I. BENEVOLENCE
· We purchased some food and restocked our pantry on 11-12
· Life Issues gave away 4 boxes of food in December, and more than 22 boxes for the year, from our Morsels for Many food pantry; Pam J. and Theresa G. are doing a great work with this outreach!
· Our church made up 26 Christmas boxes of food, including a turkey and all the fixing’s for a nice family meal, for families in our church as well as those in recovery that we’re trying to help, it was a blessing for all involved.
· We gave a gas card to a faithful couple on 11-11 & purchased some clothes for them from the Lily Pad on 11-15
· We donated some money to help a former student with her children on 11-11.
· I helped distribute anonymous gifts to 5 different students around Christmas time, from 3 benevolent Christian families, what a blessing that was for me! One lady wept openly when she saw what was given to her and a man said he didn’t know how he was going to pay next month’s phone bill till now!
II. JAIL UPDATE
· We’ve written to several letters to inmates over the last 2 months, and several have written back! The man I’m writing to has completed the discipleship course that we were on, and now he’s starting a new study with me!
· We sent nearly 20 Christmas cards to inmate right before Christmas, thanks to Pam Jackson!
· A man (CB) was released from prison around Christmas time & will be @ Life Issues this Friday night!
III. CHURCH
· Our recovery group cleaned the church on 11-25!
· Cammie S. has agreed to oversee our church’s efforts with Harrisonville’s Shepherd’s Staff Food Pantry (managed by the Ministerial Alliance), see a pic of her and the group from 12-9!
· We’ve written to several letters to inmates over the last 2 months, and several have written back! The man I’m writing to has completed the discipleship course that we were on, and now he’s starting a new study with me!
· We sent nearly 20 Christmas cards to inmate right before Christmas, thanks to Pam Jackson!
· A man (CB) was released from prison around Christmas time & will be @ Life Issues this Friday night!
III. CHURCH
· Our recovery group cleaned the church on 11-25!
· Cammie S. has agreed to oversee our church’s efforts with Harrisonville’s Shepherd’s Staff Food Pantry (managed by the Ministerial Alliance), see a pic of her and the group from 12-9!
· Sarah W. completed discipleship on 12-1-22
· Dottie B. had surgery in early November, several from our group took meals to her. Kelly T. also had surgery (late November I believe), and we also took some meals to this dear sister.
· Several of our students and leaders are involved in discipleship:
o D1: These folks are in our one-on-one continue discipleship material – Krystal W. is with Kelly T.; Chuck H. with Dave B., Ed M. with Chris C., Brian R. with Pat L., Kalee R with Linda J.
o D2: Suzanne R. and Pam A. are in D2 and are about a third of the way through this 9-month class!
o HBI: One of our lady leaders, Pam J., taking all 4 classes, so pray for her to press towards the mark.
o TJH (The Journey Home): We had a new lady (Kayla C.) start TJH with Pam J. in December!
IV. RECOVERY
· The Lily's House girls came back to Life Issues on 10-21, they have 2 residents there now and we’re thrilled to have them and the Lily House staff attending our meetings again now!
· Rebecca got full custody of Tayton on 11-9 – (pic below) and she has 2 years clean on 1-1-23
· Brian and Angie P. are now both 4 years clean – (pic below)
· Theresa G is now 3 years clean, as of 1-1-23
· A lady in a nursing program audited our meeting on 11-11 as partial fulfillment of her studies!
· We helped a man (SK) get into detox on 12-27, he is a friend of Sarah F.
· We lost a couple of former students in the last month;
John DeHues died 12-5
We lost Mary Wolfe (Sara Jack-Bidondo’s younger sister) too, she died on 1-1-23
V. EVENTS
· Our group supplied 3 volunteers for KLOVE’s Christmas tour on 12-4. Pam J. headed up this effort, below is her testimony:
"Last Sunday was a great time at the KLove Christmas concert. Frannie and I met Belinda at Sheffield Family Life Center (see pic below) and was trained in our role as a Child fund advocate.
There was a total of 40 volunteers for this particular task. It was very easy, and we got to smile and interact with all the people in our section-approximately 100.
We were able to watch the whole concert, sitting in some great seats that were offered no charge for the volunteers. The music so great by Natalie Grant, Danny Gokey, Brandon Heath, Tasha Layton, and Jon Reddick.
