Janelle Mebust is one of Cadence’s newer Headquarters staff, serving first with our Donor Services and now on the Human Resources team. Every month we sign an electronic birthday card for our HQ celebrants. The following is Janelle’s response to the words written in her card. She wants you to know that some of her words are selected from one of her pastor’s recent sermons.

Thank you all for your generous and kind words of life on my birthday! I am so thankful to God to be in an environment that intentionally prepares the soil, even when no one is watching, so that others may be firmly rooted in the truth and thrive.

Thank you for welcoming me into this AMAZING Cadence family where you are a people of presence in a culture obsessed with productivity; community in a culture that is dying of loneliness; simplicity in a culture that is dying out on intensity; generosity in a world that is terrified of scarcity; hospitality in a culture of isolation and division.

You are incredible ambassadors for Christ and are making an eternal impact in my life! Every day I feel like I’m walking around in the kingdom of heaven. You are the real deal and my cup overflows with blessings. Let’s shake this love around!

These heartfelt words come from one of Cadence’s competent and caring HQ servants. Janelle’s gratefulness stems from experiencing the rich and real community of the love and life of our HQ team.

Genuine fellowship like this is being cultivated around the world in Cadence living rooms, kitchens, patios, and back yards. It’s being intentionally created in offices, hallways, board rooms, chapels, and retreat centers. This is the heart and soul of Cadence’s values and ministries—Christ-centered relationships are the soil where life-transformation grows and thrives!

Thank you for your faithful financial partnership which makes this Kingdom-impact possible. And thank you, Janelle, for such a beautiful reminder of the power of community.

David Schroeder
President

I’d like to introduce you to Jeremy and Shawna Quattlebaum who have been serving with Cadence Intentional since 2013. For seven of those years they ministered at The Lighthouse, Cadence’s hospitality house ministry to the Sailors and their families stationed at the U.S. Navy Base—Fleet Activities in Yokosuka, Japan. It is the largest overseas U.S. Navy installation, strategically important in the region, and Cadence has experienced thriving, fruitful ministry there since 1969!

Jeremy and Shawna say, “Serving with Cadence allows us to practically live out Jesus’ marching orders in Matthew 28:19–20, to ‘Go and make disciples of all nations.’ Every time the military community steps into our home, we have the honor of carrying out the Great Commission, making disciples as we share the gospel and our lives around the dinner table, during Bible study, and even on a beach outing. Cadence takes us beyond a weekly meeting, empowering us to truly live out our faith by investing in others.”

Sailors and some of their family members chime in on what the Quattlebaum’s ministry at The Lighthouse meant to them.

• “Having Jeremy and Shawna serve with Cadence provided a family in a time when we were so far away from ours.”
• “Shawna thank you for loving people well and inviting me into ministry.”
• “Jeremy really challenged me to grow in my faith by diving deeper into God’s Word and having authentic community with God’s people.”
• “Thank you for investing in our lives and the lives of our children. You truly made an impact.”

Jeremy and Shawna handed the leadership of The Lighthouse over in September of 2023 to Cadence missionaries Duncan and Suzanne Forbes, who continue to bear powerful fruit in the lives of Sailors and their families transformed by Jesus.

The Quattlebaums are currently on a Cadence home assignment and seeking to strengthen their financial and prayer support so they can begin their next ministry assignment at the Fort Bragg Hospitality House, which has been reaching Soldiers and their families stationed there since 1994.

Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty), a U.S. Army installation located in Fayetteville, North Carolina, ranks among the largest in the world with a population of more than 52,000 military personnel. Fort Bragg covers more than 251 square miles and is home to the Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps. It also serves as the headquarters of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command.

Please ask God to raise up more financial partners for Jeremy and Shawna and for all staff on Ministry Partnership Development. Pray that both ministries at Navy Base Yokosuka, Japan and at Fort Bragg, North Carolina will continue to thrive and be used by God as he makes his love known to people stationed there.

Thank you for your partnership with Cadence which is bearing fruit in military communities across the U.S. and around the world. We are so grateful for you!

David Schroeder
President

For almost 50 years, Cadence International has been sharing the gospel and our lives at Victory Villa, a hospitality house in Rota, Spain. The property, strategically located just a short walk from the main gate, occupies four acres of land overlooking the Bay of Cadiz. The easy access from base, beautiful setting, and warm welcome from Cadence staff make the Villa a haven of peace and spiritual refreshment for military personnel and their families.

