January 7, 2025

Happy New Year!

At the start of each year at the ALERT Academy, I pick a word I want my staff and I to focus on. One year, the word was "reliance,” last year it was "peace," and this year, in 2025, I settled on the word "faith."

Over the years, I have realized just how easy it can be to put our faith in the wrong thing. We train both our men and team to work hard, and if we are not careful, we can put our faith in how hard we work. We rely on donations to cover about 25% of our yearly budget, so we can put our faith in your support. I can even find myself putting my faith in my years of experience working here at ALERT. It is so easy to put our faith in the wrong thing.

This year, I keep reminding my staff, "It doesn't matter how strong your faith is, as much as it matters what your faith is in." I want our faith to be in God this year, and in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I want our faith to be in what is unseen—"For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." 2 Cor 4:18 (ESV)

This year, I invite you to join us at ALERT in praying for a faith-growing year. Please pray for safety during our training, the resources we need to train effectively, and unity within our team. But most importantly, pray that our students' lives are impacted for God's glory, and that our faith will grow as we learn to place it in the One who will never leave us or forsake us.