January 2022 Newsletter

Dear Friend of FOA,

As we start this new year, it is with great confidence in the Lord that we can press forward each day with whatever is before us. As believers, we have the opportunity to walk by faith according to God’s Word. Our faith is misplaced if it is outside of His Word for faith is taking God at His Word. This is why we focus every day on the teaching of God’s Word. We want each man here to know God’s Word so they can take Him at His Word for the provision He has made for each of them to walk in fellowship with Him. When we come to know God’s Word, we come to know God!  Thank you for continuing to pray for our students that they may know God’s provision of salvation for them through Jesus Christ.  Thank you for praying for our staff as we each day desire to rest in the provision we have in Christ to minister to the men the Lord sends our way.

Last month I mentioned again our financial situation and a couple of sizable donations the Lord sent our way.  You will see on the financial statement for this month that beyond those donations many others gave.  At the end of November, we were at -$50,000 for the 2021 fiscal year. After December’s giving, we not only covered our monthly expenses, but we were able to cover that deficit with some left over.  Please join us in thanking the Lord for this provision. Thank you for praying for this need and for giving to help with this need.  Please continue to pray for us as we seek the Lord’s wisdom in the stewardship of this giving.

Over Christmas we had 15 students to go home on pass. They returned and quarantined in 2 groups. Unfortunately, we had a positive test for Covid in one group and they remain in quarantine. Since then, we have had another positive case in that group. Thankfully, no one has had any major symptoms. Please pray for these 6 men and our staff member, Brandon Westcott, who is with them in quarantine. Please also pray for our men waiting to come in as the recent Covid surge along with this group in quarantine has delayed us bringing new men into the program.

Thank you for your response in giving towards the Christmas bags for our men.  Your generosity allowed us to fill their bags and have left overs to share with new men who come into our program. 

With Great Confidence in our Great God,

Aaron Bonner

December 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friend of FOA,

I can’t believe I am already writing a December newsletter. Each day my 8 year old daughter reminds me how many days until Christmas.  Time has flown by and another year draws to an end.  I feel that way now, but I can remember times this past year when time didn’t feel like it was flying by. Just last week we had a student finish the 8 week program who expressed how fast time went by while he was here with us.  At other times we have students who leave before finishing the 8 weeks because the finish date feels like it will never arrive. Most of the time the difference is where our mind is placed.  As the expressions goes, “time flies when you’re having fun”.

Our eternal God is not limited by time, but he created the world and set time in place for us as mankind. This month we celebrate the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Christ came “in the fullness of time” (Gal. 4). He came to fulfill a promise God had given mankind 4,000 years prior in the garden of Eden when man sinned against God. And 33 years later he died on a cross, shedding his blood to redeem mankind and reconcile us to God. He rose from the dead on the 3^rd day defeating death and through faith in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior we can have eternal life. Time is something we can’t get back, but for the believer while our time in this physical body on earth is temporary we have been given eternal life in Jesus Christ. This gives us great hope!

Please pray for our men to be receptive to that message of hope. Most of them wish they could go back and make different decisions in life – I’m sure most of us feel similarly. We can’t go back and change past decisions, but the decisions we make now will affect our futures. We pray they will decide to trust the Lord as Savior and learn to trust Him for the needs of their lives.

Over the past few months, I have asked you to pray for our financial situation. We are thankful for 2 sizable donations that have been generously given over the past week in addition to those who faithfully support us each month. Please continue to pray for our financial situation.

Last month I mentioned the opportunity of giving to help us give our men a Christmas gift bag this year.  A number of you already responded to that need by giving and we thank you so much for helping us in this way.  If you wanted to give towards that need there is still time as we will be receiving donations for those gifts until December 20^th.  Needs are listed on the back. We appreciate anything that you send to help our men.  Thank you for considering this request.

Finally, would you please pray for our men during this time of year. The holidays are hard for many of our guys who are separated from families or have very strained family relationships.

Have a great Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior,

Aaron Bonner

November 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friend of FOA,

As I write this letter, my heart is heavy. Over the past 24 hours I have been informed of the passing of two of our former students. One died of a drug overdose, the other made the decision to take his own life. Both young men, both tragic. My heart is heavy for their families and friends. I am thankful that I don’t receive these phone calls all the time, but one is more than I care to receive, and I have unfortunately received more than just these 2 over the past few months. 

