Monthly Update - March & April 2026

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…

Monthly Update - January & February 2026

Making a difference update, from the recovery field – January / February 2026 edition. Below are the highlights that happened in the Life Issues ministry over the last couple of months.


I. Benevolence

· Paid $200 towards a lady’s car repair on 1-12.

· Put up a homeless man for 1 night on 1-25 and put up a lady for 2 nights 1-26.

· Put gas in a lady's car on 1-31.

· One of our ladies moved to Harrisonville recently and we helped her get some pots and pans as well as a chest freezer.

· Helped fix a door so it could shut, on a leader’s house that was robbed of copper on 2-11.

· We worked with HBF to help a man pay his rent on 2-20.

· Helped a lady move a couch on 2-25.

· We have 3-4 gas cards during this time-period.



II. Jail / prison update

· Testimony from Ray Blowers, leader of our jail ministry: The Doors of Opportunity Blown Open – Welcome to the update for Prisoner of Hope (POH) Jail Ministry at HBF.

"After a long, lingering sabbatical from ministering to the residents of the Cass County Jail, eight years to be exact. The doors to minister in the Cass County Jail were blown open and things started moving really quick. Pastor Steve Fleshman and Ray Blowers met with the Cass County Sheriff Jail Supervisor about coming back to minister in the jail right before Thanksgiving 2025. Out of the meeting came a start date of 1/11/2026 for our POH Ministry team to be established, trained and ready to go in less than 6 weeks.

Pastor Steve and Ray went into recruiting mode, lots of phone calls and text messages were coordinated to make sure we were not duplicating our efforts. The team was assembled, background checks were submitted, and a training session all happened through the craziness of the holiday season. The initial team of 6 men and 4 women answered the call.

We see about 5-7 inmates every Sunday on average, divided by gender and pod groups for two hours. Men minister to men, ladies minister to ladies. There are 3 pods for men and 3 pods for the ladies. We have casual conversation and fellowship, we go through prayer requests, one from the ministry team does a devotion to help prep the hearts, then the other team member presents a prepared message that is scheduled. Lots of needs and prayers are required. Please pray for this ministry. Please pray for the residents of the Cass County Jail. Please pray for more laborers. Luke 10:2 "



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 #9), Joel W. is with Steve F. (lesson #5), Chris F. is with Caleb L. (Lesson #14), and Sara S. is with Brianna B. (Lesson #1), Rosie G. is with Sherry W. (Lesson #3),

o D2 (classroom teaching that focuses on the Word and Work of ministry): Kelly T.

o HBI (our 4-year Bible Institute): Pam J., Caleb L, and Mary W. are taking classes in HBI.

o TJH (The Journey Home): Jeff W. with Pat L. (Lesson #9), Julie S. is with Dana M. (Lesson #8) – see pic, Caleb G. is with Pat L. (Lesson #1).

· Several of our students are visiting church and new guests are at meetings each week, PTL!

· I’m adding some pics of folks to this email, who had some sobriety milestones recently!

IV. Recovery

· We received a letter from a lady in behavioral management center, requesting a Bible. One of our ladies took her a Bible and a note of encouragement, let’s pray that the social worker will let her have those things and that will have more input on this precious soul.

· We emailed a copy of The Journey Home (TJH) to a father / son in Colorado on 2-6, as a tool for dad to work through with son for recovery!

· One of our men completed SATOP in February and is getting his license back soon, then hopefully a vehicle; I’m thankful to see progress in his life!

· We’re working with a couple of ladies right now, trying to get them into a treatment facility.

· We printed 20 copies of TJH on 2-20 and are thankful to see them getting used!

· Yesterday (3-13) marked 1 year since Maple City Baptist church started their recovery group in Monmouth Illinois. Their recovery director let me know that “God is using us to break down walls of brass and iron in the lives of people, saved and unsaved. The crooked are becoming straight and whole – Is. 45:2”



V. Events

· I officiated a Funeral for one of our former students, Michael B. on 1-17.

· Our friend, Rick, died on 3-11, Angie and I got to visit and pray with him on 2-28 before he passed; funeral arrangement will be forthcoming.

· We took a group of 4 to Creighton Baptist Church to hear good testimony on 2-7

· Our rotation at the Shepherd’s Staff – Food Pantry, will be March 27th if you want to help?!

