"We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth." (Colossians 1:3-6)

The Greater Atlanta Church of Christ (GACC) has been celebrating with our brothers and sisters around the world as the gospel continues to bear fruit and grow.  We've been working together with congregations in the United States and the Caribbean with a united vision and dream "to win as many as possible." (1 Corinthians 9:19) God has not disappointed the saints as we hear about the gospel reaching more and more people. Here in Atlanta, one of the highlights of the month was the restoration of single brother James Pierre. James was converted in 1998 and quickly became a Bible Talk leader for the Miami International Church of Christ. Unfortunately, his struggles with rebellion and pride resulted in him leaving the church. Thank God for his physical sister, who is a disiciple, and never let him forget that God still wanted a relationship with him.  On May 24, 2009 James stood before the church weeping with gratitude for God's love and for the church.

The following are a few of the incredible things God is doing in some of our sister congregations:

"So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow." (1 Corinthians 3:7)

God has been encouraging us by seeing this scripture come alive in the Dominican Republic! So far this year, 34 people have been added to God's family and here is some good news from the churches.

In the city of La Romana, a 10 month-old mission team, 12 women had their first Women’s Day and saw 330 guests show up to the event. It was a faith-building moment!  Pray for workers because they have more studies than women who can study with them at this moment.  Also, God has blessed that young church with nine baptisms since being planted.

In Santo Domingo, God is encouraging the bigger church too. Since January we have seen 21 baptisms, but the most encouraging part of it is that the majority have been family members and friends of the disciples.  One particular marrieds Bible Talk has seen eight baptisms (four married couples) this year.  Last month, a teenager by the name of Georgy, a kingdom kid, was baptized after almost two years of studying the Bible.  God's Word is powerful!  Then Francisco, another teen who grew up in the church since he was five years old was baptized.  His mother, who walked away from the Lord, was there to see her son receive eternal life and we pray she will soon make her way back to Jesus. We can never lose hope. 

On the other side of the island is the Santiago mission team, which was our first church planting four years ago, has been struggling for a few years now. However, in the last eight weeks God has been blessing them with more than one to one guests at church and two months ago they had their first baptism in over nine months. Since then, three more disciples have been added to the family.

Please continue to pray for us as we strive to do Gods will on this island.

-Angel Martinez
Lead Evangelist, Iglesia de Cristo de Santo Domingo

The Dominican Republic isn't the only island in the Caribbean bearing fruit, Puerto Rico is now gaining new life! So far seven people have said, "Jesus es mi Senor" (Jesus is Lord). Three campus women were baptized earlier in the year and most recently, the church rejoiced as four single men took the plunge of faith in a two-week span. 

Speaking of the Singles Ministry, they hosted their very own retreat titled, "Celebra la Vida," which means, "Celebrate Life," in the spirit of Matthew 5:12. And that's exactly what they did! The GACC's own Angel and Christina Maldonado were invited to speak at the retreat. They inspired the fellowship of believers to rejoice in the Lord and challenged them to help others find their joy in God. They had reason to celebrate new life in the Lord as one of those single men was baptized that Saturday night. Pray as the church continues to turn the corner and strives to help many souls on "La Isla del Encanto" fall in love with Jesus.

Back in the states, the Buffalo Church of Christ has been preaching the Word relentlessly. Check this out:

Here's some encouraging news for you. We baptized a guy last week and his wife has been studying but being stubborn. Well, she went to my Facebook page and saw the videos of the baptisms that you guys (The GACC) were having and when she heard one of the women talking about just accepting "Truth" it really hit home for her and she said it helped her a lot and that it inspired her to go for it!! You're having impact here in Buffalo. We have about five  people right now who are at the decision point, please pray the they will all surrender to Jesus.

-Daniel Macaluso
Lead Evangelist, Buffalo Church of Christ

Don't forget, the first-ever Arts and Entertainment Conference is taking over Atlanta, Georgia on September 18-20, 2009. Register now before the price goes up in July! For more information, visit www.AandEconference.com.  To find out more about the Love Without Stoppin' movement (1 Corinthians 16:13, MSG), check out www.TheGACC.org.