Fleener Ministry Update - Vol. 1 No. 5
Joe Fleener
You can download a more complete version of this letter in PDF format @ http://tsbc.digitalexegesis.com/Fleener_Update_Vol_1_No_5.pdf
August 17, 2006 (Vol. 1 No. 5)
Dear Friends,
Thank you so much for your prayers and ongoing support. We have had a tremendous last couple of weeks and would like to share some of that with you.
We have several new items of thanksgiving we would like to share with you:
- Our trip to Anniston, Alabama from August 2 - 7 to serve Anniston Bible Church and The Institute for Biblical Studies was awesome. The people there were a real blessing to us and an example of true Christian hospitality. We left refreshed. While there Joe had the privilege of teaching a seminar on Ruth, sharing the ministry of The Shepherd’s Bible College and The Master’s Academy International on Sunday morning and preaching, with Mandy singing, on Sunday evening to a combined service with two other churches. Thank you ABC, especially Pastor & Mrs. St. John!
- On our way “home” we decided to take a detour and surprise Mark & Tania Gordon and their children in Louisville, KY. We stayed in the Gordon’s home back in April during our visit to New Zealand. In God’s wonderful providence the Gordons were moving to Louisville in July for Mark to begin seminary at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, so we are moving into their home when we arrive in Hastings and we already purchased their van! It has been incredible to see how the Lord has been at work in each of our families at the same time taking us in opposite directions across the Pacific. We had a wonderful day and a half with the Gordons.
- After leaving Louisville we were able stop in Indianapolis for a day to visit Joe’s Mom, cousin, one of his sisters and her husband. A couple of months ago we didn’t think we would be able to see any of them again before we left for New Zealand, so we are thankful for the Lord providing this opportunity. The kids loved seeing Grandma and Aunt Alicia and Uncle David! We will miss all of them, but pray they will visit soon. J Once again we were treated to true Christian hospitality as Jason and Kara Rusk (good friends of Joe’s for many years) provided us w/ dinner, a comfortable place to sleep and a great breakfast before returning to Pennsylvania.
- The Shepherd’s Bible College hosted their annual Impact Bible Conference August 3 – 6. They were expecting between 150 and 200 church leaders from all over New Zealand, instead more than 300 attended! What a tremendous blessing. Check out the website for more information on this great conference which is being used by God to strengthen His churches.
Here is a summary of our travel plans:
- We will depart for Seattle, August 28th to visit Mandy’s grandparents. As it gets closer we are realizing more what a blessing it is to be able to visit them. Mandy’s maternal grandmother has never met our youngest daughter, Tabitha. Tabitha reminds us a lot of Mandy’s Mom who passed away almost three years ago.
- We will depart Seattle for New Zealand on September 3rd to arrive in New Zealand on September 5th.
- Joe will preach in church@riverbend our first two Sundays (Sept. 10th & 17th) in New Zealand and Hastings Bible Church the third (Sept. 24th).
- Joe will travel back to Los Angeles, CA, October 14-19 for a series of TMAI meetings.
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 wrapping up their third term.
- The Shepherd’s Bible College is working toward receiving full accreditation by the end of this year.
- Our container is scheduled to arrive in New Zealand on August 25th – before we even leave the US. Please pray that all the details for its storage and transport to our house can be arranged at a minimal cost.
- Our family for humble and selfless hearts as we strive to serve each other.
Ministry Reflections:
2 Timothy 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
This ought to be a goal and desire of every pastor, missionary, and teacher of God’s Word. The task is great, the standard is high, the privilege offers eternal rewards.
Throughout the ages students of the Word and ministers of the Gospel have always made use of “tools” (2 Timothy 4:13). Obviously these “tools” have taken on different forms over the centuries; scrolls, parchments, books, journals, hard to find electronic bibles, and now vast and widely available computer/electronic tools.
Today there is a need for all of these in a pastor/missionary’s library/tool box (OK, maybe not scrolls or parchments). All of us, those in fulltime ministry and those who are not, are called to be faithful stewards of all God has give us – time, money, family, possessions.
Often it is difficult for a pastor/missionary to purchase the necessary tools for his library, especially the more expensive Biblical Computer Software programs. However, these tools can be a wonderful aid in his study and pursuit of exegeting the text of Scripture more accurately while stewarding his time for God’s glory.
May I suggest a practical way to encourage and support your pastors and missionaries?
If your church supports any missionaries at all, why not purchase for each of them the latest version of BibleWorks (or an upgrade if they already own the program, or one or more add-ons if they already own the latest version), for Christmas this year? (I just received an email this morning from a missionary in Indonesia working on Bible translation for New Tribes Mission who was expressing how helpful this tool would be to their translation work – he doesn’t have anything like it at this time.)
As a church why not do the same for your pastor(s)?
In so doing you will be placing in their tool box the most powerful computer software program for original language Biblical exegesis. (Not a bad investment for a church.) Obviously they will need to take time to learn how to use it, but that is often much easier to do than finding the money to make the purchase.
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)
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Joe Fleener Site - http://www.digitalexegesis.com Blog - http://emethaletheia.blogspot.com/ BibleWorks Trainer - http://schedule.digitalexegesis.com/bibleworks.html
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Director of Distance Learning/Library Director The Shepherd's Bible College PO BOX 8229 Havelock North New Zealand Ph. +64 6 877-8013 Fax +64 6 877-5821
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Library and Information Services Coordinator The Master's Academy International 24307 Magic Mountain Parkway #540 Valencia, CA 91355-3402
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