The Barnabas Chronicle, Winter 2016-2017

Dear Family/Friends,

Happy New Year from Joel and Toni Tetreau. The Barnabas Chronicle is our attempt to communicate the latest happenings from our family, Southeast Valley Bible Church and IBL West (Institute of Biblical Leadership). What a year 2016 was. For our family the year was monumental. Jonathan (our eldest son) not only finished his Bachelor’s degree at ASU, but he married his sweetheart Brittany. Jeremy (our middle son) is now a junior and is enjoying his studies at Liberty University in Lynchburg. Joshua (our youngest son) lives at home and is studying education at ASU. All three of our sons continue to be very involved in the Lord’s work for which we are thankful.

We are also thankful for a blessed year in the Tetreau home. God allowed us to convert Toni’s old piano studio into a small apartment for visiting relatives and guests. Along with that, we were able to build into our home a new piano studio. We were also able to take a couple of enjoyable trips as a family and as a couple. Toni and I celebrated 25 years of marriage in part by driving across the country back in the summer to deliver Jeremy’s car to him. He and his younger brother Joshua were working at a Christian camp in New York. We saw family and friends along the journey as well as several New England states that Toni had never visited.

These continue to be blessed days at Southeast Valley Bible Church in Gilbert, AZ. We are currently coming up on 18 years of pastoral ministry here in Gilbert and are thankful for all that God has accomplished in that period. God blessed our congregation this year with numerical growth which we are thankful for. Toni continues to be a help to me especially in connection with music and the women’s ministry here. We have recently added an associate pastor to our team. Pastor Cody (who we just licensed for the Gospel ministry) and his wife Zofia have been a great source of encouragement to the Church family in addition to our pastoral, deacon and expanded ministry staff.

The children’s and adult choirs added much to our Christmas celebration in December and we ended the year with a great Church-wide hayride. We are already looking forward to several baptisms that will take place in the beginning of 2017. We are thankful for the solid discipleship groups, men’s and women’s teaching ministry, not to mention our children’s and youth ministry that have resulted in significant ministry this year. We are asking God to grant us a great year in both new converts that come to know Christ as well as numbers of believers who tangibly grow in their discipleship.

I have been part of the staff or board of IBL for nearly twelve years. You might notice our new IBL logo at the top of this edition of the Barnabas Chronicle. Significant in meaning is the combination of a Bible and a compass in the logo itself. For several years, the church family here at SVBC has shared me with IBL for three to four days each month. I continue to serve IBL as both a board member and as the Regional Coordinator for IBL West. During that time, the majority of my financial support for those days of IBL ministry has come from my salary as pastor for SVBC. What I am now doing is raising “missions support” for the portion of my work each month that is designated for IBL ministry. This does a few things for us. First, it shifts the burden of my IBL ministry away from SEVBC onto a growing supporting team of “co-laborers” who are willing to partner with our missions and ministry leadership work with IBL, here in the West (and around the globe). Second, this allows our staff at IBL to have more resources to accomplish the ministry God has called us to.

2016 saw IBL in action around the globe. Places like North and South America, India, Africa and Vietnam to name a few. I personally had the thrill of being involved in the various wings of the ministry in South America, Africa and then throughout the USA. The two years prior had me in Africa, Europe, Mexico, Scandinavia, Australia and New Zealand. As we look forward to 2017, the action doesn’t let up! Our ministry to leaders and the ministries they serve continue to be our focal point. We presently are involved in active or “follow-up” side by side ministry with nearly sixty ministry cases. These cases are divided up into leadership training, coaching, counseling and consulting (often in the form of crisis response). We love God’s servants and the ministries they lead at IBL. It is very much our delight to come beside these men and women and serve them in the various ways we do.

If you are willing to help us with monthly or occasional financial support for IBL West, please let us know. My email is joelt@iblministry.org or jtetreau@cox.net. Those wishing to support the work we do for IBL West, please send those gifts to our IBL HQ and central office at PO Box 338 – Fairview, NC 28730. Please know if we can ever serve you and your ministry in leadership training, consulting, coaching, and counseling (including crisis response) please don’t hesitate to call us. Thanks to those who are already sharing in the financial support for IBL. May God richly bless you in the days ahead as you faithfully plow in your corner of our Lord’s Vineyard. If you ever find yourself in our neck of the desert, please stop by for a visit and a cup of coffee! Until then, please know we are very much your friend.

Straight Ahead!