Paul Fearon - turning darkness into light

Evangelist Paul Fearon was down in the dumps, on the brink of giving up. That is, until a revelation hit him - there was hope, he did not have to give up in despair. Out of this revelation, his life took a 180 degree turn and out of it came the powerful deliverance ministry - You Don't Have To Die.

The evangelistic outreach, according to Fearon is like a "spiritual hospital catering to the holistic man."

"The ministry was birthed out of a personal experience of backsliding from the Christian faith and battling with suicidal thoughts and intentions for almost one year," Fearon told Family and Religion.

According to him, the experience came about because he was not being mentored properly by one of his former pastors.

"I was having challenges in an area of my life, which reached to a point that suicidal thoughts began plaguing my mind. This resulted in me writing him a letter sharing my mental state, but I was never counselled, not even once," revealed Fearon.

He said after a month he asked his pastor if he had received his letter. After acknowledging that he had, the pastor took him into his office, returned the letter to him and informed him that "great men have to go through great challenges." Fearon said that was the moment he gave up completely.

"I began living a life that I despised, but could not help myself, so dying was the only answer. Tears have been my meat day and night for several months asking God to take my life," said Fearon.

On October 2009 at 9 a.m., he opened his eyes to a new day and the realisation that after crying himself to sleep that night and asking God to take him, he was still alive.

"That morning I reached over for my Bible just to get a word of comfort for my weary, tired, hurting and dying soul. As I opened the pages of the Bible, it opened to Luke 22:31 where my eyes instantly saw the heading, 'Peter's denial'.

Fearon said he heard Jesus speaking to him. "Behold the devil has you and is sifting you as wheat but I am praying for you that your faith in me will not faint and when you are back from your setback, use your experience to help others."

TOUCHING LIVES

That proved to the turning point in Fearon's life and also the catalyst for the You Don't Have To Die Ministry.

The ministry has been touching the lives of many hurting people both locally and internationally, bringing restoration to those who lost their hope and faith.

"The ministry has given birth to several ministry programmes designed to fulfil the purpose of its name - You Don't Have To Die. Among them are a problem resolution conference called 'Reveal to be healed'. This programme is strategically design to help children and adults reveal their darkest secrets and talk about their worst state, be it socially, emotionally, mentally, spiritually or relational," explained Fearon.

Another programme coming out of the ministry is Boyz to Men - a male power mentorship programme for boys and young men that also serves as a rehabilitation programme for persons who are released from jail/prison. The programme offers training in the performing arts so as to get young men purposefully and actively engaged.

The ministry's newest initiative is the Word Empowerment Programme. This is a word empowerment and self-development training programme which evaluates and assesses the progress and success of the holistic man.

"Then, based on its findings, it offers mentorship through motivation, encouragement and training using the principles and power of words as we help persons to find and fulfil their purpose. This is presently done on Whatsapp or other social groups," he said.