Contents

• Add Link Button Thumbnails to Your Website
• Saving Souls
• Evangelizing Your Town
• Evangelize a Passerby
• Evangelize Your Customers
• Good News from Prison Works
• Other ways WVBS materials can be used

Benevolence/Evangelism

“Never underestimate the power of 1 thing you take home from Polishing the Pulpit. As a result of John Moore’s suggestion last year to use Searching for Truth in your Benevolence Program, there are 17 precious souls in our home congregation today that were not there last year. To God Be the Glory!”

 

Add Link Button Thumbnails to Your Website

To be of assistance to our friends and customers who would like to link to the WVBS video websites:

• SearchingForTruth.org
• BeingSaved.org
• WhereAfterDeath.org
• WhyAreThereSoManyChurches.com
• EvilPainAndSuffering.com
• PregnancyDecisions.org
• TheTruthAbout.net

We are providing good quality thumbnail buttons that can be used as linking buttons on websites, blogs, and Facebook pages.

You can find the button images, links, and instructions on the following page: https://store.wvbs.org/button-link-thumbnails/

Saving Souls

There are so many people around the world who are grateful to you for financially helping and supporting this work. We are also thankful to you and to our teachers who give of their time and talent to make WVBS’ materials what they are today. With your help WVBS is able to make and distribute teaching materials for the church’s use to strengthen the body and teach the lost.

It is not WVBS’ policy to ask the church to report back to us regarding the numbers being saved by the use of our materials, but as a matter of record we do receive this type of information in other correspondence and reports. We value these updates and keep track of this information.

Thanks be to God that over the past 6 years it has been reported to WVBS that well over 6,400 souls have obeyed the Gospel and over 680 souls have returned to their first love. To God be the glory!

From these reports we also know that many more are being saved whom we will never know about this side of heaven. We are so thankful to God and to all of you who have been giving and working toward this end and for making all of these good things possible. We are also thankful to the churches around the world who are using these materials.

Evangelizing Your Town

It may seem like a lot of work, putting up a canopy, setting up tables, passing out DVDs, and being in one place all day can be exhausting. But when you pillow your head that night and think about your labor, the joy and solace of knowing what you did makes this (and much more) worth doing to save precious souls from eternal damnation.

Many of us here had that experience when we went to the square in Kyle to give out DVDs to the community. We were blessed with a beautiful day and pleasant temperatures and, beyond that, an opportunity to do the Lord’s Work. We were able to use the occasion to give out 135 DVDs. This was a very small market day with few people. There were only 15-20 booths present that day. I have been to some community events where there were over 100 booths. Imagine our efforts at a large festival or event! And what is even better are the 35 good conversations we had with people. Some of them had questions, others commended us for the topics we were offering, while others wanted more information so they could come visit us and find out more. We were able to reach people by offering “free religious DVDs.” We had our local congregational information on the back of the DVDs, which allowed us to talk about our congregation with them if they showed interest. This turned out to be a great way to show the community who we are. Also I believe it will help us to overcome stereotypes and ignorance about the church of Christ.

This will also allow us to reach those who are interested. If they were interested they took a DVD; and those who were not kept walking. We were truly able to reach those who are seeking the truth.

May we continue to fund and participate in efforts like this so we are not found fruitless and wanting when the Lord shall return. May the Lord bless these efforts and may we stand bold in the faith to show people who we are and the Truth that we teach.

Bobby Burris
Buda/Kyle church of Christ

Evangelize a Passerby

The church has always gone door to door in order to interest our neighbors in studying the Bible or to hand out materials. So often this approach is not as effective as we might like. Sometimes people are not at home and other times they are just not interested.

Perhaps there is another way that we could also try. Sometimes we go to Walmart or some other store and there we see one or even two tables set up near the door selling girl scout cookies or something else like that.

What if we, the church, were to do the same except NOT TO SELL but instead to give away free religious DVDs like Searching For Truth in English or Spanish. We could include other DVDs about Abortion, Christian Evidences, about Christ and the Bible.

Setting up a display table with a sign offering free or complimentary religious DVDs will tell the passerby it is free and it is religious but those who have no desire for religious material will pass it by. Those who are religiously minded will stop to investigate. There are also opportunities to have displays at places like state and county fairs, market days, flea markets or perhaps even a mall area may allow this especially if what you have is free of charge. The following is a letter and pictures of such a display.

Dear Brethren,

In August of 2008 the Wentworth congregation wanted to do something to evangelize not only the Wentworth community but also the entire city of Canton Texas. While beating our heads against the wall trying to come up with ideas that would actually work we took notice of the gospel tracts and DVDs we had in the foyer of the church building and a question came to mind. How do we get this information out of the building? How can we get it out of our own homes and into the homes of those who really need it? We finally decided that we could accomplish this goal by evangelizing the Canton First Monday Trades Days.

Coming to this conclusion was exciting but actually getting started was quite an ordeal. Of course first on the agenda was completing the approval process. Then we had to build an exhibit, decide what material to display, buy the material, and find the money to pay for it all.

Some brethren were very skeptical about whether or not this would actually work. But through prayer, faith, and patience we reached success. The exhibit opened for the first time in February of 2008 and since that day we have given away over 600 DVDs and books. We are especially thankful for this number because every individual that comes away with a piece of our material takes it on their own free will. We simply display the material and encourage those that walk through the exhibit to take as much as they would like.

Of course it is impossible to know what reaction everyone has who takes away some of our material. People come to the First Monday Trades Days from all over the United States. However we know that it is our job to plant the seed and God will give the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6). The flow of people fluctuates depending upon the time of the year and so it is not unusual to not talk to a single person the entire time we are there. But just as well it is not unusual to talk to 10 or 20 people in a single weekend.

