Making a difference update, from the recovery field – March / April 2026 edition. Below are the highlights that happened in the Life Issues ministry over the last couple of months.
I. Benevolence
· We gave box of food to a man on 3-15, and another box or two in April.
· We paid for part of a lady’s car repair on 3-31
· We put a man up in a motel for two nights on 4-11
· We paid for student's prescription medication on 4-25
· We put up a man in a motel on 4-26
II. Jail / prison update
· Our jail ministry is going full steam ahead; we have over a dozen HBF members on our team who are on a rotation to go into Cass County Jail (CCJ) every Sunday from 1:30-3:30pm to provide a church service to the inmates and to share the gospel and give inmates hope.
· We dropped off a box of Bibles at CCJ on 3-16.
III. Church
· Several of our students and leaders are involved in discipleship:
o D1: These folks are in our one-on-one discipleship material – T.J. C. is with Pat L. (Lesson #11), Chris F. is with Caleb L. (Lesson #15), Rosie G. is with Sherry W. (Lesson #5).
o D2 (classroom teaching that focuses on the Word and Work of ministry): Kelly T.
o HBI (our 4-year Bible Institute): Pam J. and Caleb L are taking classes in HBI.
o TJH (The Journey Home): Caleb G. is with Pat L. (Lesson #2), and Doug H. is with Kevin W. (Lesson #3) – see pic. Pam J. is with Kalee R. (Lesson #1)
Jeff W. completed TJH earlier this year and Julie S. completed TJH in April – see pic of Mary, Julie, and I. We’re very proud of these folks for their accomplishment and excited for how God is using them!
· Caleb Graham baptized on Easter (4-5) – see pic
· Megan W. started coming to our recovery group a few months ago and is becoming a member of HBF this month, PTL!
· Several of our students are visiting church and new guests are at meetings each week, PTL!
IV. Recovery
· We dropped off 2 cases of Bibles for Tommy M., the pastor of Recovery Church on 3-19
· A man from Edinburgh, Scotland reached out to me around the end of April to see if their magazine could publish one of the poems we have on our website, and of course I said that he could. The name of their quarterly magazine is “Lived Experience” and they want to put the poem “Addiction” reverse poetry poem in it to distribute in recovery café’s and drop in clinics (it’s about the fourth poem down on our website:
LIFE ISSUES - An Addiction Recovery Ministry: POEMS). I can’t remember where I found the poem but am glad that people halfway around the world are looking at our website and using it for God’s glory to help others!
· Kevin W. began overseeing milestone tags in March 2026 – see pic of him and Chris F.
· We are saddened to communicate that we lost two former students in April 2026, Jeff A. and Tom G., both of these men were saved so we will see them again in glory, hallelujah!
V. Events
· We will be holding a leadership meeting at our house on May 16th.
· Compass Health Network will be hosting their 4th annual Cass County Project Connect event at Belton High School on Friday, June 26th, from 9am-3pm; we plan to have a booth at this event.
· Our church’s annual workday was March 21st and a few of our folks came out to help work at the church, attached is a pic of Chris F. staining the railing on our foot bridge!
· We rejoice that Dave Hill and our sister church / recovery group in Blue Springs helped Recovery Church (Tommy McGee), with an outreach to their community on April 11th, see pic.
VI. People
· One of the graduates from our program (Dana M.) got a job at an in-house treatment facility in Kansas and is working as a counselor to the patients who are admitted there! Dana works very hard there and still maintains a part time job at a restaurant to make ends meet!
· We took a group photo on March 20th – see pic.
· We took a separate pic of three of our superstars – Dana, Mary, and Julie.
· Pam Jackson will be graduating from HBI on May 31st @ 6pm, I hope we can all be there a celebrate this accomplishment with her! See attached pic of her speaking at our discipleship luncheon on March 14th.
· Cheryl's testimony...
"I used drugs for over 40 years, off and on, till they finally caused me to commit a crime. I spent 4 months in jail, and there is where I asked God to enter and take over my life and he did, I could feel it, hallelujah!
I moved to Harrisonville from Kansas City KS to the domestic violence center, after my ex-husband beat me. I stayed with him because I had nowhere to go after jail. I got a job here and lived in a motel for a while and then met a pastor that turned out to be a big-time meth user and dealer. After relapsing with him I went back to jail, it was God's plan for me to get me away from him.
After release, I came back to Harrisonville and pastor Steve connected me with a women's house in Archie MO. My time there had its ups and downs, but that ministry house kept me drug free. I applied for an apartment and got one in Harrisonville. Through the grace of God I can pay my bills, go to church more, and volunteer for work at the church. This church (Heartland Baptist Fellowship) and pastor Steve have helped change my life for good, through the grace of God.
I would have been either OD or been beaten to death had I not come to Harrisonville. God has had many plans for me and they have all worked, Cheryl S."
VII. Praises and Prayer requests
· Praise and pray for our jail ministry to win souls and connect them to a Bible believing church.
· Please pray for our new discipleship students and TJH students to finish pathways.
· Please pray for God to use us mightily in the remainder of 2026, 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…
