When Mike Fleming looks back over the last couple of years, will he remember being bedridden and so weak that he could hardly walk across his living room? Or will he remember instead how God answered his prayers for his sister and her husband? Mike’s memories could easily be overshadowed by his painful battle with bone marrow cancer, but he chooses instead to praise God and focus on sharing the gospel with others. This story is an example of God’s strength perfected in our weakness.
A Joyful Christian and a Rural Church
Mike is a member of Freedom Bible Church in Sutherlands River, Nova Scotia. He’s also on the church’s leadership team. He is passionate about sharing the gospel because he wants people to experience the victory and joy Jesus gave him.
One of the people on Mike’s heart was his sister, Dianne. He prayed for her daily and urged her to follow Jesus. She wasn’t interested and told him to stop talking to her about God. He kept praying, though, and one winter’s day, she asked Mike to take her to church.
When they walked into the church, two women warmly welcomed Dianne and embraced her. The love she experienced there made a deep impression. She and her husband, Calvin, started attending Sunday worship services and the mid-week Bible study.
The pastor, Village Missionary Alan Klein, said, “The churches partnered with Village Missions can be a safe harbour for people who are looking for love and a place to belong. I think that’s what Dianne experienced at Freedom Bible Church.”
His Weakness and God’s Power to Save
Mike had been diagnosed a few years before with multiple myeloma and suffered several fractures and broken bones. By January 2024, he was in so much pain that he had to stop working. He could hardly walk across his living room and spent most of his time in bed. He didn’t want to miss Bible study, though, so the group came to his home.
Then Mike was moved to the hospital’s palliative care ward. At his request, Pastor Alan arranged to hold the Bible study there. Over 20 people came to show their love for Mike.
During the evening, Dianne’s husband, Calvin, asked many questions. “I could see that the Holy Spirit was working in his heart and mind,” Pastor Alan said. “We explained the gospel to him. Then Mike led him in a prayer of repentance and faith in Jesus.”
Mike was physically weak, but God demonstrated his all-sufficient grace and drew Calvin to salvation.
As Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, “But the Lord said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
A Loving Church and Blossoming Faith
“Calvin and Dianne love coming to Freedom Bible Church,” Mike said. “It’s a small church, but the people love each other, and it shows.”
Soon Dianne recommitted her life to Christ, and her faith blossomed.
One Sunday in August, Calvin and Dianne shared their testimonies during the church service. Then they were baptized in Sutherlands River by Pastor Alan and a deacon. Mike was there in a wheelchair. “Seeing them baptized was awesome,” he said. “God answers prayers!”
Praising God through Trials
Mike is responding well to chemotherapy and regaining his strength. He’s living with a daughter in Halifax, so he can’t regularly attend Freedom Bible Church. But he calls Pastor Alan almost weekly and proposes ideas for ministry and outreach activities.
He filled in for Pastor Alan one Sunday. The topic of his sermon? Choosing to praise God through trials and tribulations.
At Freedom Bible Church, this couple found a loving place to belong, heard the gospel and were baptized. Would you like to partner with Village Missions of Canada to help rural churches like this one?