· We will be holding a leadership meeting at our house on May 2nd.

· 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.



VI. People

· We had a couple of guest speakers in February, Dale and Richard – see pics.

· Caleb G. prayed to be saved on 2-23 - Pic!

· One of our former students is now married and they own / operate a Mexican restaurant in Garden City, Angie and I ate there recently and got a pic with Amber, happy for her / them!

- Nate M. got a good job working from home on 3-9, PTL!

· One of our folks gets out of prison in April.

· Today’s my spiritual birthday – I got saved 34 years ago today!



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…

Monthly Update - November & December 2025

Making a difference update, from the recovery field – November / December 2025 edition. Below are the highlights that happened in the Life Issues ministry over the last couple of months.



I. Benevolence

· We paid part of the rent to help a man get into a house on 11-16

· We paid a lady’s electric bill on 11-22

· We gave 2 nights of emergency housing to a relative of a church member that we’re ministering to, in early December.

· We paid to have a water leak repair at the house where a couple of our students live, in mid-December.

· We worked with HBF to help a lady get a new muffler so that her car would pass inspection and get licensed.

· We paid a lady's car payment in early December, to keep it from being repossessed

· We worked with HBF in late December to pay for utilities to be turned on for one of our folks to be able to move into their own home.

· We bought some pots and pans for a lady on 1-1-26, who’s helping us in the kitchen

· We helped one of our students get his medications on 1-9-26



II. Jail / prison update

· Jim S. dropped off another box of Bibles at Cass County Jail recently.

· I got an email from Lieutenant Sutcliffe at the Cass County Jail on 12-9, inviting us to start our Prisoners Of Hope (POH) jail ministry again, stating that the inmates are “hungry for Jesus”. Ray Blowers will be leading this ministry, and we will be sending ministers into the jail beginning tomorrow (1-11)!

· Word First Bible Publishing (a ministry of HBF) just finished assembling 400 whole Bibles for Life Issues, and we placed them in storage for distribution last night 1-9-26!

· We sent money to a couple of inmates recently for phone time and stamps

· One of the inmates that I am writing to, Ted H., has completed 2 different discipleship programs that I’ve sent him and he’s in the middle of one called TATs, and he hopes to complete it before his release in April.

· Zach M. just graduated from a peer mentoring program that the prison offers; he will have 7 certificates by end of the month. Here is part of Zach’s testimony:

I will be coming out of prison a man of Christ. Most assured. Renewing of mind, heart, and soul hits different these days. Every word in Scripture comes alive inside... Honestly, Steve. I’m nervous about leaving prison. My walk with the lord, my relationship to and with him in here is extremely close. compared to past. prior to drifting away... I don't want to be caught up in worldly things again. I want my walk to stay as it has been, in here. I've actually read the Scripture. all of it except about 3 books in Old Testament. I've spent most of time in New Testament but none the less. I never really "read" the Word. Until this time of incarceration. I've read and went along in church and discipleship etc. Seeking, knocking, without others helping guide and pointing to the Truth. Just my heart and time with the Lord.. I suppose, walking in faith and not crawling as I once was Ready to be of use to the Lord. Ready to carry my cross. Love the Lord and not the things of the world. Ready to invest in eternity. most of all, ready to show and lead others to Him. Live life fully. How he designed it to be for me. not how Zach wants it... Every second has been of use here. I'm grateful. I forget if it was Paul or maybe David? said, "it was good for me to be afflicted, so that I might learn your decrees".

· 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 #8), Joel W. is with Steve F. (lesson #5), Chris F. is with Caleb L. (Lesson #9), and Sara S. is with Brianna B. (Lesson #1)

o D2 (classroom teaching that focuses on the Word and Work of ministry): Kelly T.

o HBI (our 4-year Bible Institute): Pam J., Caleb L, and Mary W. are taking classes in HBI.

o TJH (The Journey Home): Jeff W. with Pat L. (Lesson #9), Julie S. is with Dana M. (Lesson #2), and Nate M. is starting Lesson #1 with Chris C. next week

· Richard & Carla R., the parents of a former student, have placed membership at HBF recently!



IV. Recovery

· Kevin W. completed TJH on 12-12 and will begin being a sponsor for another man – see pic.

· One of our leader’s sons just completed a semester of online college & has good grades!

