I truly enjoy my life that God has given me. I can say without hesitation God has been so good to me. As most of you know I could not have said this or could live this without faith in God. There is something to be said about faith. To me it is personal. I have to share it because I believe it will help others to take hold of faith in God & simply believe. I hope my greatest legacy is that I believed & therefore I was able to overcome. “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith” (1Jn.5:4). How did I develop faith to be an overcomer? I became passionate about knowing my Savior. God always rewards diligence in the pursuit of knowing Him. In Hebrews 11:6 it says; “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. In this great chapter in Hebrews it is called the “great hall of faith”, because of the names that are recorded in it. It has all the great heroes in the Bible listed along with their exploits. You know the key to their victory is that they simply believed God. Wow!! Do you know how simple that statement is? Simply believe! It is sad though, because many do not believe & therefore limit God from moving in their lives. I do know that I  had to become desperate to believe God. I was a drug addict & was 40 years old & I was dying in my sin & on my way to hell. I needed a Savior. One who would not just take me to Heaven when I died, but would empower me to live in victory now!! I cannot express in words how much I love my Jesus & thankful for His great mercy. You have to believe in a Savior that saves & forgives. When we do this, there is a Holy communion that begins that will take us into a realm of faith to believe God for our every need. The Apostle Paul said it well in  Galatians 2:20;  “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me”. This faith will produce Heavenly blessings to come to you in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19). Early in my Christian walk I learned this because of my experience in communion with the Holy Spirit. I was always desiring a godly wife. God spoke to me about this desire. I remember Him telling me that He had His best in mind for me. The Spirit of God began to reveal to me that there was still a work in me. He called it  “refinement”. He explained that He could not send one of His daughters to me until I was prepared spiritually. I agreed with this. As I trusted Him in this mentoring by the Spirit & by circumstances, I began to take on maturity & spiritual stamina. It took some time before my woman of God was manifested. When she finally arrived, she became most precious & valuable to me. She compliments me & helps me in becoming the man of God that God requires me to be. I hate to think what I would have missed if I did not have faith to persevere & trust the LORD for my destiny. In my preparation for ministry God placed people in my life to encourage & develop me for the work that I was destined to do for the LORD. In my adventures in faith I entered a one year Bible School that brought a relationship with God that I never knew. This ministry was Canaan land Ministries in Autaugaville, Alabama. I’m forever grateful to Brother Mac Gober & his wife Sandra for their love & dedication to mentor & develop men for Kingdom service. It was at Canaan Land that God put a desire in my heart for ministry. After graduation I began a spiritual journey that follows the course of others in the Bible. I began by answering a call to the mission field in 1993. I got the awesome privilege of being an ocean going missionary for Mercy Ships. It was there where I learned to put in practice what I learned in my Bible studies & quiet times at Canaan land. I learned to trust God in finances for my crew fees & living expenses. It was each crew members responsibility to trust God for personal finances to be met living on the ship & in serving Christ for the Nations. It taught me when God calls, He will provide for all my needs. I was truly experiencing living a life of faith. In my journeys I had the opportunity to visit third world nations. I saw people healed, delivered & set free by the power of God. It was truly a life of faith that would develop my faith to be tested in believing for Shiloh Ministries. In my quest to fulfill my Heavenly vision there always has been a man of God that stood & believed in me. That man of God is Pastor Ronnie Trice. I first re-dedicated my life to the LORD at Maranatha Church. It was Pastor Ronnie who helped get me in Canaan Land Ministries in 1991. In my three & half years with Mercy Ships my home church was always faithful to support me financially & prayerfully. It was this pastoral leadership that directed me into ministry & continues even today. All of this was made available to Deb & I because of love, faithfulness, favor & great faith in God. Since opening Shiloh in 2000 we have never been in lack for our needs to be met. In Philippians 4:6  the Apostle Paul writes “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God”. I remember when we needed new transportation & a new water well for the ministry. In the natural it looked impossible because of the dollar amount of the projects. The new bus would cost $53,000 & the new 4 inch water well would be $9,000. As we looked at our needs, I remember God telling me to believe & trust Him. I knew because this ministry was His, that our responsibility was to ask & believe (Mk.11:24). It was the LORD who would do the supernatural. As we continued in ministry, God brought the finances in just like He said He would. The LORD revealed to us, “what you make happen for others, I will do like wise for you”. His priority was not just providing for Shiloh Ministries but for the whole community where we live. This community has elderly people, widows, the lost, & sick that the LORD is reaching out to. He has chosen Shiloh to be His hands & feet. We send men out daily to take meals to our elderly & to pray with them. The men are also involved in evangelism in this community by lawn maintenance, housing renovations, and other practical ways of going about doing good. We believe; “ faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17). Could any of our faith work if we did not manifest love for God & for the people? The Word of God  says; “though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing (1 Cor.13:2).  I challenge you to live a life of love that produces faith in action. Without it, our lives are meaningless. You may be asking, What must I do? I will first and foremost say, Get more and more acquainted with God everyday by spending time with His Spirit. It is “the people that know their God that will do exploits for Him” according to Daniel 11:32b. This life is not dull. If you are willing you can have an exhilarating life full of Faith Adventures.

Rocky Fondren

---

Newsletter Archives

---