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

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