Fleener Ministry Update - Vol. 1 No. 7
Joe Fleener
You can download a more complete version of this letter in PDF format @ http://tsbc.digitalexegesis.com/Fleener_Update_Vol_1_No_7.pdf
Joe, Mandy, Mekaela, Gavin, & Tabitha
Serving the Lord in Hastings, New Zealand
October 4, 2006 (Vol. 1 No. 7)
Dear Friends,
Thank you so much for your prayers and ongoing support.
We have several new items of thanksgiving we would like to share with you:
Believe it or not we have been here in New Zealand for one month. That puts us at a bit more than a week longer than our visit in April, so it is beginning to feel “real.” This has certainly been a month of transition and settling. God has been so good to us and has shown us such care through His people.
We really are feeling like we are home. Our container arrived, boxes are unpacked, rooms and furniture setup and many other “living details” have been completed. We have already had several opportunities to have people in our home and look forward to many more.
To add to the homey feeling, we have also had our share of sickness over the last couple of weeks. Each of the kids have been down with some kind of illness Mekaela and Gavin have both been to the doctor a few different times. Mom & Dad have had their share of spring colds, etc. as well.
The kids have settled in quite well and very quickly. They have a whole slew of new friends, most significantly our neighbors the Watsons – a family from church with five children all close to the ages of ours. We have all been blessed by their friendship and look forward with great joy to the next couple of years living next to each other.
Mandy has been very hard at work setting up our home and getting everything ship-shape. Something as “normal” as grocery shopping can take twice as long when all the packages look different, the store is unfamiliar, and there are things we are used to which cannot be found, but new things which are fun to try! However, she has also had several opportunities to interact with the ladies and will have many more in the future. She has been attending a ladies’ Bible Study on Wednesday mornings and began serving as support to the music ministry this week.
Joe has been busy getting settled into a routine at the church and school. The first three weeks brought three preaching opportunities, sermon preparations and other church functions all of which were a real joy. In addition he has been getting caught up with the library and its ongoing needs. The most significant task has been and continues to be course development. In order for The Shepherd’s Bible College to receive accreditation before the 2007 school year all of the courses must be evaluated by the New Zealand commission. Joe is responsible for the development and teaching of: Old Testament Survey (1, 2, 3, & 4), Church History (1, & 2), Apologetics, and Ethics. Once these are more complete, Joe will focus more on the development of the Distance Education program.
In addition to his responsibilities here, Joe has been helping in the organization of two Master’s Academy International meetings being held back in Las Angeles on October 16th & 17th. Joe will be traveling back for those meetings and will assist in the various technological needs along with making presentations on both days.
Next week we will begin a Tuesday night Bible Study in our home. Joe will lead the study and we are expecting 10 or so people right now. We are looking forward to having these folks in our home on a regular basis and developing more opportunities to be used by God in their lives.
Here is a summary of our speaking & travel plans:
- Joe will travel back to Los Angeles, CA, next week (October 14-19) for a series of TMAI meetings.
- Joe will be preaching at church@riverbend on October 29th.
- Joe has been asked to speak at a Youth Camp near Wanganui, New Zealand, January 10 – 14, 2007. The whole family will be able to go along to the camp, so it should be a great experience for all of us.
- Joe is scheduled to conduct a series of BibleWorks workshops at Moore Theological Seminary in Sydney, Australia on February 8, 2007.
Prayer/Financial needs (Financial support can be sent to our home church):
- Please pray with us regarding the remainder of our outgoing expenses. In order for us to “break even” on the various moving, transportation, and setup expenses we still need an additional $8,000.00. Please pray we would be good stewards of the support already received and continue to trust in the Lord’s provision.
- The Shepherd’s Bible College is beginning their forth term this next week.
- The Shepherd’s Bible College is working toward receiving full accreditation by the end of this year.
- church@riverbend is hosting their annual Sports Camp from October 20 – 23rd.
- We will be hosting (Joe will be teaching) a home small-group Bible Study in our home on Tuesday evenings beginning October 10th.
