Monticello church of Christ, Arkansas: Josh Walker (preacher) reports, “We handed out and are in the process of collecting about eight contact cards (people needed to get addresses), which we will put on our list and begin writing cards this Sunday. We have divided the congregation into four groups, which will meet before Sunday evening services. We are working on getting a table, setting it up in the foyer, and wrapping up the study of Jesus in John 4. I look forward to going over Back to the Bible; I think it will give many in the congregation confidence to work towards Bible studies.”
Foothills church of Christ, Searcy, Arkansas: Josh Alexander (preacher) reports, “Melanie Wilson was baptized into Christ yesterday, September 24. She grew up Baptist and has been attending our services with her husband for a while. Yesterday, she decided she wanted to be baptized for the remission of her sins. We have had six baptisms in the last six weeks. I have a study this evening, September 25, with a man named Allen; he is a Baptist. We are on Book 2 of Back to the Bible. I have a study set up with a man named Peyton. He is a ‘youth pastor’ at a southern Baptist church, and his dad is the ‘pastor.’ He expressed in conversation that he does not like seeing denominations and wants to know why we cannot just be Christians. We hope he will see that we can when we go back to the Bible.”
Rison church of Christ, Arkansas: Keden Shrum (preacher) reports, “Chris Puckett was invited to services by his friend, a member of our congregation. Chris was baptized today after completing Back to the Bible! Chris came from a Baptist background and was thrilled to learn the truth of God’s Word. He is already trying to set up a study with his mom and brother.”
Glencoe church of Christ, Alabama: Brooks Boyd (elder) reports, “The Glencoe congregation was blessed by the great Bible lessons Michael Shepherd delivered in our recent gospel meeting. For the two Sundays following that meeting, we have had several visitors. Two of them have come on both of those Sundays. One has promised to bring his wife next week. Our second Bible study with a young single mom has been put on hold because she and her son have had the flu. Compassion and invitation cards continue to create positive energy and open doors for evangelism. We are truly encouraged.”
Farley church of Christ, Huntsville, Alabama: Josh Taynor (preacher) reports, “Farley went on our first prospecting visits last week. Some people were not at home, so we plan to go out again soon. However, we had a couple of very promising visits, and we will follow up with them. Training classes are scheduled on Sunday nights. We have plugged many people into their perspective fields. We can see the culture here is starting to change.”
Hatton church of Christ, Alabama: Chris Miller (preacher) reports, “Zach Sharp obeyed the gospel this Thursday night. Taylor Hughes and Alexia Sharp (Zach’s sister) had been encouraging him, and last Sunday night, he came to worship with us for the first time. He returned Wednesday night, and on Thursday, he said he wanted to be baptized. We met and studied that evening and then went to the church building where he put on Christ in baptism. Alexia, his sister, became a Christian last year through the influence and studies of her fiancé Taylor. He contacted Rob and Nicole, and they continued their studies while at Polishing the Pulpit. To God be the glory in all things. We had approximately 30 people signing compassion cards this Sunday. Visits and studies continue.”
Cedar Grove church of Christ in Andalusia, Alabama (remote): Trent Bailey (preacher) reports, “We baptized Jenna White after a study using Back to the Bible.”
Highway church of Christ, Benton, Arkansas: James Hutchings (member) reports, “We sent seven cards last week. We are trying to follow up with contacts so we can transition to Bible studies. We had an announcement Sunday morning to encourage the congregation to bring new contact information this month! We are trying to refocus and make the needed changes to practice congregational evangelism.”
Lake City church of Christ, Florida: Jim Flegert (elder) reports, “Last Mission Monday was our largest participation by our members. Our efforts have produced positive results from several of our participants. One couple has secured an appointment for a BTTB study. Another couple received a positive result from their visit by getting a commitment from a delinquent member to be more diligent in her attendance. Another couple received a positive response to their visit. This particular person is the biological brother of one of our members who passed along how impressed he was by last week’s visit. Our contact list grows each week, giving our compassion card writers plenty of opportunities.”
Niceville church of Christ, Florida: Joe Palmer (preacher) reports, “We had our second baptism this week as one from our youth group, Aaron Odum, was baptized. We are doing follow-up visits from our Compassion Card Ministry, and we mailed 97 cards this week. We had no visitors this week for worship but our members’ cooperation and work are going great.”
Fayetteville church of Christ, Georgia: David Gulledge (associate preacher) reports, “We have spent a couple of days organizing the material and assigning members to specific tasks/responsibilities. The ministers have discussed weekly meetings to plan and organize the preaching and training schedule. We plan to organize and start a new convert class as soon as the new quarter begins. Last week, one of the ladies started organizing visitors’ bags, which is great, but she needs more help, so we will get that for her. Dave Rogers preached part one of the John 4 sermon.”