In the midst of the sorrow, I am thankful that we had the privilege of ministering the truth of God’s Word to both of these men and giving them the answer of newness of life in Christ Jesus.  While we can’t control whether a person receives the Word or believes the Word, we still teach the truth with great confidence that God uses His Word to change people’s lives. While the decisions these men made that led to their death are certainly not the will of God, I do not believe these decisions determine their eternal life. That decision is based on whether they chose to believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior or reject Jesus Christ as their Savior. That is the gospel we teach each day!

Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes 7:2, “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart.” NASB.  This world offers no hope in itself or man’s wisdom.  Please pray for our students to see the urgency and importance of receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and walking in fellowship with Him to deal with the difficulties of this life. He is the only One who can give true hope to our lives.

In last month’s letter I asked you to pray for our financial situation. You will see that our giving increased last month although we still did not cover our monthly expenses. We are thankful for the Lord’s continued provision for this ministry and ask you to continue to pray with us concerning our finances. I also asked you to begin praying about how you or your church might encourage our men this Christmas with material or financial donations to help with Christmas gift bags for our men. On the back there is a list of items needed. If you desire to give towards this need please have all donations in by December 20^th so we can have these bags ready.  Thank you for your gifts and prayers and have a happy Thanksgiving in thankfulness to the Lord.

Thankful for the God of all Comfort,  

Aaron Bonner

October 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friend of FOA,

This October we are thankful to the Lord for 63 years that the ministry of FOA has been in existence.  The ministry began with the focus of looking to God’s Word to deal with the issue of addiction.  We view addiction issues (drugs, alcohol, etc.) as a sin problem that God has dealt with through the finished work of Jesus Christ.  We unashamedly teach the Word of God each day to the men with us and pray for them to come to know Christ as their personal Savior and grow in Him to know Christ as their very life.  God has been faithful to sustain us for these 63 years and to use His Word to change lives.  Please continue to pray for our men to be receptive to God’s Word and trust the power of God to change their lives.

FOA began being supported by individuals and churches who agree with us in our view of addiction.  We have always held that the work of proclaiming the gospel should be supported by believers.  We do not receive government funding or go about fundraising.  We trust the Lord with our needs and reach out to the body of Christ to let them be aware of our needs as necessary.  We seek to be wise stewards of the physical donations the Lord provides for us.  This is one reason we attach our financial statement to each newsletter.  For those of you who keep up with these statements you will notice that over the past few months our giving has been down.  Our expenses have been pretty consistent, although all of us are dealing with rising costs of goods.  Please pray for this specific financial need as we trust the Lord to provide.  While we are thankful to be carrying a significant positive balance at this time, we know we must be able to meet our monthly expenses.

While it is only October, please begin to pray how you or your church might encourage our men this upcoming Christmas through gift bags that we put together for them.  These bags include toiletry items and basic clothing items (socks, underwear, undershirts, sweatshirts, work gloves, skull caps) to give to our men.  We are always thankful for your response.  In addition to this upcoming need, we are especially in need of towels, twin bed sheets and twin blankets at this time.  Thank you for your continued prayers regarding the needs mentioned in this letter.  From material needs to the greatest need of changed lives, we are thankful for God’s faithfulness.   

Resting in our Great Provider,  

Aaron Bonner

September 2021 Newsletter

 

Dear Friend of FOA,

I was recently reminded of the phrase “peace is not the absence of stress but the presence of Christ”.  I don’t know about your daily life, but I am prone to get overwhelmed in the “stresses” of day to day activities.  Sometimes I think to myself that if I can get through this one “stressful” situation everything will be better.  Some of you may be laughing as you read that sentence because you are wise enough to know that another situation will arise.  In fact, God tells us in His Word that we will have tribulation in this world.  We are never promised comfort and ease.  Rather we are promised that the provision God has made for us through His Son will be enough to deal with whatever problems we may face.  We are told that He has overcome the world.  How thankful I am for the presence of Christ within our lives that we might experience His peace and joy in the midst of tribulations and stressful situations. 

We continue to press forward each day teaching the Word of God and trusting the Lord to do the work of changing the hearts and minds of the men the Lord brings our way.  After our recent Covid outbreak and having to hunker down for 3 weeks we are once again bringing new men in each week and getting closer to a full house.  Please pray for our men to have the mindset to stay and complete the 8 week program.  We have had some over the past few weeks who want to leave after just a few days.  For years now, drugs and alcohol have been a tool of our enemy and appeal of the flesh that leads to broken lives and families and sometimes death.  Just yesterday, we received another call of a former student who died due to drug overdose.  Please pray that our men will see that the answer to the problem is Jesus Christ.

