While our U.S. military personnel deserve our gratitude and respect for their service and sacrifice, another group of people is equally deserving: military spouses. They work hard behind the scenes to take care of their families amid the stress and chaos of frequent moves and deployments, organize packing up their belongings, and hold down the fort while their husbands or wives are deployed. They provide strength and stability in a life filled with change.

The wife of a Navy chaplain, Christa, shared with Cadence staff Joe and Caitlin Fletcher what their ministry, The Anchor, near NAS Oceana (in Virginia) meant to her as she transitioned to yet another duty station.

Our family of three made the long trek across the U.S. in the Summer of 2021. I had a lot of anxiety building, knowing a lot of responsibilities were getting ready to fall solely on me because we were preparing for my husband’s deployment. The need to find a community quickly and the dread of finding a new church are always at the forefront of my mind when approaching a PCS (Permanent Change of Station). 

We had no church connections, I knew no one, and my husband was in full deployment mode. We knew he had about head days after arriving in Virginia before heading to his ship. I was now faced with a new home (which I was grateful for), a new neighborhood, a new state (where I didn’t know where anything was), and my husband was about to leave me and our ten-year-old son. This reality and how I would manage really began to weigh on me. 

This was our eighth military move, and it was by far the most stressful one. Then, a ray of hope: my husband ran into a chaplain friend, and he immediately invited us to The Anchor, a Cadence hospitality house, where we met Joe and Caitlin Fletcher. When we arrived, I felt unsure about walking into a stranger’s house, but with all the cars I saw lined up outside the home, I also felt that there must be something being offered here that people are drawn to.

Being introverted, I gathered up my courage . . . strange place, strange faces, but the warmest “welcome home, you belong here” feeling I have ever felt upon entering a home. The people there felt like family. I knew in that instant that I would be coming back while my husband was away. After eating a delicious homecooked meal that ministered to this weary traveler both in body and mind, there was worship and a Bible study that ministered to my spirit. I felt in that moment a connection for my soul. 

The Anchor is not just a group that meets once a week, it’s a community of people who really care. It’s family. I’m incredibly thankful for everything they do to reach military families, including this chaplain’s spouse.

This story is an excerpt from Joe and Caitlin’s June 2023 newsletter.

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God doesn’t need superheroes or extraordinary people to accomplish His purposes. He uses ordinary people who are faithful and available. Cadence staff Jeff Walton shared a story that illustrates this point. He and his wife Candace run the Humphreys Hospitality House in Korea.   

One thing that continues to amaze Candace and me is how God works through those who attend our house ministry, not just us. One man, in particular, is relatively new to Korea and still processing through a hard breakup that occurred right before he came.   

On Christmas, he told us he didn’t really want to be around a large group of people but knew he needed to be with others. He ended up retreating to our third floor to nap for a while, then ate a lot of food and poured out his heart to one guy for hours. He also connected with another guy and talked with him for a long time. It was great to see this man relax, be encouraged by other Christian men, see others pray for him with their arms around him, and then see him leave with closer friendships than when he arrived.   

Candace and I did nothing but provide a safe place for people to come and fellowship together. God used others to show love to this hurting man in our own home. Praise the Lord! This story is the reason we love hospitality ministry so much. As we disciple, build up, feed, encourage, and present the gospel to our group each week, our members, in turn, do the same for others. They have been shown a godly example and are now going out and serving others because of the community built on Jesus.   

We know we don’t need to be a part of every conversation, help solve every problem, or speak the right word of encouragement to others at the right time. God uses more people than just Candace and me. He raises up His Church here in our ministry, and they take care of each other. We create a space where people are brought together so that the Holy Spirit can work through the Body. It is God’s ministry, not ours. We just feel privileged to be on the front lines to see what God is doing. 

—Jeff and Candace Walton are House Directors at Humphreys Hospitality House in Korea. Excerpt from January 2024 newsletter.  

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American military personnel are accustomed to packing up and going wherever the military sends them, whether it is a six-month unaccompanied deployment or a three-year duty assignment in the U.S. or overseas. Accordingly, Cadence staff may have only a few months to invest in those who attend their ministry and usually no more than three years.

Cadence staff Deric and Rebecca Sneller understand the difficulties these transitions bring more than most. Not only have they served with Cadence since 2014, but Deric is also a chaplain in the Army Reserves. As directors of the K-Town Hospitality House in the Kaiserslautern Military Community (KMC) in Germany, they welcomed Marlina into their ministry this last year, knowing it would only be for a short time. She quickly became a significant member of their community, as she shared in meals, holidays, outings, and ministry, and even blessed them with a date night. Marlina shares what her time at the K-Town House meant to her:

Where am I to begin with the blessings the Sneller family left on my life in the span of just nine months? From the start, God’s grace and love were orchestrating it all. My new husband and I (both active-duty Army) had just been reunited after spending our first year of marriage apart when I received the news I would be leaving once again for Germany. 

By late June of 2023, I arrived at the KMC for a nine-month rotation with a unit that was still new to me. My heart was heavy and conflicted. When I met the Snellers, their family was an instant joy to be around. They reflected the much-needed love of God for which my soul was searching. They opened their home and hearts to me, displaying true hospitality. Their steady trust in the Lord and His plan for them has been a testament to faith and something I admire.   

When we met, they had also just arrived in Germany and were starting their ministry from scratch. Watching Rebecca fearlessly invite anyone the Lord put on her heart amazed me, as did their trust in God’s process and vision for what ministry would look like in their new context. From being involved in their new and growing ministry, God showed me that even things that seem temporary can have a long-lasting impact; kingdom connections are eternal. 

—Excerpt from Deric and Rebecca’s March 2024 newsletter

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