I often receive calls from telemarketers here at the Evans, Ga., church. Recently, I have started taking over the conversation and talk to them about their soul, about God and the Bible. Most of them hang up on me.

But today a man called, and he admitted he was an atheist. I talked to him about some of the proofs that there is a God. He has become interested and called back three times. We have had some good discussions. He plans to call back tomorrow.

I still do not know what product he was trying to sell. But I have something to give him, that is the truth.

ELK CITY, Okla. (BNc) – The Northeast church of Christ recently began broadcasting brief Gospel messages on YouTube under the theme, ‘Words of Life’, with Jerry Brewer as speaker.

The web address is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC8jGUbQLuc

A simple informal approach is used. Topics discussed so far include “Death comes to all,” “A good man” and “The steps of salvation”.

The lessons are similar to the short Bible lessons the congregation publishes each week in two local newspapers.

A total of 168 people signed up for the courses. Of those who attended, 58 are evangelical, 20 are Catholic, and 14 marked “other.”

Several people are usually baptized as a result of the courses at the end of each semester.

The courses include two introductory courses and studies about the Holy Spirit and eschatology.

The School of the Bible (Portuguese link) is the principal evangelistic effort of the Jundiaí congregation.

The city of Jundiaí, located in the state of São Paulo, has a population of about 350,000 people. The church is organized with three elders and deacons, with some 150 saints.

This trip was July 2-12 with our sponsoring congregation, Margaret Street church, Milton, Fla. They flew me from Paraguay to Panama to serve as one of their translators.

They have been working with the church in Meteti for about four years, alongside the Metropolitana congregation of Panama City. The preacher from Panama City, Raul Alvarado, also went with us as a translator.

Their goal is to build up the church in Meteti with leadership training classes and through mentoring methods. Preston Silcox and Ed Temple headed up the group that went this year.

We had several evangelistic Bible studies in the area also, which resulted in the baptism of one new sister, Maria Gonzalez.

The video section towards the end of the video of the two men yelping at each other, was a demonstration of what they call “Embarro.”

ELBA, Ala (BNc) — For years, the church in Elba, Alabama had a small pantry housed in a closet, but they were never able to feed the hungry as they do now.

Recently the church built a family-life annex complete with a spacious kitchen and dining area, classrooms, restrooms, and a large pantry. Located right behind the church building, the annex is convenient to the offices of the church’s minister and secretary. Although the new construction allowed them to continue dispensing food from the pantry to the hungry who came seeking, it didn’t take long for the church members to see the need to step up their efforts in feeding the hungry.

The church decided to qualify as distributors of food from the Food Bank in Dothan, Alabama. The food bank receives near out-of-date food from different grocery chains. The stores donate, or sell, the food to the bank to be given to those in need. To qualify as distributors, certain members had to attend an all-day class to learn rules and regulations about dispensing the food. Following the class, they were allowed to begin buying food from the bank for as little as ten cents a pound.

Once the initial steps were taken, other members of the church began to get involved. Three freezers were donated to the pantry by individual members of the church. Others agreed to make the trip to purchase the food once or twice a month, and some volunteered to work in the pantry.

Today members meet regularly to fill boxes with canned vegetables, fruits, meats and other staple items. Three different size boxes are used for packaging. Large boxes are filled for a family with three children. Medium boxes are filled for a smaller family, and a small box is filled for a single person living alone. If a family has more than three children they are given a large and a small box of food.

The church never knows what items they will get when they make the trip to purchase food. In June they bought 781 pounds for $117.15. Sometimes they get roasts, hamburger meat, and bread, which they freeze and dispense when a person comes for food. Just as the church never knows what will be available to purchase, the person who is asking for food does not know what will be in their box. Some who have school children request peanut butter and jelly, or foods suitable for lunch boxes or snacks. The church works to supply families’ needs as best they can.

Pam Crittenden, church secretary, said church members donate items such as peanut butter, jelly, and spaghetti sauce, which they are unable to get from the food bank. She said they also try to keep some easy-t0-open food, such as canned meats and crackers, available for people who come by hungry. Money is donated to make purchases, as needed, to help the less fortunate.

The minister, Philip Box, enjoys taking time to talk to the people who come and reports finding them receptive. Some have subsequently attended worship as a result of the love and kindness of the church. When asked if the people seemed appreciative, the secretary, Pam Crittenden, agreed. “For the most part, most of the time, yes.”