Woodstock church of Christ, Georgia: Greg Garner (deacon) reports, “We prayed for the prospects on our bookmarks on Sunday. During our ACTS (Actively Caring Teaching & Serving) Evangelism Program, the Compassion Card Group met and created 13 cards last night; they sent out 20 cards. Our new movers group made 24 new baskets. We delivered new movers’ baskets and left five door hangers at unanswered doors. The greeters group reported we had four new visitors. We had two Bible Studies.”
LaFayette church of Christ, Georgia: Jesse Teague (deacon) reports, “We have at least one ongoing Bible study underway; Frank and Francis are studying with Dianne D. Several follow-up visits continue.”
Honolulu church of Christ, Hawaii: Lima Esene (preacher) reports, “We have three ongoing Bible studies. We appreciate all prayers. Bible studies lead to baptisms!”
Jerseyville church of Christ, Illinois (remote): Jake Medford (preacher) reports, “We have scheduled another first effort for the Jerseyville congregation to add more to our contact list. This year, we will do a trunk or treat to help get more names. We had a few repeat visitors this Sunday, and two were added to our card list. The cards continue to be our strong point! We have another study scheduled for Tuesday this week.”
Blanchard church of Christ, Louisiana: Pat Cella (elder) reports, “We mailed 38 compassion cards this week and received a response from one of the prospects. ‘Hey, Melissa, how are you and family? I am feeling much, much better. I only met your lady’s ministry, but your congregation is making my day. This week, my mailbox has been overflowing with many cards. It is putting a smile on my face, a song in my heart, and joy to my spirit. Thank you to every last one of them, too. God bless you all.’ No doubt this is a wonderful program.”
La Plata church of Christ, Maryland (remote): Eric Sykes (regional trainer) reports, “We delivered four gift bags, wrote 64 compassion cards, and had four visitors. This week, we visited two of them and gave them gift baskets, and they came to worship on Sunday. One of them brought a friend. They took rain checks on our lunch offers. We added three folks to our prospect list. Tabetha just started Lesson 1 of Back to the Bible with one of her co-workers and her daughter. We now have four open Bible studies. Two just started lesson one of BTTB, and two are heading into lesson three of BTTB. We have 11 folks in the new converts training classes. We are getting ready to start teaching Back to the Bible to the congregation. We appreciate all prayers.”
Looxahoma church of Christ, Mississippi: Blake Hawkins (deacon) reports, “We announced this week that next Sunday after worship, we will deliver baskets to New Movers for this month. We have a door-knocking scheduled for the weekend before our gospel meeting begins so we can invite our neighbors. In the past, we have arranged door-knocking teams and printed off maps of nearby neighborhoods, so everyone is organized and knows which areas they are responsible for reaching. This is the plan for our gospel meeting door knocking as well. Additionally, we continue to add prospects to those who receive compassion cards and make those positive visits.”
Iuka church of Christ, Mississippi: Robert Wimbish (elder) reports, “The Iuka church of Christ carried out a successful door-knocking campaign last Saturday. Scheduling conflicts prevented us from having the campaign on October 7. We used the HTHSOE logo in developing t-shirts. We added Iuka Church of Christ in the logo, scrolling it across the red heart in white lettering. The shirts turned out great and readily identified who we were as we walked up to the doors. Twenty-six members participated in the campaign, which included preparing a wonderful breakfast and lunch. We were not in a hurry that morning; we were determined to visit and get to know something about each person we met. Eleven teams of two members each, one male and one female, went out, and together we knocked on over 300 doors. Approximately half of the residents were at home and gave us their welcome. We encountered no rude behavior and were welcomed into many homes, with several visits lasting over 20 minutes. Many residents requested our prayers for various reasons. More than 20 contact cards were completed and turned in. One Bible study was initiated, with four more proposed. We will follow up on those prospects. Many residents were invited to attend events/activities this fall, and several indicated they would. Our members were very excited and encouraged by all the positive responses. We had four new visitors at services yesterday morning. I have not been tracking this aspect as closely as I should, but I think we have had at least one new visitor every Sunday morning service since our HTHSOE workshop.”
Foristell church of Christ, Missouri: Rod Jackson (elder) reports, “We continue to send many compassion cards weekly. We continue to have a good response to the cards, and they prepare the soil for a visit. This week, I visited a lady who had been receiving the compassion cards, but she was not interested in knowing more. Though we were disappointed, we do not burn bridges. We will pray for another opportunity in the future. In the meantime, we organized weekly videos to show to the congregation from HTHSOE to help members become very comfortable with reaching out by using the HTHSOE program and materials. We will begin these videos this upcoming week.”