- Our family for humble and selfless hearts as we strive to serve each other.
Ministry Reflections:
The primary reason we are here in New Zealand is to see men trained for ministry. Men, who can accurately handle God’s Word, be used by Him to expand and build His church, centered on the Gospel and for God’s glory.
Probably the main passage that challenges me in this task is Titus 1:9 “holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.”
What is Paul saying? (For a more lengthy discussion on this, see my four part series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)
- vs. 1:9a => An Elder must cling to the faithful word as taught.
- This word “cling” is used in Matthew 6:24 and Luke 16:13 where Jesus says “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted [cling] to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
- It carries the idea of “having strong devotion to” be “wholly dedicated to” something.
- “the faithful word as taught” This is very likely a reference back to 1:3 where Paul mentions the “Word” he has preached.
- Paul is saying that an Elder must be thoroughly committed to and wholly clinging to the Gospel. This is not someone who is still trying to figure out what they believe about the Gospel or toying with other views of the Gospel.
- This must be true of him for two reasons:
- 1:9b => “so that he may be able to exhort in the sound doctrine”
- This word “exhort” is a verb form (infinitive) of the noun “exhortation” found in 1 Timothy 3:14. It carries the meaning, “to urge strongly, appeal to, urge, exhort, encourage.”
- His ability to exhort others is not simply as result of having a certain body of knowledge. Can he take that knowledge, organize it in such a way and speak the truth so that as a result others are exhorted? Or, though he has the knowledge are others left more in a fog, less clear as to what he is saying and certainly not exhorted?
- What is he to exhort others in? “the sound doctrine.” This is almost a technical term for Paul in the Pastoral Epistles. He uses it here and in 1 Timothy 1:10; 2 Timothy 4:3 and Titus 2:1. It is “the sound doctrine.” Not various whims or fads, not this elder’s opinions or personal thoughts, but the sound doctrine which was give to Paul, passed on to Timothy and Titus, which they are to be in the process of passing on to others (2 Tim. 2:2) and which has been passed on to us in the Scriptures.
- 1:9c => “so that he may be able to expose those who contradict the sound doctrine.”
- He not only must be able to exhort and encourage others in the sound doctrine. He must be able to expose those who contradict the sound doctrine.
- Here is another criteria of what it means to “be able to teach.” Wholly clinging to the sound doctrine as it has been passed on to him, is he able to clearly understand the various errors which are being propagated in the church, why they are in error and clearly “expose” the error and those who are teaching the error for what it is?
- Paul uses this term 5 times in the Pastor Epistles (1 Timothy 5:20; 2 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:9, 1:13 and 2:15) clearly showing this to be a significant function of an Elder.
- Again, simply having learned a body of knowledge does not make one able to do this. Has he studied, been taught and humbly learned “the sound doctrine” from others (2 Timothy 2:2)? Has he listened and learned the error which needs exposing? Is he able to clearly respond to the error with truth so that as a result it is vividly exposed for all that it is?
Paul continues in verses 10 – 16 of chapter 1 giving a vivid picture of why this is so critical. Why does an Elder need to be able to do these two things? Why does Titus need to ensure he is able?
Because there are false teachers within the church!
Please do not hesitate to email us with any questions you might have about our ministry. We would love to hear from you. You can also keep current with our ministry updates by registering for our Ministry Update Email List.
In Christ’s service,
The Fleeners (Joe, Mandy, Mekaela, Gavin, & Tabitha)
Family Page - Joe’s Blog/Website – Ministry Update Email List – jfle...@digitalexegesis.com
Director of Distance Learning/Library Director (The Shepherd’s Bible College)
Library and Information Services Coordinator (The Master's Academy International)
Joe Fleener
Site - http://www.digitalexegesis.com
Blog - http://emethaletheia.blogspot.com/
BibleWorks Trainer - http://schedule.digitalexegesis.com/bibleworks.html
Director of Distance Learning/Library Director
The Shepherd's Bible College
PO BOX 8229 Havelock North New Zealand
Ph. +64 6 877-8013
Mob +64 021 998617
Fax +64 6 877-5821
Library and Information Services Coordinator
The Master's Academy International
24307 Magic Mountain Parkway #540
Valencia, CA 91355-3402
Joe Fleener
You can download a more complete version of this letter in PDF format @ http://tsbc.digitalexegesis.com/Fleener_Update_Vol_1_No_8.pdf
November 15, 2006 (Vol. 1 No. 8)
Dear Friends,
Thank you so much for your prayers and ongoing support.