· Joey C. gave a powerful testimony on 12-19 and one of our ladies accepted Christ – see pic.

· The Journey Home Update – Pat L. just completed editing the fonts, sizes and formatting of our pathway to recovery The Journey Home (TJH) workbook and emailed it to our Living Faith publisher on New Years Eve! Our contact at Living Faith Publisher said that he could start working on it immediately; let’s pray that this goes quickly and as smoothly as possible!

· Life Issues had 6 people graduate from our program in 2025 and we also saw 11 souls saved!

· I’m excited to announce that Life Issues will be part of a Zoom call on January 24th, with 3 or 4 other recovery groups and we’re inviting our students to be online to hear.



V. Events

· Our church assembles Christmas bags of food to give to people who may not be able to purchase a nice meal for themselves, and we distribute them to people who our pastors select. This year it was my classes’ turn to assemble and distribute the food that the church provided; over half of the 25 bags went to people in our recovery ministry – see pic.

· HBF’s volleyball league started in January and will last for a couple of months, about 8 of our students and leaders are participating in that instead of coming to meetings, PTL!

· HBF’s annual Woman’s Conference will be on January 31st, and this year’s speaker will be Sherry Trotter (wife of decease pastor Mark Trotter), Life Issues will be helping several of our ladies to attend this event, please pray for this to be a milestone in their lives.

· We had a Thanksgiving dinner called “Turkeypalooza”, and we had about 100 people present, where we gave out some awards and heard 3 powerful testimonies while people ate. I’m grateful for Sherrie W. and her heart to prepare the food. Pat L. gave a powerful gospel message at the end and at least 1-person trusted Christ as their savior – see pics!

VI. People

· We helped the daughter of one of our students to get a bicycle for Christmas – see pic.

· We’ve been helping our new friends Kerry S. and her son, Matt, over the last month and we recently helped them confirm their salvation. Kerry also got a job last week and is working; please pray that these folks can get established and grow in their faith.

· Nate M. is new to our group and was recently saved after one of our meetings, see attached pic of him and his mother.

· We don’t see one of our lady leaders, Kelly T., as much as we once did, but I’ve kept in touch with her and wanted to update you about her ministry endeavors, in her own words: 

Steve I wanted to update you and life issues and ask for prayer for what I call my “devotion chat ministry “ 🙌 it started out with my best friend and I reading a devotion book together daily and digging into the Bible to study deeper the scripture it referenced and then texting each other our thoughts and sharing prayer requests on what we call our devotion chat … the next year I invited some friends to join us… and the next year I invited my daughters-in-law to join in and this year the Holy Spirit let me know god was going to enlarge this ministry 🙌 then Sara Vick ( Lily’s house founder ) who was already part of one of our devotion chats, asked me to lead the Lily’s house staff in a devotion chat this year and also my co-worker, that god convicted me to reconcile with a few months back , asked me what my word was for the 2026 year … I let her know that my word(s) are “for the greater good” … one thing lead to another and her and I are on a devotion chat together this year 🙌… praise Him… I’m so excited to share that God has used this ministry as a way to get women in the word daily… it gives us a safe space to share our thoughts, struggles and prayer requests… it gives me a platform to share how God has renewed my mind out of the pit of anxiety… we are on our 4th devotion book and I fully believe the holy spirit helps me to pick which devotion book we read… they take us deep into God’s word… it’s no exaggeration to say that this ministry has changed my life… it has gotten me in the word daily… God is even making me a morning person lol inviting me early each morning now to get up and spend time with him… I quickly realized this ministry is something women need… women lifting up women and pointing each other to God… our rules are simple: #1. no shame if you get behind in the reading, because women already have enough to feel bad about, #2. try with all you have inside you to be in the Word daily…. God has enlarged it to 4 devotion chats, with a total of 16 women getting closer to God 🙌🥲💞


VII. Praises and Prayer requests

· Praise and pray for our jail ministry to win souls and connect them to a Bible believing church.

· Praise and pray for getting TJH published quickly.

· Please pray for Kerry and Matt and others to get established.

· Please pray for Kelly T’s “The Greater Good” ministry to overlooked women with struggles.

· 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!

o Sincerely, Steve Fleshman – Life Issues pastor and founder, Proverbs 4:23…