Fleener Ministry Update - Vol. 1 No. 6

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Joe Fleener

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Sep 6, 2006, 10:43:19 PM9/6/06

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You can download a more complete version of this letter in PDF format @ http://tsbc.digitalexegesis.com/Fleener_Update_Vol_1_No_6.pdf

Text Box: Home/Sending Church:
Grace Fellowship Church
7001 N. Route 309
PO Box 131
Coopersburg, PA 18036

September 7, 2006 (Vol. 1 No. 6)

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for your prayers and ongoing support. We are “home”. We arrived in Hastings, New Zealand on Tuesday, 5 September and are settling in quite well. We would like for all of you to share in, what to us, has been an incredible four months. Let me summarize below. We trust you will be awed by our great God.

Four Months of Praise:

À Sometime the week of April 24^th during our project trip to New Zealand, Nigel Shailer (Dean of The Shepherd's Bible College) first proposed the idea of our coming to New Zealand fulltime to join the team here.

À May 2^nd we left New Zealand open to the possibility of returning, but unsure how.

À The week of May 8^th a position with The Shepherd's Bible College is formally offered to Joe as the Director of Distance Learning/Library Director with a role in teaching and training as well.

À The week of May 22^nd funding for our first two years of salary at The Shepherd's Bible College was approved along with a portion of our moving and transitional income needs.

À The week of May 29^th we agree to move to New Zealand by September 1^st and all kinds of balls start rolling!

À Our house goes on the market on May 31^st.

À We make several doctors’ visits completing 16 page medical exams for all of us the week of June 5^th.

À Our completed Visa applications are in the mail on June 5^th.

À All our visa applications are returned to us requiring more complete information by June 12^th.

À Joe travels to Tennessee the week of June 19^th to teach an M.Div. module course. It is during this week that Joe meets Bob St. John the pastor of Anniston Bible Church.

À All our visa applications are back in the mail on June 26^th.

À We accept an offer on our house June 28^th!

À Our approved visas (even more than we asked for – Joe’s 2 year work visa, Mandy’s 2 year work visa, & Mekaela’s 2 year student visa – along w/ Tabitha and Gavin’s 2 year visitor visas) are all in our hands by July 7^th!

À We load our container on July 22^nd. The loading was very smooth with lots of help from our home church.

À July 31^st we closed on our house. The buyers were more than an hour late for the closing and did not bring a certified check with them when they came. It was three days later (as we were traveling and our of town) before the closing was finally complete and we were paid for the house!

À We started May with $16,000.00 of unmet moving and transitional expenses. By the time August came we were down to $10,000.00 of unmet expenses.

À August 2 – 11^th we traveled to Anniston, Alabama, Louisville, Kentucky and Indianapolis, Indiana for a part ministry, part family/friend visit trip. Anniston Bible Church was (and continues to be) a tremendous blessing to us in our ministry. We were able to minister there as part of their Bible Institute. We were also able to see some of our very precious Kiwi friends – the Gordons and see family and friends in Indiana.

À August 14 – 26^th we finished up many of the details back in Pennsylvania necessary before moving. This included getting together with and saying goodbye to many friends.

À August 22^nd we finally concluded that Mandy’s new glasses were in fact the wrong prescription. She had new glasses, correctly made, by that Friday!

À August 23^rd Joe’s laptop died! The very same day the Lord replaced his laptop with a brand new model, more up-to-date and better than the one he had before!

À August 27^th, our home church sends us “off” with a wonderful lunch and special service of prayer.

À August 28^th – September 3^rd we had the wonderful opportunity to visit with Mandy’s grandparents in the Seattle, Washington area. This was a very special time and one we and our children will remember for a long time to come. (It only took Mandy’s maternal grandmother a few hours to mention the similarity between our youngest daughter, whom she had never met, and Mandy’s Mom who passed away almost three years ago! J

À September 3^rd we departed for New Zealand. We had a fantastically smooth trip.

À September 5^th we arrived in Hastings, New Zealand to a great welcoming committee at the airport. In that same day we were able to: 1) Get our phone connected, 2) Transfer ownership of our new van, 3) Establish insurance coverage on our van and house contents, 3) Open bank accounts!

À Upon our arrival we have been blessed beyond all we could ask or think by the church family of church@riverbend. In addition to the group at the airport, we found a full pantry and food in the frig at the house, dishes and other household items for use to use while we wait for our container, friends who had us over for dinner the first night and others who had us for lunch the next day, and people from the church who have come by the house just to welcome us! We really feel like we have come home!

À Friday, September 8^th (tomorrow) our container is scheduled to arrive. Again, church@riverbend is taking good care of us. We have a team of people ready to help with the unloading and unpacking.

À Joe has the privilege of preaching at church@riverbend these first two Sundays here and at Hastings Bible Church the third.

À As we arrive in New Zealand that $16,000.00 unmet moving and transitional expense amount has been cut in half!

Here is a summary of our travel plans:

Joe will preach in church@riverbend the next two Sundays (Sept. 10^th & 17^th) and Hastings Bible Church on Sept. 24^th.
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. We still have $8,000.00 of unmet moving and transitional expenses at this time. 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 working toward receiving full accreditation by the end of this year.
A leadership team from church@riverbend is on a mission’s trip to Africa right now. They are visiting several ministries in a variety of locations.
Our home church, Grace Fellowship, as they seek the Lord’s leading in the provision of a new Pastor-Teacher and the transition in this direction.
Our container is scheduled to arrive at our house tomorrow. Please pray for safety in the unloading process, that everything is intact and we are able to unpack and get more settled soon.
Our family as we adjust to new stores, new ways of driving, new ways of accomplishing everyday tasks, etc.
Our family for humble and selfless hearts as we strive to serve each other.

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 – MSN ID: jfle...@digitalexegesis.com

1306a Jellicoe Street

Hastings, New Zealand 4122

011 64 6 876 2408

Director of Distance Learning/Library Director (The Shepherd’s Bible College)

Library and Information Services Coordinator (The Master's Academy International)

BibleWorks Trainer