We have several new items of thanksgiving we would like to share with you:
“The Course is approved by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority under the provisions of the Education Act 1989, and The Shepherd's Bible College is accredited to teach it.”
Nigel Shailer, Academic Dean of The Shepherd's Bible College, received a FAX yesterday containing the above statement! This statement is the culmination of several years of prayer and hard work by many here at The Shepherd's Bible College. God has been so gracious to answer this prayer at this time. This opens the doors for us to offer our first official academic year as a fully accredited institution in February of 2007! Praise the Lord!
One result of accreditation is we are busy looking ahead to next school year and planning our course offerings. In the next year Joe will have the privilege of teaching four terms of Old Testament Survey and two terms of Church History with the potential for additional courses to be added.
Well that is the most current praise, but one that deserved first place on this list.
October was a busy but productive month of ministry.
We started and held three of our home Bible Studies. These have been such a blessing as we have been privileged with 15 or more people in our home each Tuesday night studying the book of Judges together.
From October 14 – 19, Joe traveled back to Los Angeles to participate in several Master’s Academy meetings. On this trip he was also privileged to attend the 50th Anniversary service of Grace Community Church along with the further development of several key ministry relationships. We are very thankful for Joe’s safety during this trip and that he was able to attend; however, traveling that far for only four days, and four very full days at that, was quite exhausting.
As we look back on the month we see that each week we were blessed with the fellowship of at least one other family. It has been a real joy to have our home open and to use it to minister so often.
October also brought further steps toward “normal family life!” Mandy started school back with the kids as Mekaela has advanced further in her reading and Gavin has begun his first stages of reading. Mekaela and Gavin have also begun their violin lessons. Tabitha is learning (well, at least Mom is teaching) to sit still and work on “projects” while her big brother and sister “do school.”
The beginning of November brought two birthdays as Tabitha turned 2 on November 2nd and Joe turned – ?? – on November 3rd. For Joe’s birthday we went on our first fishing trip down to Hawkes Bay, about a 15 minute drive from our house. We didn’t catch anything, in fact we didn’t even see anything, but we did lose a couple of items in the water! (If you would like to see family pictures, which we update regularly, you can view them here.)
A significant tangible blessing came the Saturday morning just before Joe left of his trip to LA. When we moved here two months ago, it was our plan that Joe would ride a bike from the house to the church each day for work. It seemed like a good idea. It is only a 15 or 20 minute ride and would save on expenses. Not to mention we couldn’t afford a second car. During those first six weeks Joe borrowed a friend’s bike and road everyday it was not raining. As it turned out that wasn’t very many days. In addition to not being able to ride when it rained, on the days he was able to ride, he was “trapped” at the church. If he needed to make a visit or anything he was unable to do this, as it would take too long and normally be too far to go on a bike. However, a second car did not seem like an option.
To our amazement, God had a different plan. In His grace He provided us with a second car through the generous giving of one of His servants here in New Zealand. Not just a car, but the nicest car we have ever owned! It gets great mileage and requires little maintenance. We are certainly thankful to the Lord and His giving servants. We look forward to serving the Lord as His steward of this car in ministry for years to come.
