel meeting, and we will add flyers to our gift bags. We are happy to have Reid Perry working with us now; with Reid and David on our team and our good elders leading the way, God will certainly give the increase.”
Stafford Road church of Christ, Phenix City, Alabama (digital): Daniel Welker (preacher) reports, “We recently wrote 30 compassion cards to non-Christian visitors, a sick member who has not been able to attend services in several months, and a family that recently moved into the area. We are planning a Nerf gun gathering for Christians and several prospect. We continue to work on our Fall Festival, which we hope will be a great outreach opportunity for several prospects as well as for our community.”
Peachtree City church of Christ, Georgia: Lew Foshee (elder) reports, “We are formally relaunching our evangelism program in October. After several turbulent months, we are diligently progressing with the program again. Next month, Chris, our interim pulpit minister, will preach the sermons to re-introduce the evangelism concepts. We believe we have the synergy and focus to be successful in our future evangelism endeavors.”
Honolulu church of Christ, Hawaii: Lima Esene (preacher) reports, “We currently have three ongoing Bible studies. Our new convert’s class is going strong with much positive feedback from our new converts. Brother Iona is doing a great job in teaching our new convert’s class. The highlight of this past week is seeing two of our new converts leading our youth in devotionals. Tony and his wife Doanne have been active in our ministry since they were immersed in Christ. It has not even been a year yet, but to see such zeal and dedication is very encouraging. We appreciate all prayers.”
Jerseyville church of Christ, Illinois (digital): Jake Medford (preacher) reports, “We had one Bible study this last week. We did not have any new visitors, but the prospect list is going strong. We continue to have a steady stream of cards going out each week. We have another Bible study scheduled for tomorrow and one more that we hope to schedule soon.”
Beloit church of Christ, Kansas (digital): Dustin Dougherty (regional trainer) reports, “I preached Part 2 of the John 4 lessons and continued with the contact bookmarks Sunday; I am trying to lay the groundwork for generational success. We have three post-conversion studies ongoing at the moment. We pray that the contact bookmarks lead to many study opportunities. We are looking for opportunities to reach some of our members who have drifted; we hope to bring them back to the fold.”
Blanchard church of Christ, Louisiana: Pat Cella (elder) reports, “We completed our congregation training on the BTTB workbooks this week. We sent out 40 compassion cards. We want to share something we learned about contacting new movers. If we cannot catch anyone home after several attempts, some of us have placed written notes with our name and phone number in the basket and left the basket at the door. For every basket we have left like that, we have received a call from the prospect thanking us for the basket. Any congregation not using the new movers is missing out. I believe that this is our best source for prospects.”
La Plata church of Christ, Maryland (digital): Eric Sykes (regional trainer) reports, “We wrote 112 compassion cards this week and added four prospects to our card list. We had three visitors and we added four prospects to our compassion card list. We still have two open Bible studies. We have 11 folks in our new converts training classes. Today, my son and I dropped off a care package to a young man who recently had surgery and was on our compassion card list. We told him we had been thinking about him and wanted to check on him in person. He and his brother were so touched and caught off guard that they asked where our congregation was located. They want to come to worship this Sunday to thank the saints at La Plata for all the love and kindness we have shown him while he was recovering from his surgery.
Another person who recently started receiving compassion cards wrote to one of our sisters and said, ‘Hey Cynthia, I am still in awe by the overflow of love. I thought it was a joke. Why am I getting so many thank you cards for visiting? I thought my identity and other negative things must have been stolen. Boy, O boy, if I had just read all the cards, I would have understood better. It is like God-Holy Spirit is reminding me that He is in everything and to look at the total picture. Please thank the La Plata Church of Christ family for their prayers, expressions of love, and concern. It is great to know others are there, just as Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 reminds us, two are better than one. Thank you for the awesome messages from God and for allowing Him to use you (La Plata Church of Christ Family). Your outreach of love humbles me. Continued prayers, love, and blessings to all. Much love, Marinda Garrett-Bennett.’ It is amazing what a little compassion will do. We will be visiting her in a few weeks. Prayerfully, we can get her to meet us in person and allow us to share the gospel with her! God is Good! We appreciate all prayers.”
Aberdeen church of Christ, Maryland: Will Brown (preacher) reports, “We are excited to report that Dan Stewart obeyed the gospel Thursday. Dan is the husband and son-in-law of long-time members. Over a year ago, we decided to make all church events as evangelistic as possible. Dan became a contact following an adult Vacation Bible School class. He stated he wanted to know more about baptism. We asked him for a Bible study. He stated, ‘I should because I was baptized as a baby without understanding.’ We studied Back to the Bible in a week; following the third lesson, he knew what to do without delay. Dan is grateful and is already figuring out where to plug in to be active. We appreciate prayers for our efforts as we strive to be an evangelistic congregation in the north. To God be the glory.”
