Fruit is the expected by-product of the investment of time, energy, and resources. This is true whether you run a business, a home, or a ministry. God has the same expectation of us as believers to produce fruit when we use His resources. Let’s look at how this plays out in ALERT Cadets.

I expect fruit, in the form of changed lives, from the investment of resources in this ministry. Each day, I pray that God would bring an increase in the number of fathers who actively take on their God-given responsibilities to lead their families, and particularly their sons, well; to provide vision to them as to who they can become in Christ and what they are to do for the Kingdom. I also pray for the sons to give their hearts to their fathers and look to them for direction and wisdom as they grow and ultimately strike out on their own to start their own families. I identify with Paul in Colossians 1:28-29, “I…labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”

God gives or withholds time, energy, and resources to provide direction. Of the three, I track time closest; it is the one that so easily slips away never to be recovered. By energy, I refer to the creativity and human emotion associated with being a part of what God is doing in the world. As long as fruit is produced, then I, and those associated with this ministry, gain energy to continue in the battle. God provides resources in the form of physical assets, money, and people. This is the area that, frankly, concerns me least. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, as well as all the gold and all the silver according to Psalm 50:10-11 and Haggai 2:8. He blesses His people with wealth and then directs them to share it in such a way that fruit is produced. I look for fruit production as the first key to discerning whether God is blessing a particular work. God’s work will not lack God’s resources!

What does the fruit produced look and taste like? Here are recent comments we’ve received at ALERT Cadets.

1) From at least one father per month, I hear, “Major Farr, I’ve lost the heart of my 18-year old son. Can you help me to win the hearts of my 13 and 8 year-old sons so that they don’t follow right behind him?”

2) In Mexico, as fathers heard about taking up the challenge to train their sons to be godly men, many broke down in tears, desiring to make changes in their lives.

3) Mothers send us notes of encouragement for the work being done through local ALERT Cadet units to knit the hearts of their husbands with their sons.

4) At the beginning of an ALERT Cadet camp, a father said, “I do not know my 17-year old son anymore.” By the end of the camp, the glow in the son’s eyes told a different story!

Changed lives, mended relationships, shared vision, and progress toward a specific goal are all signs of fruit. Look for the fruit in your life, the lives of your young people, and in the ministries you support with your time, energy, and resources. May God give wisdom to lead your families well!

The future can be a scary place unless you know in whom you are trusting for your future. This is true for salvation as well as for the plans associated with running and managing a ministry.

We at ALERT Cadet Headquarters look with anticipation to the future of this ministry and all that God is doing right now.

One of my main duties as Commanding Officer of ALERT Cadets is to set the direction for the ministry. I do this by looking at one, three, and five-year plans with our staff and my authorities. However, it all starts with the ALERT Cadet vision to “Assist fathers in gaining and maintaining the heart of their 8-17 year-old sons.” Everything we contemplate doing must work toward accomplishing this vision; this keeps us focused on what God has designed us to do.

Next comes the five and three-year plans. The five-year plan is our guiding document that lays out the major direction for the ministry. We’re working on this right now and are considering things such as expansion into new countries, finishing the curriculum development, translating materials into languages other than English, adapting the program for use in churches or as a companion to other existing programs, partnering with other ministries to fathers, and the use of a companion program for mothers and daughters, while their husbands and sons are involved in ALERT Cadet activities. Please be in prayer for us that we would discern rightly God’s direction. The three-year plan takes the five-year goals and breaks them down into manageable chunks. This is when we garner resources to accomplish the work and surface any coordination issues with other IAA ministries.

Real work begins in November with the laying out of the one-year plan. Here is where we determine who will do what by when. There are usually 70-100 items on the list to be accomplished in order to make real progress on the three and five-year goals. We use a spreadsheet to keep us on track and make sure we are using God’s resources of people, time, and finances to their best and highest use. Every Monday morning we review this document to set the work plans for the week.

The last part of the process comes as we look back each December to see all that God allowed us to accomplish. Seemingly impossible tasks are accomplished with results greater than we could ever have imagined. We celebrate this with a special dinner and newsletter to all involved in the ALERT Cadet ministry.

The future does not have to be full of fears, but a place where we can confidently go to accomplish all that God has planned for us. We cannot change what has happened in the past, but we can impact the future for the cause of Christ. Will you join me to make the great plans for ALERT Cadets a reality? If you’d like to assist for a week, month, or year, please e-mail me at rfarr@alertacademy. com, or call 903-636-9228. We’ll continue to keep you abreast of our progress in periodic e-mails and this publication. I look forward to seeing you in the future!