Here is a summary of our travel and preaching schedule:
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Prayer/Financial needs (Financial support can be sent to our home church):
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Ministry Reflections:
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“The Understatement of Human History” À Isa. 53:5 “He was bruised for our iniquities…” À This past month I preached Isa. 52:13 – 53:12. When I preach, I generally preach from the New King James version of the Bible. À As I read through the passage and got to Isaiah 53:5 and 53:10 I paused to comment on the translation. I called it “The Understatement of Human History.” À “Bruised” À The Hebrew word used in both of these verses is daka literally meaning – “to crush, to tear into pieces.” À In verse five this word is used in combination with chalal meaning – “wounded, pierced, or slain.” À Some have said that the combination of those two words in Hebrew would have described the most horrible cruel death that language is capable of expressing. À “Bruised” À I have three children. Hardly a day goes by when one of them does not get a bruise. They fall, bump, or scrape something almost every day. À It that all my sins cost Christ – a bruise! À This same Hebrew word is used 22 times in the Old Testament (Deut. 23:2; Job 4:19; 5:4; 6:9; 19:2; 22:9; 34:25; Ps. 34:19; 72:4; 89:11; 90:3; 94:5; 143:3; Prov. 22:22; Isa. 3:15; 19:10; 53:5, 10; 57:15; Jer. 44:10; Lam. 3:34). À Just look up some of these other references, “bruised” doesn’t fit any of the contexts in which this word is used! À It doesn’t fit this one either. À Isa. 53:5 is telling me how horrible my sin is, how repulsive my iniquity is before a Holy God and the incredibly high cost of my transgressions. God had to CRUSH His Son. À The Messiah, the Servant, Christ was not simply bruised for me – HE WAS CRUSHED! À Now you want a thought that is worth pondering a life time on, that will blow your mind and humble your soul? À Isa. 53:10 – “Yet it pleased the Lord to crush Him…” À It pleased the Lord to CRUSH His Son for me - a worthless, vile sinner!
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Please do not hesitate to email us with any questions you might have about our ministry. We would love to hear from you. You can also keep current with our ministry updates by registering for our Ministry Update Email List.
In Christ’s service,
The Fleeners (Joe, Mandy, Mekaela, Gavin, & Tabitha)
Family Page - Joe’s Blog/Website – Ministry Update Email List – jfle...@digitalexegesis.com
1306a Jellicoe Street
Hastings, New Zealand 4122
Director of Distance Learning/Library Director Library and Information Services Coordinator
The Shepherd's Bible College The Master's Academy International
PO BOX 8229 Havelock North New Zealand 24307 Magic Mountain Parkway #540
Ph. 011 64 6 877-8013 Valencia, CA 91355-3402
Mob 011 64 21 998617 (661) 295-6232
Fax 011 64 6 877-5821 www.tmainternational.org
Joe Fleener
You can download a more complete version of this letter in PDF format @ http://tsbc.digitalexegesis.com/Fleener_Update_Vol_1_No_9.pdf
Joe, Mandy, Mekaela, Gavin, & Tabitha
Serving the Lord in Hastings, New Zealand
December 18, 2006 (Vol. 1 No. 9)
Christmas Reflections:
For the last several years we
have made it a regular practice to send out a “Christmas Letter.”
This, of course, is not all that uncommon for folks in the States, so we
thought we would do something like that again this year as part of our regular
monthly update.
We ended our 2005 Christmas letter with the following:
“As we look back on 2005 we do not have to look far to see God’s wonderful grace. He has not failed to take care of our every need, many before we even knew they were coming.
As we look ahead to an uncertain 2006 we know that God has not and will not change! To God be the glory.”
Wow! We really had no idea what we were saying then! 2006 has been the adventure of a lifetime.
We started this year celebrating out 6th wedding anniversary on January 8th. We look back over each of those six years and see: 1) Each year provided rather significant events which had the potential to pull us away from each other and the Lord and 2) Our Great God’s love, provision and protection for our marriage. This year has been no different - we rejoice in God’s faithfulness.
This year we walked; with the Lord; through a winter and spring having no idea what Joe’s employment was going to be or what ministry the Lord would allow us to serve in after the end of March.