Southside church of Christ, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Freddie Klein (preacher) reports, “We had a great card-writing session on Sunday. Card group three wrote cards to our school supply giveaway contacts. I have started a sermon series on the joys of Christianity. I hope to encourage those currently engaged in Bible studies and the congregation as we strive to change the culture.”
Looxahoma church of Christ, Mississippi: Blake Hawkins (deacon) reports, “This week we completed our Back to the Bible Book 3 class as a congregation. Prayerfully, all members will feel more confident studying with the lost after going through the books themselves. Door-knocking plans are underway for congregational evangelism efforts as we prepare to invite the local community to our upcoming gospel meeting. Compassion card writing teams are also going smoothly, and soon some of our families will deliver New Movers baskets for this month. Through announcements at each service, we are trying to emphasize how easy and energizing it is to approach a stranger’s door. What else could we do that would set a better example for our children than to show them we are actively seeking the lost?”
Foristell church of Christ, Missouri: Rod Jackson (elder) reports, “Over the past several months a young man has been attending our Sunday and Wednesday services. One of our members asked if he would like to know more about the Bible, to which he eagerly agreed (this was one of the studies reported earlier). A study was started using Back to the Bible, and Wednesday evening, that study concluded, and this young man was baptized into Christ. What a blessing it was to have this soul come our way sincerely seeking the truth. Thanks be to God for this opportunity, and we pray for many more to come.”
Samford church of Christ, Steele, Missouri: Kyle Imel (deacon) reports, “Several visits from contacts have been made. One Bible study has been set up for tonight (Monday). We will start Book 2 with two individuals on Wednesday night. We have had a visitor who has been through all three books visit us several times. Pray that his heart will be softened, and he will be baptized for the forgiveness of his sins. He was previously baptized in a denominational church.”
East Flushing church of Christ, New York (digital): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “I asked Sister Crystal Gonzalez to help with this report as she was the one who brought this new babe to Christ. Faith over Fear! Glory be to God. Here is her report. On August 23,2023, I met Dolores over the phone through a family member. On September 10, I met Dolores in person. We began our Bible study on September 12 in her home. Dolores expressed her fears. Allowing me to come in was a very big step for Dolores. I invited her to worship again. She said she was not yet ready to leave her house but would work on it. Dolores had questions that the Bible answered for her. At times, she was taken back. When Dolores learned the truth, she said, ‘All this time, I thought I was saved since I was 13.’ She thanked God for keeping her for all of these years. On September 15, we finished Book 3 of Back to the Bible at 10:54 a.m. Dolores decided to be baptized. To God be the Glory! Dolores was baptized at 11:00 a.m. on September 15, 2023. Glory be to God. Her love for God was bigger than any fears she may have had. She chose Faith over Fear! The power of God’s unfailing love never fades. Dolores knows God is taking care of her. Praise God! Thank God for Jesus!”
Carthage church of Christ, North Carolina (digital): Randy Chambers (preacher) reports, “The congregation conducted one Bible study using Back to the Bible Book 2. We have coordinators and assistants in place. We had a congregational meeting to discuss and outline our approach to the work, with the emphasis of getting everyone involved. We are training the congregation for this great work.”
Cary church of Christ, North Carolina: Larry Fife (preacher) reports, “Work the plan! We continue to do that, and God gives the increase. We currently have two Bible studies, one covering Book 3 of Back to the Bible. I am praying for a good response. Sunday, I taught the congregation how to use the Believe the Bible lessons with good reception. Several people thanked me for helping them better understand how to use this tool. Our evangelism table is filling up with great tools for our congregation to use.”
Linville Forest church of Christ, Kernersville, North Carolina: Kelly Brown (preacher) reports, “What a glorious day. Tom and Kim Hite were baptized into Christ today (Saturday, September 16). They studied with Steve Hare and decided to be baptized. Several weeks ago, two of our members knocked on their door, and after a little while, they decided to visit our services. Steve was able to persuade them to sit down and study with him. After completing Does It Matter, they saw they were lost and wanted to have their sins forgiven. This is our ninth baptism this year.”
Marietta church of Christ, Oklahoma (digital): Chase Green (preacher) reports, “Troy Buker has been visiting the congregation at Marietta for the past month or so. A few weeks ago, during the invitation, he came forward and asked if the church would help him with some benevolence. We did. Several helped him buy groceries and gas, and we even replaced a windshield in his car. We studied Does it Matter with him this morning for about two hours. He said he had been ‘saved’ in the Nazarene church when he was 12. He was not baptized because the Nazarene church did not have a baptistery and did not press the need to be baptized anyway. After about ten years, he met individuals in the Baptist church, and he was baptized for the wrong reason. After explaining the scriptural reason for being baptized as part of studying Does it Matter, he decided that today was the day to be baptized for the right reason–for the remission of his sins. We are happy that Troy made this important decision!”
Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (elder) reports, “This week we are finishing the mailing of compassion cards from two weeks ago. We are continuing the mailing of cards filled out for last week’s contacts, and we are beginning to mail cards for this week’s contacts. We will also reach out in person to those who receive the cards we will finish mailing this week. This morning I visited at length with a friend who is having marital problems, and he seems to be coming around to the idea of a Bible study. We are also preparing for the annual door-knocking on October 7 and looking forward to the HTHSOE Advanced Seminar on October 4-6!”
York church of Christ, Pennsylvania: Mark Raschke reports, “On Saturday, seven of our prospects attended our annual church picnic. On Sunday, we sent compassion cards to our contact who recently lost his young wife, the mother of their five young children. We also gave a visitor bag to a new family who visited.”
East Main church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Brad Rowley (elder) reports, “We rejoice in the baptism of Reagan Borras, baptized by her father Ethan Borras. Ethan and Jen Borras are a blessing to the church. They are an example of a godly family. Reagan has been talking about being baptized for a year. We had two new contact cards from last week. We had two Bible studies last week; both studies just started Book 3. We are very busy with our follow-up visits. We have some strong prospects that will result in more Bible studies. We look forward to the National Door Knocking Day; we will focus on promoting our college ministry. To God we give the glory!”
McKenzie church of Christ, Tennessee: Chance Steen (preacher) reports, “Our evangelism group C met Sunday morning to receive their cards for this month’s round of contacts. We are also working on a visiting program for those contacts that we currently have. We have six families that signed up to make these visits. We will follow up with the hopes of setting up new Bible studies. We are slowly moving forward to success with this program!”
Forestview church of Christ, Memphis, Tennessee: Tim Roland (preacher) reports, “My son’s fiancé was baptized around midnight Thursday/Friday! He had given her a copy of Muscle and a Shovel. She had an honest heart and received the Word as it was taught in the book. This is another tool that HTHSOE uses, and we are thankful.”
New Hope church of Christ, Middleton, Tennessee: Cole Wade (preacher) reports, “We are meeting this Wednesday to discuss how we can get more people involved in the new mover’s baskets and card writing. Pray for us that we will have a fruitful meeting with the members. We want to press forward, reaching those who need the gospel!”
New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fultz (elder) reports, “Our members have consistently submitted new contacts; this week we had five. We had two visitors Sunday morning. Greeters continue to record the visitors’ names and addresses. Greeters add each local visitor to a compassion card list. We schedule a visit for first-time visitors during the week they attend. Card Team 3 wrote 64 compassion cards Sunday evening. We had one baptism Saturday evening. The young lady is a high school student. This is our third baptism in less than two months. Last week, members made four follow-up visits and contacts, not counting phone calls and texts. A new converts Bible class meets each Sunday morning. Mission Monday Meetings are held at 8:00 p.m.”
Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “Last Tuesday, I studied with Daniel, who has been visiting our services for the past few weeks. We studied Book 1 of BTTB, and it went so well that we scheduled the second study for two days later. We met on Thursday and went through Book 2. Daniel soaked it all in and had no trouble accepting the truth regarding the church. We scheduled the third study for Tuesday evening, so I pray that we will have a new brother in Christ by the time everyone reads this. On Sunday, we met with a young couple, John and Hannah, who had been visiting for several months. They had been attending another congregation in the county previously. They expressed their desire to work under the oversight of the elders here at Covington. During our conversation, Hannah revealed that she grew up attending a Baptist group but not regularly, so she was content to attend with her husband, a member of the Lord’s church. We immediately recognized this as a tremendous opportunity with a hot prospect. We will be developing our relationship with her and earn that study very soon with God’s help. We also have written around 100 cards to prospects this week.
On Monday evening, Brad and I delivered a new mover basket to a family who had moved out of Memphis to a safer area. I believe they are decent contacts. We also visited Oscar, who had visited our services a couple of weeks ago. He said he will be visiting again very soon. We will continue to prospect him. Afterward, as I was going into Walmart, I heard someone call my name. It was Teresa. We met Teresa last year when we delivered a new mover basket to her at her apartment. We also helped her move some furniture and organize her place. She had visited our services once soon after that. She has not returned since, even though we have contacted her several times. While we were talking at Walmart, Teresa told me it was a little awkward for her at church because she did not know anyone and had no one to sit with. I told her she could sit with our family. That perked her right up. She should visit again very soon. We never know when or how the Lord might open a door of opportunity for us. We just need to always be ready to walk through it.”