The members of the Wentworth church of Christ are convinced this is a good work and are committed to carrying it out. If the finances can be raised we hope someday to expand the exhibit even more. However we want it to be known that without World Video Bible School our efforts would not be possible. Approximately 90% of our material comes from W.V.B.S. and for this we are very thankful. We appreciate so much your generosity and your good work. We commend you to God and to His Grace. Yours in Christ

David Westbrook, Minister, Wentworth church of Christ

     

Evangelizing Your Customers

I knew a good brother and sister who had a service-oriented business in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas area. Their business had a customer waiting area, which the brother and sister used to offer free evangelistic material. This is where evangelizing the customer takes place. This business had a display of various World Video Bible School DVDs like Searching for Truth, Silencing of God, Truth Be Told, Behold the Lamb, Why Are There so Many Churches?, and The Truth About…. These DVDs were available free to their customers. The sign over the DVDs said, “Free Take One.”

They had great success in giving out these teaching DVDs to many of their customers. This opportunity to evangelize and teach should work in any business where people visit, wait for service, or have appointments such as doctors’ offices, stores etc. If the Lord has blessed you to be in a business where this idea could work, you may wish to try it. On the back of the DVD there is a place to add the name and address of your local congregation.

Yes, giving away a DVD for free that you or your business paid a dollar or two for is not the way to make money. It is about saving souls. If your business can purchase these DVDs for your customer’s best interest, perhaps it may be a tax deduction for your business. WVBS has both the DVDs and the display racks available.

So often, in businesses where there are waiting rooms, there are secular magazines placed for the customer’s reading pleasure. A Searching for Truth book or two would be an excellent addition to the reading material or you could put up a display and give them away.

God puts before us opportunities to do good. Galatians 6:10 “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

Searching for Truth display at an automobile dealership:

     

Good News from Prison Works

From Georgia

“A couple of Sundays back my arms were aching when I got up to preach on Sunday. The reason for this was all the baptizing I did the day before. By the mercy of God and because your prayers, our baptizing service went quite well at the prison on July the 30th. Before the services the Chaplain told the inmates that it didn’t really matter who did the baptizing. He said that he could do it, or some of the inmates could do it, or even Mr. Atnip could do it, and he ended up letting me do all of the baptizing. And that is why my arms were aching on Sunday morning. I ended up baptizing 73 inmates, and I got the confessions from them all and each one was immersed. But God gets all the glory, for a million things could have gone wrong, but everything went well and smoothly. I felt like the Lord was telling Satan, “Just back off and let this be done.”  Anyway, thank you so much for your prayers on my behalf…. I really can’t say enough good things about the great work they are doing at the World Video Bible School. In my opinion the DVDs they produce are worth their weight in gold. I use their DVDs extensively in my prison work. Their latest DVD is entitled “The Truth About – Worship” done by brothers Don Blackwell and Neal Pollard… I am now using these lessons on Sunday evening.”
—David Atnip, Georgia

From Texas’ Death Row

Dave Collier Sr. is the chaplain for the Texas Death Row located near Livingston, Texas, and has been the chaplain there for the past 5 years. One of his duties on death row is to be present in the room at the foot of the prisoner while he receives the lethal injection.

But more important, is the fact that Dave Collier attends to the death row inmates’ spiritual need to know the Lord. In the past 5 years Dave and those that work with him have baptized over 35 men on death row using WVBS materials as their resource. The first person to be executed in 2011 had been baptized into Christ back in 2006.

Other inmates in the prison unit, but not on death row, are also able to hear the Gospel. There are approximately 60 of these in attendance for worship on Sunday. There have been over 30 baptisms among these men in recent years.

WVBS is thankful to be able to provide materials from the Church for these good work. May God receive the glory!

OTHER WAYS WVBS MATERIALS CAN BE USED:

Members can check them out of the church’s library for home study. This is especially good for those who are confined at home or in nursing homes. In addition, the library can be made available to other congregations-even the general public!

Elders can use the DVDs to increase their Bible knowledge, improve their ability to hold fast to the word, convict the gainsayer, and help ensure, through their study, that only sound doctrine is taught in their congregation.

Preachers can study a subject before teaching it, or improve their understanding of special subjects like Greek, Logic, Christian Evidences, Homiletics, etc.

Bible class teachers can prepare more in-depth studies for their classes. They can increase their own knowledge by studying the tapes at home, or improve their teaching technique by studying the Teacher’s Improvement Seminar series.

New converts, those recently restored, and others can study the course on Fundamentals to build a strong foundation on God’s word and grow as Christians.

Ladies can use the tapes for ladies’ Bible classes.

Small, remote, and military congregations can use the tapes to better train qualified teachers and to provide more in-depth Bible studies.

Parents can use the tapes to teach their children in family Bible studies at home. This way, the family can study together, even on subjects the parents may not have had time or opportunity to learn themselves. Imagine the benefit gained by families taking 38 minutes each day to study a videotaped lesson on God’s word!

Preacher training schools, especially overseas, can use the lessons to prepare instructors or to actually do the teaching.

Congregations can furnish lessons to help establish new preacher training schools overseas without incurring the vast financial burden of hiring a full staff of qualified instructors. Instead, they can purchase the fruit of qualified instructors on DVD that can be viewed over and over for years to come.

Churches of Christ in this country have used WVBS material to start night or weekend schools to encourage more in-depth study of God’s word in the local church and area churches of Christ, to develop and strengthen leaders, to encourage those from the community to study the Bible, and to train men who cannot attend a full-time school of preaching.

Evangelistic efforts can be enhanced by studying effective techniques from the lessons on Personal Evangelism. There are even video courses, such as Searching for Truth, that will actually teach your prospect about the church and God’s plan for their salvation!