While looking at unemployment in two weeks and wondering how the Lord was going to surprise us again, Joe was invited to travel to New Zealand to install an Online Library Catalog System at The Shepherd's Bible College. This, of course, was a fantastic opportunity and was going to provide for our needs for yet another month. However, as if that wasn’t enough, the Lord “did more that we could ask or think” and in the “11th hour” provided so that Mandy and the kids could make this trip with him! Wow! Nearly unemployed, questing future ministry and the Lord allows our whole family to travel to New Zealand for three weeks!
April was awesome, but only the beginning!
As you all know now, not only did we visit The Shepherd's Bible College here in New Zealand for three weeks in April, we went back to the States and quickly settled on plans to return to New Zealand permanently. Hastings, New Zealand became home on September 5, 2006!
In four short and amazing months (May - August) the Lord sold our home, provided for our moving expenses, gave us temporary housing for a month with Mandy’s Dad, introduced us to some wonderful ministry friends in Anniston, AL, allowed us to visit our Kiwi friends - the Gordon’s (whose home we are renting here) - in Kentucky, visit some of Joe’s family in Indiana, visit Mandy’s grandparents for a week in Washington, provided for us to purchase the Gordon’s van here in New Zealand and so much more!
We rejoice in God’s sovereign grace.
We would also like to thank all who have prayed for us and given to the Lord on our behalf, both in the US and here in New Zealand. God is using your prayers and sacrificial giving to further His work here in New Zealand. We are privileged and honoured to be a part of what He is doing.
This year also saw new milestones in the lives of our children. Gavin turned 3 in March (3rd), Mekaela 5 in August (16th), and Tabitha 2 in November (2nd) - our first Kiwi birthday! Is it really possible they are already this old? It doesn’t seem possible as we haven’t aged a bit! J
We have been thrilled and encouraged at the children’s excitement and quick adjustment to life here in New Zealand. We pray, the Lord will grant us much grace as we strive to “bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” This is a daily passion of ours, but also something we fail at daily! We rejoice in God as our Father!
We are one week away from our first Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere. Although we are not anticipating a white Christmas, we are anticipating a wondrous time of reflecting upon and rejoicing over the miracle of the incarnation – God became flesh – for the sole purpose of saving His people from their sins!
We pray that this Christmas, you each know your sins have been forgiven!
Here is a summary of our travel and preaching schedule:
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Prayer/Financial needs (Financial support can be sent to our home church):
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2006 church@riverbend Christmas Program:
Mandy playing the Prelude The Clarks and Majors
Ladies Group Full Choir
Gavin Plays a Wiseman Ladies Trio
We had a very full house with several visitors
Senior Pastor – Russell Hohneck dismisses everyone to a BBQ Lunch!
Staying in Contact:
We have a new way to stay in touch! We have a US phone number, which if called will ring our computers here in New Zealand.
If you dial 256-513-5679 from the US (a free call from most cell phones as you do not pay long distance w/ cell phones) my computer here in New Zealand will ring and we will be able to talk, if I am not available it will ring Mandy’s computer at home, if her computer is off, it will ring our home phone, if we are not home it will ring my cell phone! If we are not available at any of those locations you can leave a voicemail!
Amazing to be living in the 21st century! If you reach us on either of our computers the call is free for us. If the call is forwarded to either our home number or my cell phone it is $.03 per minute! That’s it!
Of course you can always reach us via Skype or MSN/Windows Live Messenger (see info below) for free audio/video calls!
Please do not hesitate to email us with any questions you might have about our ministry. We would love to hear from you. You can also keep current with our ministry updates by registering for our Ministry Update Email List.