Samford church of Christ, Steele, Missouri: Kyle Imel (deacon) reports, “Samford had a visitor from our compassion card outreach last Sunday. She attended our back-to-school giveaway on the first of August. She agreed to review the book on Tuesday night, September 24. Please pray that Randi will open her heart to the gospel. We have visitors who visit with us on Wednesday and are going through the books. We are going through a series of sermons on door-knocking and how to do it effectively. We will participate in the Nationwide Door Knocking Campaign on October 7. We are prayerfully optimistic about this outreach.”
Highway 160 church of Christ, West Plains, Missouri (remote): Marvin Hatley (elder) reports, “Several members are engaged in active personal Bible studies. A new study finished Book 1 of Back to the Bible. The prospect is eager to begin book two this week. Members are prospecting long-term visitors to engage in studies. Benevolent works have continued for a family going through difficult times due to cancer treatments. The family has been overwhelmed with acts of compassion, starting with the compassion cards. This family has expressed interest in knowing more about the church and has agreed to a study.”
East Flushing church of Christ, New York (remote): Clarence Jenkins (preacher) reports, “Last Lord’s Day, we had five visitors in attendance. A new convert was present for the second time. We wrote compassion cards after worship services. We have several Bible studies ongoing. With the continuous inflow of visitors, the growth of our new converts, and the addition of other classes, we are running out of space. Please pray with and for us that God will provide a building to accommodate the growth that is occurring. To God be the glory.”
Carthage church of Christ, North Carolina (remote): Randy Chambers (preacher) reports, “This week, the congregation conducted two Bible studies using Book 2 of Back to the Bible. We do not have much to report, but behind the scenes, we are emphasizing the importance of duties and responsibilities to our coordinators and assistants. We are preparing new movers’ baskets and getting ready for the National Door Knocking Campaign. We encourage the brethren to focus on the Lord’s Work.”
Cary church of Christ, North Carolina: Larry Fife (preacher) reports, “I preached a lesson Sunday night on how to use the Believe the Bible study tool. It was received well. We are actively recruiting for our outreach groups. Last week, we had several visitors, two of whom were taken to lunch by two of our deacons. We have two active Bible studies. On October 7, we will have a congregational picnic and invite the community to attend. God continues to bless us.”
Coweta church of Christ, Oklahoma: Keno Shrum (elder) reports, “As we continue to mail compassion cards, adding new people every week, and we are trying to reach out to one person who no longer receives cards. We have not succeeded yet at making contact, but we will continue trying until we do. We are preparing for the door-knocking on October 7. After our HTHSOE Advanced Training on October 4-6, I will start preaching the sermons and training outlines on the HTHSOE website on Sunday evenings for the 12 weeks following the meeting. We will have an elders/deacon meeting and delegate responsibilities to each member for various areas of evangelism. Then, we will meet regularly to track successful areas and areas we need to work on to succeed. I have been tying many of my sermons back into evangelism in one way or another to keep it on the members’ minds. We are looking forward to what the future holds!”
York church of Christ, Pennsylvania: Terry Zorkman (elder) reports, “We were encouraged to see another new visitor this Sunday along with a recent visitor who returned. Our compassion card program continues to grow with cards sent to a member’s relative, a husband whose wife passed who has five children under 12, and cards sent to two elderly shut-in members.”
Southside church of Christ, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Freddie Klein (preacher) reports, “We continued through our series on joy and the Christian life. We had visitors on Sunday. We had a great conversation with two souls that have been visiting. They are thinking about being baptized and will let us know this Sunday. All card groups made visits to our new movers. They handed out bags to the local community.”
East Ridge church of Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Charles Cochran (preacher) reports, “I am attaching a picture of one of our new Christians. We are showing her the Jule Miller Bible series. These are excellent in helping new Christians grow in the knowledge of God’s Word. My wife, Ginny, is helping to encourage this lady. We are studying with another new Christian who was baptized a few weeks ago. We believe it is important to teach, baptize, and teach. Too often we baptize and run to someone else before we encourage those we baptized. I would recommend the Jule Miller films as a great tool for teaching new converts. Luke Griffin has done an excellent job putting these on a thumb drive! You can order these through him. We continue to sow the seed.”