Thank you for praying for our staff each day as we minister to the men the Lord brings our way.  I would also ask you to keep our board of directors in prayer.  Their names are listed at the bottom of this letter each month.  These are men from our community who serve to help give guidance to our ministry.  Please especially keep in prayer Mr. Phil Davis, whose wife Ginger recently went home to be with the Lord.  We are thankful for her life and rejoice that she is with Christ, but we grieve with our dear brother.  Thank you for keeping him and his family in your prayers. 

Resting in the Presence of Christ,  

Aaron Bonner

August 2021 Newsletter

 

Dear Friend of FOA,

 Over the past year and a half, all of us have been affected by Covid.  But at the end of July, FOA was affected in a way we had not yet experienced.  With the emergence of the Delta variant the Covid numbers began rising quickly.  Due to the decreased numbers in recent months, we had loosened up some of our policies about interaction with the community.  On Saturday, July 24^th we had our first positive case of Covid.  By Monday the 26^th we had 11 students and 5 staff members who were positive.  By the end of that week, we had a total of 17 of 30 students and 6 of 9 staff members positive with Covid.  We turned our gymnasium and a vacant staff house into quarantine buildings and our positive men settled in for 2 weeks of isolation.

 As I write this almost 3 weeks later, I am hopeful that we are on the back end of this outbreak. I am very thankful that at this point none of our staff or students have had to be hospitalized due to this virus.  I know there are many in our community who have had to be hospitalized and others who have lost their lives due to this virus.  I am thankful that no matter the individual experience God is faithful, and His comforting peace is available for all who would trust Him. 

For now, we will have to take some measures to limit our interaction with the community.  Please pray for wisdom as we seek to make decisions as a ministry that enables us to continue ministering to the men the Lord brings our way.  Over the past 3 weeks we have had to close our doors to new men until we knew it was safe for them to come.  With many men on our waiting list there is a great need for those dealing with drug and alcohol addictions.  We are beginning to bring men in again.  Please pray for the almost 60 men on our waiting list at this time.

During these difficult weeks, we were encouraged by the outpouring of support through local churches.  Thank you for your prayers, financial support and material donations that helped us through this time.  I was also very thankful for how our students banded together.  With only 13 students and 3 staff members who did not have Covid, there was a lot of work placed on these few.  Our men came together to help in ways they weren’t used to so we could get through this time.  Please continue to pray for us during these days and let us encourage one another.

Resting in God’s Grace,  

 Aaron Bonner

July 2021 Newsletter

 

Dear Friend of FOA, 

In a few of my previous letters I mentioned about some lessons learned from the garden – from planting to cultivation.  But when it comes to a garden, I think most people enjoy the harvest the most.  Over the past month we have enjoyed the harvest from our physical garden – from squash, zucchini, cucumbers, beans, peas and most recently some sweet corn.  In fact, as I write this letter, we are right in the middle of what I call “corn week”.  From picking at sun up, to processing throughout the day, we use this week to try and get around 300 gallons of corn in the freezer to last us until next summer.  It takes a team effort from all of our guys as we work together to get the task accomplished.  We have plenty of work to accomplish at FOA but on “corn week” we all focus together on the task at hand.  Some pick, others shuck and silk.  Some cut corn while others clean up.  Everyone has a job to accomplish.  I have been thankful for how our guys have been working together.

 The Body of Christ is very similar.  In God’s sovereign plan, everyone who is a believer in Christ is placed into the body of Christ at the moment of salvation.  God’s Word makes it clear to us that Christ is the Head and believers make up the body of Christ.  Every believer has been gifted by God with spiritual gifting to be used to glorify God and to build up the body.  We are not all the same.  He gifts us differently and places us throughout the world to be used for His purposes.  For us to function properly we have to be dependent on our source – the Head, Jesus Christ.  Without Him we can do nothing.  Our staff at FOA is thankful to be used by the Lord at this ministry as we have the opportunity to share the truth of the Word of God with each man the Lord brings our way.  It is our desire that they too would be a part of the body of Christ and functioning in dependence upon Jesus Christ.  Thank you for praying for our staff as we desire to be used of the Lord each day.  Thank you for praying for our students that they would receive the truth of the Word of God.

 In my last letter I asked you to pray for one of our volunteer staff members, Duane Girton, concerning his physical health.  I am thankful to report that Duane went through a procedure to help this problem and is doing better and recovering.  Please continue to pray for him and his wife. 

 Depending on Jesus Christ,  

 Aaron Bonner