Alpha | Houston

One Church…

ONE CHURCH CHANGED

Encourager Church conducted our first Alpha course in the spring of 2005 with about 80 participants, mostly church members and leaders, and a few people new to the church. Since then we have conducted 2 courses each year. Our average enrollment on the first four courses was 71, with some attrition in regular attendance. We increasingly had more guests from outside the church as our regular church attendees started inviting their friends and neighbors and visitors and newcomers were encouraged to attend Alpha.

From the questionnaires completed at the end of each course:

2 people received Jesus for the first time
30 reaffirmed their faith in and relationship with Jesus
5 were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues for the first time.
9 experienced practicing specific gifts of the Spirit for the first time.
4 experienced miraculous physical healing
32 gained new/ clarified knowledge and experienced the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit "like never before"
One person said "I believed before, but I didn’t know very much!"
Several said they had increased confidence and desire to share their faith.
79 had very positive experiences in small groups, e.g. "like being in a family", "learned from other points of view," "enjoyed the open, honest discussions", "made new friends," etc.

Our Alpha Team began to pray and work in earnest to reach the unsaved, and began using the Alpha materials in outreach ministries. For one Alpha Dinner, 20 people from outside our church showed up at the door! We now offer the talks in English, Spanish, and Arabic. On our last course, the Lord answered our prayers and we had Muslims, non-practicing Christians, seekers and just plain “lost” guests. Our small group discussions are more interesting than ever!

In the 2006 school hear, John Trujillo, a Senior at Cinco Ranch High School in Katy, TX, started a “Life Club” to take Alpha to his school. He had participated in the Alpha leader training and had co-led one of our small groups with an experienced leader. With strong support from his parents, the Alpha Team, and our Pastors, he began the Alpha course at CRHS. He was not allowed by the school to distribute materials or to use the videos, so the group began by word-of-mouth invitation and John gave the talks himself. The church provided Pizza and sodas and the group grew to 40+ by the end of the school year. There were many testimonies of lives touched and changed. Two of the teens who participated on that course are making plans to start the “Life Club” and Alpha at CRHS again this school year.

Praise God for all He has done and all he is going to do in the future through Alpha.

Shirley Morris, Alpha Director
Encourager Church
Houston, Texas

Testimonials

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