Canyon Lake church of Christ, Texas (digital): Jesse Stuart and Raoul Ferris (evangelists) report, “We continue to door knock weekly. We received our new mover’s information. We found out that we have 47 in our area. We will begin to use this method of making contacts soon. We continue to make follow-up visits. Because of reaching out to our community, we have one ongoing study with Eric and Kayla Tealer. We are in Book 2 with them. We were able to set up another visit with Samira, a young lady we met in the community. We hope her mother Laura will join her. The renovation to our building is completed. This gives us rooms for our Bible classes and fellowships. We appreciate all prayers as we reach out to our community.”
Southwest church of Christ, Austin, Texas: John Garza (regional trainer) reports, “We have five active studies, and we hope to have two new studies starting with two prospects soon. This week, the first-year students will learn how to teach the gospel of Christ by using Back to the Bible. I look forward to having the students actively participate in our evangelism at Southwest.”
Granbury Street church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas: Ryan Cowan (deacon) reports, “Monday, about 20 members and their families gathered in our annex for our second Mission Monday. We ate a catered meal together, divided up about 25 prospects, reviewed our approach to ask our ‘three questions’, and headed our separate ways. Most prospects we attempted to contact were not home or would not answer the door, but one member, Eric Tipton, did gain a study from our efforts. All in all, it was a good evening together. We have agreed that our approach to Mission Monday may differ slightly during this time of year due to the sun going down earlier in the evening. We are considering still meeting on Monday, having a meal together, and distributing contacts, but not necessarily attempting that very same evening to ‘knock on a door.’ Instead, we may work to refine our door-to-door communication skills and learn more about one-on-one Bible study. On Saturday morning, our elders, deacons, preachers, and most active male evangelism leaders met and discussed our efforts. Each man assigned with a key component to our evangelism efforts reported on what had occurred thus far. Though a few who had hoped to attend could not attend, the meeting still proved to be time well spent. Those who attended were left better informed and encouraged to press towards our goal of seeking and saving the lost. Compassion card groups are still meeting every Sunday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. We continue to mail out at least 100 cards per week. Ten active studies are taking place. Since our campaign, Pat McIntosh and his wife Cheryl plan to meet with a woman who has been visiting Granbury Street ‘off and on.’ We appreciate all prayers for our efforts as we desire to mature our spiritual fruit.”
Bridgewater church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (member) reports, “At Bridgewater in Katy, we are in the process of getting contacts. Five were given to me this past week. We mailed out cards to five others and will be visiting them soon. One of our compassion card teams will meet this coming Lord’s Day to sign and address cards. New converts are being mentored at this time. We have ordered invitation cards to give to our members, and they will be here this week. We appreciate all prayers.”
Natalia church of Christ, Texas: Jim Word (elder) reports, “We have had a problematic year as I have juggled the Lord’s and secular work. I hope things improve soon. The prince of this world still walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. On June 8, we baptized Dale Elrod and are currently trying to schedule a study with his wife Kathleen. In the meantime, I had a study with a friend of one of our members; her name is Iris. She is a high school student, and we could not coordinate our schedules this past week for the second study. We hope to schedule the next study with her soon. We appreciate all prayers.”
Eisenhower church of Christ, Odessa, Texas: Allen Weakland (preacher) reports, “The opportunities that God has provided are amazing. We have had several visitors from the community; some have expressed the desire to learn more about the church. We have taken advantage of our local eateries to show hospitality, which has created an atmosphere for more friendship and more opportunities to fellowship. This past Wednesday evening, we wrote cards to several families who are experiencing health issues. We appreciate all prayers for opportunities to touch these lives.”
Graceton church of Christ, Diana, Texas: Johnny Willeford (elder) reports, “Our Mission Monday group continues to do home visits to those receiving compassion cards. Group A signed 136 cards for ten people on our prospect list Sunday evening. We had two families visit with us on Sunday morning. We held our monthly family game night on Friday, with two families joining us for fun, food, and games. One of those families had been receiving compassion cards. A Bible study is in the works with a friend of my son. We are just trying to pin down a date to start the study. Pray for Jimmy to receive the study with an open heart and mind. He and his wife had visited with us about a year ago. Kreston and Amy continued to build that relationship with them over the past few years, which is so important. We have also asked a young lady who is very good with social media to update our Facebook page and keep it up to date with fresh photos and info. We have also asked a member to consider being the coordinator for our new movers’ evangelism work.
Central church of Christ, Martinsburg, West Virginia: Robert Veil (preacher) reports, “We have a weekly Bible study continuing with Jeff and Dottie. Two other prospects are developing into studies.”
Charles Harris, Regional Trainer, Georgia: “Next week, I will be with the Bremen church of Christ. They are a good, faithful church of the Lord. I will meet with the leadership to help them put the Evangelism Model into practice more effectively.”
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