In Christ’s service,
The Fleeners (Joe, Mandy, Mekaela, Gavin, & Tabitha)
Family Page - Joe’s Blog/Website – Ministry Update Email List – jfle...@digitalexegesis.com
1306a Jellicoe Street
Hastings, New Zealand 4122
Skype US Phone #: (256) 513-5679
Skype ID: jfleener
Director of Distance Learning/Library Director Library and Information Services Coordinator
The Shepherd's Bible College The Master's Academy International
PO BOX 8229 Havelock North New Zealand 24307 Magic Mountain Parkway #540
Ph. 011 64 6 877-8013 Valencia, CA 91355-3402
Mob 011 64 21 998617 (661) 295-6232
Fax 011 64 6 877-5821 www.tmainternational.org
Joe Fleener
Site - http://www.digitalexegesis.com
Blog - http://emethaletheia.blogspot.com/
BibleWorks Trainer - http://schedule.digitalexegesis.com/bibleworks.html
Skype US Phone #: (256) 513-5679
Skype ID: jfleener
Director of Distance Learning/Library Director
Library and Information Services Coordinator
The Master's Academy International
24307 Magic Mountain Parkway #540
Joe Fleener
You can download a more complete version of this letter in PDF format @ http://tsbc.digitalexegesis.com/Fleener_Update_Vol_1_No_10.pdf
February 24, 2006 (Vol. 1 No. 10)
Dear Friends,
Thank you so much for your prayers and ongoing support.
We have several new items of thanksgiving we would like to share with you:
It has been two months since our last “official” update letter – a lot has happened in two months!
Ø The Lord awesomely provided the remainder of our outgoing expenses!! We are so thankful and amazed at God’s kindness toward us and His marvelous provision using His generous servants.
Ø We enjoyed a wonderful first Christmas here in New Zealand:
o Our church’s Christmas program provided a fantastic ministry opportunity for Mandy in the area of music. It was a real joy to participate in the presentation of the Gospel through music.
o We were blessed to be a part of one of the families in our church on Christmas day for a meal and a relaxing time enjoying fellowship and encouragement. We were also blessed to have the company of a lady from China, now residing in New Zealand, who has been attending our church as well.
o It was also a blessing to have access to modern technology as we were able to talk to and even see several of our family members back in the States via the computer on or close to Christmas.
Ø Over the New Year Holiday we enjoyed several opportunities of fellowship and outdoor activities with other families from church. Remember, it is Summer here – so we went swimming, to the park, etc. J
Ø The month of January provided several wonderful ministry opportunities. Joe preached every week from December 31st through January 28th in three different churches and six times at a youth camp. Each church provided tremendous encouragement and a genuine openness to the Word. We look forward to future opportunities to minister to these churches.
Ø Mandy and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary on January 8th!
Ø The youth camp ran from January 10 – 14th. There were near 40+ young people at the camp, most all from the same church. There is no question that our time at the camp serves as one of our highlights of our time here so far. I have never seen a more organized camp with more intentional focus on spiritual things and the Word and yet providing a venue of BIG fun for the kids. The youth and the workers were very receptive to the preaching and teaching of the Word as we looked at Proverbs 1 – 9 over a series of six messages. It was a real joy. In addition to the joy of teaching, it was great to have the whole family there. Our kids really enjoyed hanging out with a whole bunch of teenagers!
Ø We spent the week of January 15 – 21st site seeing in and around Wellington. We were able to stay with the parents of the wife whose home we are renting here. It was great to spend time with them and to get to know them better. We also had some wonderful tour guides to show us or direct us to all the good sites. We went tramping in the bush (hiking in the woods), swimming, and checking out as much of Wellington as time allowed. We will certainly look to visit this fabulous city again.
Ø We returned from our “family vacation” to a couple of weeks of “preparation” before school started for everyone! I will come back to this in a minute.
Ø The first of February brought with it the news that Joe’s paternal Grandmother had passed away. She had been quite ill for some time, so her death was not a surprise. However, being this far way and not able to see family during this time was difficult.
Ø A highlight for Mandy & I was a trip to Sydney, Australia from February 3 – 10th! I had to travel to Sydney to conduct a series of BibleWorks workshops at Moore Theological College. However, what was going to be a quick working trip turned out to be an extended vacation and “near second honeymoon!” We had a wonderful family here who were willing and able to watch the kids for us during that time. In addition there was a family in Sydney (whose extended family attends our church here) who were willing for us to stay in their house! This all laid the way for Mandy to be able to come. What a great week we had! We walked, talked, drank coffee, saw the sites of Sydney Harbor (Opera House, Harbor Cruise, etc.), ate great food and just enjoyed being together! And the timing could not have been better!
