Fleener Update - Vol. 2 No. 1 - Christmas 2007

3 views

Skip to first unread message

Joe Fleener

unread,

Dec 18, 2007, 5:14:16 PM12/18/07

to Fleenersin...@googlegroups.com

The Fleeners

Joe, Mandy, Mekaela, Gavin, & Tabitha

Serving the Lord in Hastings, New Zealand

Text Box: Home Church:
Riverbend Bile Church
PO BOX 8229
Havelock North
New Zealand 18 December, 2007 (Vol. 2 No. 1)

Dear Friends,

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We write to you partly as an update (it has been a few months) and partly as our annual Christmas letter. It is at this time when we specifically mediate on and reflect on the miracle of Christ, God the Son from eternity past becoming flesh in the form of a baby for the very purpose of living a perfect life leading to his death on the cross as our substitute enduring the holy wrath of God for the sins of His children. Oh might everyone who reads this letter know the joy of Christmas that only comes from a knowledge that your sins have been forgiven by the precious blood of Christ.

Family Update:

This year has been amazing. Mandy and the children have completed a full year of homeschool. The children worked very hard and accomplished a tremendous amount. It was a lot of hard work for Mum and has meant a good bit of sacrifice on her part. However, we are thrilled at the progress and are looking forward to next year. (That is not saying we are not looking forward to a break over the next couple of months too! J)

We were able to enjoy one week away together as a family in September. Joe was speaking at a church two Sundays in a row, so one of the folks in the congregation allowed use of their beach house for the week in between. This was the first time we have been away for more than a couple of nights, just our family, ever. It was a real joy and very refreshing.

Due to the thoughtfulness of several people in our church, Mandy and Joe have also had a few weekends without the children just to help us stay on the same track together has husband/wife and dad/mum. There is no question that these times have been strengthening and encouraging to us.

In June, Joe’s Mom and cousin came to New Zealand for a visit from Indiana. They were here for two weeks and we had a wonderful time enjoying their company and introducing them to our new home and church family.

Without comparison, the most difficult part of our year also came in June when Mandy had to travel back to the States to attend the funeral services for her 21 year old brother. It would be impossible for us to express how grateful we are for all the prayers and significant acts of kindness shown toward us during that time and continuing even now.

One of the joys this year as a family has been our family time around the Scriptures and simply growing together in our knowledge of God and His goodness toward us. The children have memorized several key passages of Scripture as part of their school. Together as a family we are working our way through catechisms in the mornings. In addition we recently began reading through both the Old and New Testaments in the evening after Tea (dinner). (You can see some videos of what the kids have learned on my blog here.)

In addition we have enjoyed having a number of folks in our home, traveling together over many weekends back and forth to another church where Joe was preaching on Sundays, and just normal family stuff – like learning to ride bikes, swimming, tramping, sickness, etc.

We are very excited about a visit from Joe’s sister and brother-in-law later this week for Christmas!

As we look ahead to next year one significant change we are looking forward to is an addition to our family! Got ya! No we are not having a baby. The house we are renting has a small batch behind it on our property. Lord willing, next month a young single man from our church will be moving in there to stay with us somewhat indefinitely. Reuben is a young man who has been meeting with Joe for quite some time and has already become a part of our family in so many ways – we are looking forward to having him around all the time.

Ministry Update:

Of course there is way more to report than we have the space for or you have the patience to read. J God has been so good to us.