Madison County church of Christ, Jackson, Tennessee: Steven Sprouse (preacher) reports, “Sharron Sonderman, who has been on fire by bringing coworkers and friends to worship, was talking with her mother, Joyce, one day, and the topic of baptism came up. Joyce said she had never been baptized. Sharron asked her if she wanted to meet me, so we met. We just started the first study, which she enjoyed. Then, a week later, we did the second study, and two weeks after that, the third. The studies went smoothly. We finished the third study on Wednesday. She was hydrophobic and did not want to get baptized, but she could see God wanted her to. God gave the increase.”
East Main church of Christ, Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Brad Rowley (elder) reports, “Our compassion card team number 3 wrote 78 cards. We received four new contact cards. The New Mover baskets have been very successful; two of our contact cards are from the baskets. We had two Bible studies last week; Jeremy and Joanna Jones started a new study. We had a service project with Avery Bayes, Blakelan, and Britten Whitaker doing landscaping work. We had 24 folks present for Mission Day. We assigned nine follow-up visits and 31 baskets. We still have a balance of 14 more baskets that need to be delivered. We are looking forward to National Door Knocking Day. To God give the glory!”
McKenzie church of Christ, Tennessee: Chance Steen (preacher) reports, “Evangelism Team D met after service Sunday and received their cards for the week. We need to order more cards, and that is wonderful news! Six families have signed up to visit some of our contacts for the next few weeks. We hope that will make it easier for the follow-up visits to establish the Bible studies. I just finished another class on how to teach the Back to the Bible series. We had a great turnout for those in class, and the age groups were from elderly to youth—lots of excitement about wanting to learn how to teach others this program. We appreciate all prayers as we move forward.”
New Hope church of Christ, Middleton, Tennessee: Cole Wade (preacher) reports, “We have met to plan how to increase our card sending and organize our new movers’ baskets! This Sunday, a family returned to church and came forward asking for prayers! We are still delivering over 150 meals monthly, and we are emphasizing the need to help our new converts learn important foundational teaching!”
New Union church of Christ, Manchester, Tennessee: Paul Fultz (elder) reports, “At New Union, we continue to review Bookmarks and ask members to submit names for compassion cards. We are praying for prospects. Our members have been very consistent in completing and submitting new contact cards. This week, we had six contact cards submitted. We had two visitors from different families at the Sunday morning service. Greeters continue to record names and addresses of visitors and provide them with gift bags. Greeters add each local visitor to the compassion card list. We visit first-time visitors during the week they attend. Card Team 4 wrote 77 compassion cards this week. Last week, members made six follow-up visits and contacts, not counting phone calls and texts.”
Covington church of Christ, Tennessee: Wayne Dalrymple (elder) reports, “Tuesday, Daniel and I studied Book 3 of BTTB. When we got to the section dealing with the conditions of salvation, I went through the survey with him. Daniel claimed that he was saved at the point of baptism. I was not sure how the rest of the study would go, but we went through the conditions: belief, repentance, confession, and baptism. He accepted all of it. I decided to focus on two passages, Acts 8 and 1 Corinthians 12:13. In Acts 8, we saw how the Samaritans believed what Philip preached concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ and then were baptized. I asked Daniel if he knew and understood the unity and characteristics of the one true church when he was baptized. He said he had not. We then went to 1 Corinthians 12:13 and saw that we were baptized into the one body, the church. I asked him if he had understood that when he was baptized previously. He had not. Then I asked him if he would like to be baptized into Christ and into His body, which is the church described in the New Testament. He said yes. My heart leaped for joy! The other elders and a few others met us at the church building to witness Daniel’s new birth and addition to the Lord’s church. That was the wonderful part. The sad part happened late last week. One of our members passed away unexpectedly. It was a tremendous shock to her family, many of whom (but not all) are faithful children of God. As we always do, this church is wrapping our arms around them and attempting to comfort them the best way we can. We pray that the outpouring of love from this church will touch the non-Christian members of the family in a way that they might open their hearts to the truth. We appreciate prayers as we seek to comfort this family.”
Bridgeport church of Christ, Katy, Texas: Doug Suggs (deacon) reports, “Sunday evening, Compassion Team 1 met to write cards to seven prospects. We will follow up with a visit to each one. There is a picture of our group writing the cards. We had another person meet with the elders last evening who desired to place membership with our congregation. I will be spending our class time watching a video and discussing our work on Wednesday evening. Our new converts continue to be taught and are all faithful in their attendance.”