Currently, Cadence staff Ben and Melody Bloker, Tori Randall, and Anna Tamblyn are experiencing significant ministry to the young adults in this strategic Navy military community. This photo is of Tanner, a Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) rendering a salute during retreat aboard the USS Paul Ignatius.

Tanner is one of six SWOs who are part of Victory Villa’s young adults ministry. Being a single officer on a destroyer has many challenges, especially with Navy regulations limiting officers’ ability to mingle with enlisted Sailors. As the chapel’s official young adults program, our Cadence staff have the opportunity to be a ministry where all ranks can gather to play games, enjoy a meal together, and study the Bible.

Cadence is also making plans for the Victory Villa 50th Anniversary Celebration in Rota, Spain, on October 23–25, 2025. We look forward to celebrating what God has done through this ministry for many years. We invite all Cadence Alumni who have been part of the Victory Villa community over the years to attend. For more details, email Angie.Sprague@Cadence.org or visit Cadence.org/Rota50Celebration.

This is one of 50 ministries Cadence offers near military installations across the United States and around the world. Thank you for partnering with us in such a strategic and fruitful outreach to military people and their families.

David Schroeder
President

I trust your gathering of friends and family over Christmas was meaningful and joyful, as was the experience for Joyce and me.

If you are wondering why there is a Christmas tree on my January receipt letter, it’s because this tree represents the fruit of your financial investment in the ministry of Cadence. If you look closely at the picture, you will see that it is made up of dozens of small, individually cut out pieces.

One of the activities on Christmas day in our home with both adults and grandkids was the creation of collages using chosen pieces from various magazines. This beautiful tree was our daughter Kyrie’s creation.

1 Corinthians 3:18 states, “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

Let us ponder this: the Spirit is always working to transform us into God’s image “with ever-increasing glory.” You, me, and every single one of God’s children are being lovingly crafted day-by-day, step-by-step, glory-to-glory into his very image. Wow!

And like Kyrie’s tree, he is taking one piece of our life at a time and adding it to the tapestry of his likeness as he forms us. We may mostly see the individual small and ragged parts, often experiences of suffering, grief, brokenness, and difficulty, but God sees the “ever-increasing glory” of his loving work in us.

Our Christmas trees every Advent season remind us that baby Jesus was destined to hang on a tree—sacrificing himself that we might one day receive the gift of life and forgiveness of our sins.

Friends, thank you for your investment in the ministry of Cadence. Your prayers and gifts are making the eternal gift of life available to military people and their families around the world. And those precious people are being transformed piece-by-piece into the image of Jesus.

May you be encouraged in your journey with the Lord today, even as you read this letter. If the pieces of your life seem fragmented, frayed, or fragile, trust our Savior anew as he slowly but surely creates a handiwork of his glory in you.

David Schroeder
President

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16–17

It’s Advent, the season that invites us to not only celebrate God’s love but to reflect on it and share it with others. It is the time when we remember how far Jesus came to save us. As these song lyrics put it, “from a throne of endless glory to a cradle in the dirt.”[1]

For 70 years Cadence staff have gone from their homes and loved ones to military communities to share the gospel and their lives. Margaret Patty, one of the founders of OCSC/Cadence International, was one of these. In 1955 she worked her way across the ocean on a Norwegian freighter to marry Dick Patty who was already in the Philippines, along with Jesse and Nettie Miller, ministering to Sailors at Subic Bay. Margaret and Dick’s service took them from fruitful years at Subic to the Headquarters in Denver, then to Germany and the Europe Field, then as Ambassadors in Colorado.

In September, Margaret took her final earthly journey up to heaven as cancer that was undiscovered until August hastened her travel. We and other family members were in the room with her—Margaret was our beloved mom and mother-in-law. We testify to her walk of faith and her love for people to the very end. We invite you to watch her beautiful memorial service at Cadence.org/MargaretPattyMemorial.

This Advent, Cadence staff will continue the legacy of our founders as they open their homes and hearts to military people in the U.S. and overseas—those who’ve answered a different call to serve—a responsibility that often takes them far from their homes and loved ones. Our prayer is that in this season many will experience and accept the love of Jesus. His love never stops going to the greatest lengths to save us.

May you know His love in these days. May the ways you love others in this season be blessed. And may each of us be testaments of this love and grace all the days of our lives.

David and Joyce Schroeder

[1] King of Kings, Brooke Ligertwood