June 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friend of FOA,

I am very thankful for the confidence that we can have in our great God.  More and more in my life I am reminded of how little confidence we can have in anything else.  We are currently studying through the book of Colossians with our Romans house students, and we have been reminded that Christ is supreme, preeminent, fully God, the Head of the Body.  In Christ are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (2:3) and we are complete in Him (2:10).  And, of course, the great mystery of “Christ in you the hope of glory” (1:27).  Because of truths like these (and many others from God’s Word) we have full confidence that teaching Jesus Christ is the only answer that can meet the needs of the men the Lord brings our way.  We don’t mix Christ with the philosophies of the world or traditions of men or laws of religious systems (as Paul warns against in 2:8), we just teach the truth of Jesus Christ through the Word of God.  Some of these other things appear to have wisdom, but they are of no value against fleshly indulgence (2:23).  We want to give our men that which God tells us has value and answers the problems of life, and so we preach Jesus Christ!

With summer arriving comes a lot of activity at FOA.  We are already beginning to harvest some of the fruits of the garden with anticipation of more to come.  It is always a blessing to begin reaping the harvest and seeing the fruits of our labor on our plates at supper.  Like many of you we have plenty of daily physical chores around the ministry to keep things going – from mowing grass, chopping wood and working in the garden to maintenance repairs and projects.  We have guys keeping the buildings clean and preparing 3 meals a day.  But the central part of our ministry is the men the Lord brings to us from all over the place.  Recently, we have been able to bring in more men to the ministry which brings with it great opportunities as well as new challenges.  Please continue to pray for our students and our staff.   

Finally, please pray for one of our volunteer staff members, Duane Girton.  Duane has been dealing with some physical health problems recently and we would appreciate prayers for he and his wife Mrs. Marilyn.  Thank you for your prayers and support. 

Because of our Confidence in Christ,  

Aaron Bonner

May 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friend of FOA, 

Each year as we tend to our garden here at the ministry there is a lot of maintenance involved – especially early on when the plants are starting to grow.  They are very fragile.  The weeds try to come up and choke them out.  Heavy rains can wash them out if they aren’t rooted well.  It takes time and care so the plants can grow up and mature to produce fruit.  Cultivation is key to our garden’s success.

 The garden is a lot like our ministry to the men the Lord sends our way.  Many of them are coming to us in a place of brokenness.  Some are not believers in Christ at all and need to be born again.  Others are very fragile and need to be rooted in Christ.  It is our privilege to be workers in the Lord’s field.  Some plant, others water but God gives the increase (1 Cor. 3:6).  Each day we give spiritual food to these men through the constant teaching of the Word of God.  If a man stays with us for 2 months, they will complete 112 hours of Bible study.  We believe that God uses His Word by His Spirit to transform lives.  The things of this world contend for the hearts of these men and try to choke them out – the weeds of life.  The heavy rains of life’s tribulations try to wash them out.  But the great Farmer (our Heavenly Father) is doing the work of cultivating that these lives may be firmly rooted in Christ (Colossians 2:7).  Please pray for our staff as we desire to be used of the Lord to minister to the spiritual needs of the students.

After a very long year dealing with Covid (like everyone else) we are thankful to be able to return to some normalcy.  We have decided to no longer quarantine new men coming in.  This allows our Romans students to return to the Romans house for their living accommodations, and opens up more beds in the Doctrine house to fill in the coming weeks.  We have also started to have family visits once again for our doctrine students and weekend passes for our Romans students.  These times with families are very profitable for encouragement and growth.  We hope in the next couple months to have more things return to normal.  Thank you for your prayers for us during this time of Covid and we ask for continued prayers for wisdom in the decisions made each day.

Resting in the Husbandman and the Vine (John 15),

Aaron Bonner