Ø On Monday, 12 February 2007 our lives completely changed! On that same day we started a full Home School schedule at home, Joe started his first week of courses at The Shepherd's Bible College and teaching Greek at Hastings Christian School.
o Mandy has now finished her second week of home schooling Mekaela and Gavin. They are doing a full curriculum Monday, Tuesday, 1/2 Wednesday, Thursday, and ½ Friday.
o Mandy also participates in a Ladies Bible Study on Wednesday mornings.
o Joe teaches Old Testament Survey at The Shepherd's Bible College on Monday nights with 17 students and Church History on Wednesday nights with five students.
o Joe is also teaching seven high school students Greek at Hastings Christian School on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
o In addition Joe is involved in a Men’s Discipleship Lab on Thursday morning at 6am.
o All of these things are certainly good and we are very thankful for each. However, we have had to make some significant changes to our schedule as we strive to grow as a family and minister even more effectively.
Here is a summary of our travel and preaching schedule:
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Prayer/Financial needs (Financial support can be sent to our home church):
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Ministry Reflections:
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Local Church I really love the Local Church! (Just see the group posts under the heading on my blog as an example.) To be honest that ought to be natural for a Christian. The Church is the Bride of Christ and the Local Church is the local expression of His bride. It only makes sense that someone who claimed to love Christ would love His Bride. Our family loves the Local Church. We have been drawn to and have found ourselves a part of a wonderful local church here in New Zealand. We obviously were excited about the ministry of church@riverbend before we came here. We moved here to be a part of one of the key ministries of this church (along with Hastings Bible Church) – The Shepherd's Bible College. However, actually being here and being a part of the church is another story! How would we fit in? What role would we play? How would we use our gifts in the church? What we have found is a church:
i. Readily receive the Word (Acts 2:41). The encouragement of the brethren and their hunger for the Word make it a real joy to minister among these folks. ii. Enjoy genuine Christian fellowship (Acts. 2:42). We have been truly blessed by deep friendships developed already. We are spiritually encouraged by many here and pray we are an encouragement to them as well. iii. Practice frequent prayer and communion around the Lord’s Table (Acts 2:42). We are frequently reminded of the fact that there are many people here praying for us, our family, and the ministry the Lord has brought us to. In addition, this is the first church we have been in which observes the Lord’s Table every Sunday. Although this is new to us, we have found it a genuine encouragement to actively remember “the Lord’s death till He comes” every Sunday together as a church family. iv. Love us like we are part of a family (Acts 2:44.45). We couldn’t even begin to recount all of the tangible expressions of love we have received from our church family here. Many have been generous beyond comprehension. Many have given their time and energy to help with our children, house duties, shopping, etc. Many have given meals – especially when Joe has traveled. We certainly believe we are part of a family! Of course we are well aware that our experience and this church is not “the norm!” It certainly isn’t of churches familiar to us in America, nor is it the norm of most churches here in New Zealand. However, as we thank God for His sovereign goodness and mercy to us, and by His grace supplied to His faulty & weak servants, we pray together we will be used to see more churches like this multiplied across New Zealand in the years to come.
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Please do not hesitate to email us with any questions you might have about our ministry. We would love to hear from you. You can also keep current with our ministry updates by registering for our Ministry Update Email List.
In Christ’s service,
The Fleeners (Joe, Mandy, Mekaela, Gavin, & Tabitha)
Family Page - Joe’s Blog/Website – Ministry Update Email List – jfle...@digitalexegesis.com
1306a Jellicoe Street
Hastings, New Zealand 4122
Skype US Phone #: (256) 513-5679
Skype ID: jfleener
MSN/Windows Live Messenger: jfle...@digitalexegesis.com