The best part of the evening was Danny Gokey giving a devotion to 50 individuals that included Frannie and myself. It was a powerful devotion about Jesus feeding the 5,000. Danny compared that story with how he feeds us the Word of God during his concerts, praying that all men should be saved.
I will definitely go back again if there is an opportunity. We met several people who have volunteered many times. It was beautiful and Christ Jesus was honored that night!"
· Tommy McGee's testimony on 12-30 was outstanding and he brought about 15 folks with him - (pic below)
VI. PEOPLE
· Debbie Corum's post: Happy New Year 2023 (debbiecorum.com) Debbie is Bill’s wife and both of these folks are prolific speakers and friends of our ministry (we hope to hear from Bill in July 2023), and we are trying to enlarge Debbie’s reader base, so feel free to pull up her blog and subscribe to it!
· Bill F. went to India at the end of December and returned on 1-3-23, we hope to get some pics from him and hear a good report from his mission trip!
· Kalee R. and her husband, Brian R., are special folks to our ministry, Kalee got saved at one of our meetings and Brian received Christ will incarcerated. Both of these folks are several months clean; below is a brief testimony from her.
"The Lord has blessed my life in so many ways! I was saved in March of 2020 (at Life Issues) and although life hasn't always been easy; knowing and trusting in the Lord is how I've been able to overcome the trials. I am so truly grateful for all the amazing blessings.
When I was first saved my life was a bit messy to say the least. Over the last two years the Lord has helped me clean it all up! He has paved the way for my husband and I to get married in November of 2021. We are both blessed that the Lord has put our toxic past far behind us, and I was baptized @ HBF on Easter Sunday 2021.
Our two youngest children are in our full custody which was not the case at first because Elijah was put in DFS custody when he was born and not long after he was born, I became pregnant with Noah out of wedlock. With that being said we have since been married, regained custody of Elijah, got to bring Noah home from the hospital with no issues. I have also got shared custody of my three-year-old back!
We have a house to call home that will be all ours one day! We still have some goals we're working towards and with the help of God everything is possible! So, in conclusion the Lord is blessing our family so much! Brian and I are both in discipleship 1 and are learning and growing in our faith so that we can teach our children the way God wants us to. God is so good, and I'm reminded by everything I see every single day."
Please pray for God to use us mightily in 2023, for without him we can do nothing, but through Him we can do all things! Sincerely, Steve Fleshman – Life Issues pastor and founder, Proverbs 4:23…
· Tommy McGee's testimony on 12-30 was outstanding and he brought about 15 folks with him - (pic below)
VI. PEOPLE
· Debbie Corum's post: Happy New Year 2023 (debbiecorum.com) Debbie is Bill’s wife and both of these folks are prolific speakers and friends of our ministry (we hope to hear from Bill in July 2023), and we are trying to enlarge Debbie’s reader base, so feel free to pull up her blog and subscribe to it!
· Bill F. went to India at the end of December and returned on 1-3-23, we hope to get some pics from him and hear a good report from his mission trip!
· Kalee R. and her husband, Brian R., are special folks to our ministry, Kalee got saved at one of our meetings and Brian received Christ will incarcerated. Both of these folks are several months clean; below is a brief testimony from her.
"The Lord has blessed my life in so many ways! I was saved in March of 2020 (at Life Issues) and although life hasn't always been easy; knowing and trusting in the Lord is how I've been able to overcome the trials. I am so truly grateful for all the amazing blessings.
When I was first saved my life was a bit messy to say the least. Over the last two years the Lord has helped me clean it all up! He has paved the way for my husband and I to get married in November of 2021. We are both blessed that the Lord has put our toxic past far behind us, and I was baptized @ HBF on Easter Sunday 2021.
Our two youngest children are in our full custody which was not the case at first because Elijah was put in DFS custody when he was born and not long after he was born, I became pregnant with Noah out of wedlock. With that being said we have since been married, regained custody of Elijah, got to bring Noah home from the hospital with no issues. I have also got shared custody of my three-year-old back!
We have a house to call home that will be all ours one day! We still have some goals we're working towards and with the help of God everything is possible! So, in conclusion the Lord is blessing our family so much! Brian and I are both in discipleship 1 and are learning and growing in our faith so that we can teach our children the way God wants us to. God is so good, and I'm reminded by everything I see every single day."
Please pray for God to use us mightily in 2023, for without him we can do nothing, but through Him we can do all things! Sincerely, Steve Fleshman – Life Issues pastor and founder, Proverbs 4:23…
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