Mandy has continued to serve in music areas as she is able – singing & playing the piano in our church, singing in other churches when Joe preaches, and recently playing piano as part of two community music concerts.
Mandy continues to help in the ladies ministry here at Riverbend Bible Church. Next year her involvement will increase as she will be co-leading one of the Bible Studies along with co-editing a ladies newsletter.
Mandy has been tremendously blessed and encouraged with a couple of very close relationships with two ladies (one older, one peer) in the church.
Mandy and Joe have both been working with some folks in the community who we see frequently to develop relationships with a desire to be lights for the Gospel into their lives.
Joe completed his first year lecturing in The Shepherd's Bible College. He taught through the entire Old Testament along with two courses in Church History. Next year he will be teaching through the Old Testament again (possibly twice) along with a two-term course titled Christian Worldview.
Joe was privileged to participate in a leadership training weekend in Queenstown where he taught through the book Leading with Love.
Joe was able to participate in this year’s Impact Bible Conference where he gave seminars on “Conditional Immortality” and Bible Software Tools.
Joe has been humbled to have been given nearly 20 Sundays of preaching opportunities this year in several churches along with speaking at a teen camp last January, men’s breakfasts’ both hosted by our church and one hosted by another church, as well as an Apologetics Society Meeting where he spoke on the Incarnation.
Joe also had the privilege or leading a ladies Bible Study at our home church, which was a 10 week inductive study through the book of Ruth. Through the study we enjoyed a slow walk through this beautiful book along with some stops along the way addressing topics from modesty to the sovereignty of God! (You can download all the material and audio from these studies here.)
A highlight for Joe this year has been to meet with a group of men at 6am on Thursdays where they have worked through the book Leading with Love and, most recently, Proverbs.
Joe continues to serve The Shepherd's Bible College by overseeing the library (although we have been so blessed with a great librarian—she makes his job very easy), along with the plans and discussions related to Distance Learning. As part of the Distance Learning plan The Shepherd's Bible College will be offering several weekend block courses next year – Old Testament will be one of those, which means Joe will potentially teach through the Old Testament over four weekends in addition to the normal terms.
Joe has also been humbled to serve alongside the men at Riverbend Bible Church this year. This year has seen the amalgamation of Hastings Bible Church and church@riverbend forming Riverbend Bible Church. This all became official on 25 November, but as you can imagine there has been and continues to be a lot of details to work through. Next year, the formation of this new church will bring with it a new ministry role for Joe. He (along with four other men) has been identified to lead a team in forming five Fellowship Groups. These groups will meet at the church following our normal morning service for a time of fellowship, caring, encouragement, and directed teaching. We are very excited about this new ministry and believe it will be used by God to mature His people for His glory and our good.
Joe also serves as a kind of information conduit to many of the other men here in New Zealand and Australia. It is something that has kind of taken on a life of its own. Joe simply forwards on to a number of men serving in various capacities of church leadership articles and other items he finds on the Internet which are helpful and challenging in areas related to Theology, Biblical Studies, and Cultural Interaction.
Finally, Joe has enjoyed his continued ministry with The Master’s Academy International. As a faculty member of one of the member schools (The Shepherd's Bible College), Joe has the privilege of contributing to this consortium giving support to sister schools in areas related to library development, technology, bible software, etc.

Prayer requests:

Home School. We are very thankful for this opportunity, but as you all know it comes at a cost – financial, time, energy, etc. Please pray for Mandy for physical strength and wisdom along with general teaching skill to instruct the children. Please pray for the children that they would work diligently and be “a joy to their mother.”
Please pray for The Shepherd's Bible College: courses next year, new development plans (library, courses, and facilities), and the future of Distance Learning. We all need wisdom from the Lord.
Please pray for our continued ministry to our home church, specifically the formation and direction of our new Fellowship Group.
Please pray for our continued opportunities to minister in other churches and the input we are having into their leadership.
Please pray Joe would safeguard his time with Mandy and the children as a priority. That Joe would make time to be with Mandy and the kids. That we would grow together as a family closer to God and more dependant on Him. Please pray that we would truly “enjoy God.” That our joy would be full and find its fullness in Him.

I will leave you with our vision for our Fellowship Group – which is really just a recasting of our vision for ourselves individually and our family.

My desire is for people’s hearts to be deeply impacted by the majesty of God, the glory of Christ, and the splendor of God’s grace so beautifully displayed in the Gospel. And from that for all of us to truly grow to “love the Lord our God with all their heart, soul, and mind” (Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:37) leading to a fulfillment of the “one-anothers” in Scripture in ways which are God-centered, Christ-focused, Gospel-driven and scripturally/theologically based.

God has been so very good to us – we count it a privilege to serve Him, to call this place home, and to see these folks as our family.

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 – Ministry Update Email List