According to Crittenden, the church has given away as many as seven boxes to seven different families in one day. She added that requests for food tends to peak during the latter half of the month. Summing up their efforts, Box commented, “The church has given out several thousand pounds of food this year. This effort has helped to build positive relationships with the community as well as reaching the lost and feeding the hungry.”

SALVADOR, Brazil (BNc) –

The three-day event was held June 20-23 with the theme, “Restoration: Back to the Bible and to Simple Christianity.”

Brethren from all the city’s congregations helped to distribute about 7200 invitations, Miro noted.

The organizers were given a 120-seat auditorium for the event at no cost.

Rented bicycles with speakers provided 10 hours of publicity.

An average of 45 people participated in the studies, 15 of those visitors, and the rest brethren from the congregations which helped in the campaign.

From this effort came fifteen contacts for further Bible studies.

“Best of all is the opportunity of hosting a nucleus of the School of the Bible in the House of the Worker in Cajazeiras,” Miro said.

Cajazeiras is the largest neighborhood in Latin American. The government housing project has about 660 thousand inhabitants.

Steve Smith, pulpit minister of the Baker Heights congregation, explained their involvement in the new program in the May 15 issue of the church bulletin:

“[The World Bible School has] broken new ground. They will continue using the same lessons; they will continue their overseas evangelism. But now they want to emphasize local evangelism using their same lessons. Likewise, they will be breaking new ground in that they have put their lessons on the internet: A person can fill out the lessons, and they are immediately submitted to the WBS teacher. Snail mail takes weeks if not months to get back and forth, especially overseas. Of course, you will be able to continue using the snail mail; but if someone wants to take the lessons via the internet, it is now available. The website is here. Baker Heights elders want to have this additional tool in our arsenal of teaching methods.”

In an undated PDF file released some days ago, the Highland church elders announced that they would “pass the torch” to the Southaven, Miss., congregation.

The change is oversight is immediate, though they envisioned a two-year period to transition to new facilities at Southaven.

The PDF file can be downloaded at this link: New Eldership.

DALTON, Ga. (BNc) – The Gospel Broadcasting Network went public today with their new Roku channel.

Anyone is now able to get GBN live on his home television, 24/7, with the aid of device called a “Roku box.”

One may ask, “What is a Roku box?”  In answer to this question, the Roku website states:

“Roku is a little box that allows you to instantly stream tons of entertainment on your TV. Watch movies and TV shows from Netflix, Hulu Plus or Amazon Instant Video, listen to music on Pan­dora, catch the latest ballgame, and more—it’s all available whenever you want it.”

This box also allows others to create custom channels that can be added to the Roku library and streamed to the viewer’s television.

It seemed like an obvious choice for GBN. In February, we started development of our own custom channel, which will stream GBN live, 24/7, to anyone who owns a Roku. The process is easy and free.

First, one will need high speed internet and a Roku box, which may be purchased online at www.roku.com. The cost ranges from $59 to $99, depending on the options chosen.

The setup is easy, similar to setting up a VCR.  I set mine up in about ten minutes. The Roku box may be connected to the internet via a cable or wirelessly.

Once the box is installed, the GBN channel is available for download at the online Roku channel store free of charge. That’s it! GBN is ready to watch whenever you desire!

We believe the GBN Roku channel is going to be a wonderful way for Chris­tians to get GBN, but we also believe it is going to be a great evangelistic tool. There are already over one million homes that currently have Roku boxes, and the number is climbing all the time.

Of course, most of the people who are buying Rokus are getting them for entertainment purposes; but, when they do buy them, GBN will be sitting there waiting for them!  In the first few hours of becoming available almost 100 people had add GBN to their custom channel list.

Also in development are apps for the iPhone and Android smartphones. When they are finished, a person who owns one of these smartphones will be able to click on the app store (market) and download a native app for GBN. After installing the free app, it will be as simple as a few clicks to have GBN streaming in the palm of one’s hand.

There are 51 million iPhone users and 8.5 million Android users.  In light of these staggering figures, we would be remiss not to try to take advantage of this tremendous opportunity for teaching the gospel.

The Roku channel is available now, and the iPhone app should be available before the end of April.

We are tremendously excited about these new opportunities to preach the gospel using the technology that God has given us!  Of course, you can always visit us online at www.gbntv.org.

GBN is under the oversight of the Highland church, Dalton, Ga.