Canyon Lake church of Christ, Texas (remote): Jesse Stuart and Raoul Ferris (evangelists) report, “We are beginning to have more Bible studies as a direct result of going out into our community and meeting folks. We now have three ongoing Bible studies: two families and one individual. Please pray for our study with one of the families as we begin the red book of Back to the Bible. Some changes will have to be made in their lives before baptism. This week, we attempted the new mover’s method of door-knocking. We must change our approach as many were not home, and several were addressed inside gated communities. Our classrooms and fellowship area are fully completed, and furniture is in the classrooms. This is perfect timing as we are studying with people who have young children and some teenagers. We appreciate all prayers.”
Highway 95 church of Christ, Taylor, Texas: Benjamin Dossey reports, “Sunday, we had a great encouragement. We had contacted a family through the new movers’ program, and they visited us. We hope to have the opportunity to cultivate a relationship with them. Additionally, we have an ongoing Bible study that began Wednesday evening. The first study went very well.”
Southwest church of Christ, Austin, Texas: John Garza (regional trainer) reports, “We have four ongoing Bible studies, and we hope to begin studies with two prospects. Our new Christians are continuing to grow in the knowledge. I have been training the first-year students to use Back to the Biblewhile understanding the contexts of the passages. We are continuing to work and improve our visitor greeters’ group.”
Granbury Street church of Christ, Cleburne, Texas: Ryan Cowan (deacon) reports, “Cody Grinnell and his wife Angel are studying with a couple who were first contacted during our campaign week in July. Cody has assisted this couple with access to our food pantry several times. The elders have helped with some other financial needs. We are prayerful that Cody and Angel’s efforts will continue in the coming weeks. Last Sunday evening, we distributed new movers’ baskets. Andrew Randig has done a good job organizing this effort. A total of ten Bible studies are taking place. A few of these studies are approaching Book 3 of Back to the Bible. We may be close to several baptisms!
Northern Oaks church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas: Mel Hutzler (elder) reports, “One of our ladies finished a study, but the prospect needs a little bit more convincing before she obeys the gospel. We hope she will be baptized soon. A few others are in Bible studies, and we have a few more who could use them. We await a wedding in a few more weeks and hope to baptize two people afterward. Our card writing teams, new movers’ program, new converts class, HTH mail out, and evangelism training classes continue to go well. I feel like more members are getting involved in evangelism, and we are planning more activities in the fall for evangelistic purposes.”
Natalia church of Christ, Texas: Jim Word (elder) reports, “I still have not been able to secure the second study with Iris due to her busy schedule. I hope to set up a study with Kathleen this week. She has already agreed to a study, but securing a date has been difficult. We baptized her husband in June.”
Eisenhower church of Christ, Odessa, Texas: Allen Weakland (preacher) reports, “God is so good. As we have remained focused upon the mission that God has asked of us, God continues to provide opportunities to reach out with the gospel. Ashley and Cody visited our morning worship last Sunday with their three children. They attended our monthly potluck luncheon and were seen talking with numerous members—a very exciting sight. We appreciate all prayers as we move from a contact to a prospect. Let us all give God the glory.”
Graceton church of Christ, Diana, Texas: Johnny Willeford (elder) reports, “Our Mission Monday group meets tonight for reports and updates on compassion card recipients. Group B signed compassion cards Sunday evening for eight individuals whose souls we are concerned about. We signed 135 cards for recipients who need to be restored, those who have health issues, and those who have lost loved ones as well as those who visited recently. We received a letter from a compassion card recipient a few months ago. He was awaiting a liver transplant and was in bad shape physically and emotionally. I would like to include a portion of it in this report. We shared it with the congregation. From Debbie Wade: ‘Your church has been such a blessing. Allen looked forward to the mail just to read those precious cards your members sent him. Before he got those cards, he was so down. Thank you for keeping up his will to live. He received his transplant on August 2 and came home last Thursday, sore and weak but doing well.’ God has opened a door for us with this family as He has done for many other families in the Diana community. “We appreciate all prayers for Mr. Wade and our efforts at Graceton.”
Central church of Christ, Martinsburg, West Virginia: Robert Veil (preacher) reports, “We had a great day yesterday at Central. We met with two separate ladies who have been attending; they recently moved from other congregations, and they intend to place membership next Sunday. Then, following the evening service, precious Adrian Floyd was baptized into Christ. She is the 15-year-old daughter of Chris and Joanne Floyd, one of our deacons. The sermon was entitled, ‘Why Need I Become a Christian?’ I would encourage you to watch and listen to it at our website or on YouTube.”
Charles Harris, regional trainer, Georgia: “I had the privilege of meeting with the leadership of the Bremen church of Christ for an Evangelism Reboot session. We met to discuss how to implement the Evangelism Model at the congregation. It was a very productive meeting. I am looking forward to hearing about the souls led to Jesus in Bremen, Georgia.”
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