Dear Friend of FOA,
March is one of my favorite times of year because garden preparations are under way. Since 2012, it has been my responsibility to oversee our garden each year. While there is a lot of hard work involved every year in our garden there are also plenty of spiritual principles the Lord uses in a garden to teach us truth. In just a few short weeks we will hook the plow up to the tractor and break the ground to prepare it to receive the seeds we will plant. Each year as I plow our garden, I think of the work the Lord is doing to prepare people’s hearts to receive the seed of His Word. Our prayer for the men the Lord sends to us is that they will have a prepared heart to receive the Word. We pray that for men here and the men on our waiting list who we hope will soon join us.
Preparation is a key spiritual principle that the Lord does to bring us to the place where we see our NEED. Preparation hurts! But it is necessary. If we don’t prepare our soil properly, we will not have a good crop. If people don’t see their need of the Lord then why would they be interested in His Word? Most every man that comes through our gate is coming because he has been broken in some fashion. Our prayer is that the brokenness will be used by God to open their hearts to the truth of His Word. Thank you for praying with us for the men the Lord sends our way.
At the end of February we experienced quite a unique week for Mississippi with a winter weather storm that is abnormal for us. I know much of the country experienced this storm as well. While this storm impacted so many negatively, we were thankful that we didn’t experience any major problems. We only lost power for a few hours and we never lost our water as so many did in the city of Jackson. We definitely had some burst pipes from the consistent freezing temperatures, but we were able to get those fixed pretty quickly.
As for the effects of Covid, we are continuing to bring men into the program after a few days in quarantine. We are hopeful that we are nearing the end of a quarantine house so we can get men in much faster and fill up our beds. Some of our men have been able to receive the vaccine at this point. We continue to trust the Lord in His timing with this pandemic. Thank you for your prayers and support of FOA!
Resting in Our Hope in the Lord,
Aaron Bonner
