“Could you make my Grandma’s Green Jell-O Surprise?”

That’s not a question any of us expect to be asked. But it does make more sense when you consider the setting in which this U.S. Army Sergeant was asking it. My wife, Aimee, and I were talking with him at the hospitality house we led near the U.S. Army base of Grafenwoehr, Germany. Thanksgiving was a month away and, as always, Aimee had offered to try and make any Thanksgiving dish for the Soldiers that would make it feel more like home for them. Green Jell-O Surprise was what he wanted!

For many families in the USA, Thanksgiving is a holiday filled with special traditions and extended family. But often for military families overseas, the traditions and the opportunity to be with extended family are not possible. It can be a sad and lonely time.

Yet in our Cadence hospitality houses around the world family traditions are replicated and new traditions are made. It’s in our homes that we create a welcoming space to celebrate with new friends who become family. We truly get to be a home away from home.

We have this privilege because you give of your finances and partner with our missionaries. Your giving helps transform potentially sad and lonely holidays into joyous celebrations. Thanksgiving is changed from a day when they see what they are missing to heartfelt thankfulness for what God has provided. And so, on behalf of them, we thank you.

In one of these hospitality houses, Victory Villa in Rota, Spain, we need to conduct significant renovations. Cadence has owned this house for almost 40 years and ministered there for almost 50. We thank God for the decades of Thanksgivings celebrated in this home! We also want to extend an invitation for you to provide an extra gift this holiday season for Victory Villa. Giving to this year’s Joshua Project Campaign will bless Sailors and their families in Rota for decades to come. If you would be willing to do so, please go to Cadence.org/JoshuaProject.

Thanks again for being a part of our Thanksgiving!

In the love of Jesus,

Brian Kleager
VP for Strategic Partnerships and PR

It was June 1954, Jesse and Nettie Miller had returned to the United States from serving as missionaries in the Philippines. In addition to their ministry with Filipinos, they had hosted meals and Bible studies for military men, and that outreach grew to where the Millers needed to decide if they would focus on local ministry or military ministry. Tom Hash and C.P. Tarkington were two servicemen whom Jesse led to Christ in those years. They and others gathered in Chicago that June for a reunion. Then Tom, Tark, Dick Patty, and Jesse and Nettie stayed on a couple of days to pray and seek the Lord. Tark described this time in a letter from 1955:

During our meetings at this reunion, requests were presented to our group from the Philippines, Okinawa, Guam, Alaska, Germany, and Japan to open up Servicemen’s Homes such as God has given us in the Philippines. These requests were heavy on our hearts and brought us to our knees before the Lord . . . Under God’s leading, the Overseas Christian Servicemen’s Centers was formed, to work and to represent Christ wherever God should lead, placing our faith in Him completely, and trusting Him to supply each need. (Courage and Faith, p. 23)

The Overseas Christian Servicemen’s Centers (OCSC) was later renamed Cadence International, and the work of sharing the gospel and our lives continues to this day. Cadence has nearly 200 missionaries around the world who are the “hands and feet” of this ministry.

We also have a Headquarters team who are the “backbone” of the ministry. Since 1954, Cadence has continued in the footsteps of the Millers (and three other founding couples— Pattys, Hashes, and Tarkingtons) and placed our trust in God to supply every need, including the financial needs of our headquarters which is sustained by The ’54 Fund.

The ’54 Fund celebrates Cadence’s founding and supports the organizational structure of the worldwide ministry. This fund provides for many of the behind-the-scenes expenses which are a necessary part of this vital ministry to the military and their families. This year, we are inviting you to give a gift of $54 or more to celebrate Cadence’s birthday and help sustain this fund. Learn more at Cadence.org/The54Fund. As always, thank you for partnering with us in sharing the gospel and our lives with the military community.

In the goodness of Jesus,

Brian Kleager
VP for Partnerships and PR